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How We Came To Know Earth
Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science — from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from the math of tipping points to the audacity of climate models.
The Ends of the Earth
Building an accurate model of Earth’s climate requires a lot of data. Photography reveals the extreme efforts scientists have undertaken to measure gases, glaciers, clouds and more.
The Climate Change Paradox
Earth’s climate is chaotic and volatile. Climate change is simple and predictable. How can both be true?
The Microbial Masters of Earth’s Climate
A collection of short dispatches from the field of climate microbiology conveys the contributions that single-celled life forms make to our climate system, and how we can work with them to address climate change.
The Math of Catastrophe
Tipping points in our climate predictions are both wildly dramatic and wildly uncertain. Can mathematicians make them useful?
Tiny Tubes Reveal Clues to the Evolution of Complex Life
Scientists have identified tubulin structures in primitive Asgard archea that may have been the precursor of our own cellular skeletons.
The Sudden Surges That Forge Evolutionary Trees
An updated evolutionary model shows that living systems evolve in a split-and-hit-the-gas dynamic, where new lineages appear in sudden bursts rather than during a long marathon of gradual changes.
Do Beautiful Birds Have an Evolutionary Advantage?
Richard Prum explains why he thinks feathers and vibrant traits in birds evolved not solely for survival, but also through aesthetic choice.
The Pursuit of Life Where It Seems Unimaginable
A decade ago, Karen Lloyd discovered single-celled microbes living beneath the seafloor. Now she studies how they can survive in Earth’s crust, possibly for hundreds or thousands of years, and push life’s limits of time and energy.