Water

by Ya’el Courtneyfigures by MacKenzie Maugeredited by  Yuli Lily Hsieh January 2023 marked the third anniversary of the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that halted life as we knew it. It overwhelmed hospitals…

Adding wetlands near nitrogen emitting sources could help limit water pollution caused by fertilizer run-off.

Plastics in the ocean are a huge problem, partly because microplastics have significant health effects on marine organisms. Few have explored the quantification of microplastics on the deep ocean floor.

Curiosity rover's analysis of rocks on Mars suggests that ancient water on the red planet would have been suitable for supporting life.

by Izzy Baker figures by Sean Wilson In the quiet darkness of night, a ship gently rocks back and forth on calm waters. An exhausted first mate peers out over the expansive seascape, seeing the ocean twinkle as it reflects the stars shining down from up…

Turkish engineer and activist Bülent Şık was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in jail for publishing confidential results of a government study. His team discovered poisonous chemicals in food and water samples, linked to the high cancer incidence in…

by Andrew Greenspon figures by Hannah Zucker Picture yourself as the Curiosity Rover, which landed on Mars in 2012. You’ve just arrived on Mars after an eight-month journey from Earth. You begin traveling across the Gale crater toward Mount Sharp,…

by Molly Sargen figures by Daniel Utter Water makes up 60-75% of human body weight. A loss of just 4% of total body water leads to dehydration, and a loss of 15% can be fatal. Likewise, a person could survive a month without food but wouldn’t survive 3…

In order to feed every human being on the planet by 2050, the world will need to produce far more food. One difficulty farmers face is finding enough fresh water. A group of scientists led by Katarzyna Glowacka, from the University of Illinois, Urbana,…

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about four billion years ago. The young planet Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 meters deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have…