Editor’s Note: At the beginning of this new year, we are introducing a web-exclusive series of weekly pieces on science. Each month, we will focus on a particular book (or article or film). In January ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American America is about to blow up a bunch of stuff ...

The Global Positioning System works because satellites carry atomic clocks. Those satellites orbit high above Earth, where ...

Heather Macdonald was almost as happy as if she had found a kimberlite pipe. A kimberlite pipe is a rare geological formation that slowly churns diamonds up to the Earth’s surface. Macdonald, ...

"Volcanic dust, climate change, tsunamis, earthquakes--geoscience explores phenomena that profoundly affect our lives. But more than that, as Doug Macdougall makes clear, the science also provides ...

The ground beneath our feet can often seem to be the one constant in the human experience. We even use the term “grounded” to describe people who seem to be particularly stable. Yet, the Earth is in ...