Africa

Two billion years before we made history and split the atom, the Earth had already accomplished it and was running its own nuclear reactors. And they operated for hundreds of thousands of years, as the first signs of multicellular life emerged.

Nearly 3,000 growing chasms have opened up in dozens of towns, swallowing up roads and houses in their path. Known as urban gullies, these destructive forces of nature are increasing rapidly and now threaten to displace more than 3.2 million people.

A subtle yet significant geological phenomenon is currently taking place beneath the African continent. Rhythmic surges of molten rocks, pulsing upward like a "heartbeat," are ripping the continent apart to pave the way for a new ocean.

Two lion siblings – one with only three legs – have set a daring new world record for long-distance swimming, paddling across a treacherous channel infested with crocodiles and hippos, on an epic life-or-death journey in search of female mates.

Long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, another giant predator claimed the top spot in its environment. Meet Gaiasia, a huge salamander-like creature that stalked the Permian swamps.

It almost sounds like a fairytale: a tiny ant dramatically impacting a giant lion. But thanks to a study that reveals just how interconnected all life forms really are, researchers have just figured out that it happened on the savannas of Africa.

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest evidence of artificial structures made of wood, dating back almost half a million years – predating the appearance of our own species and suggesting our relatives settled down much earlier than we thought.

The World Health Organization is rapidly responding to a pair of new Ebola outbreaks in Africa. The two unrelated outbreaks, in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have both appeared in locations previously connected to Ebola flare-ups.

Scientists working in the West African country of Guinea have discovered a new orange-furred species of bat. The rare discovery came while conducting field surveys in the isolated Nimba Mountain range.

A long-lost species has been rediscovered alive and well. The Somali sengi, an insect-eating mammal that hasn’t been seen in over 40 years, has turned up in East Africa, with researchers snapping the first-ever photos and video of them in the wild.

The human family tree is being shuffled around again. A new study suggests that Homo erectus existed 100,000 to 200,000 years earlier than previously thought, meaning they lived alongside species they were once thought to have descended from.

Combining studies of genetics, geology and climate history, scientists from Australia and South Africa say they’ve identified what could be called the “homeland” of modern humans – a vast, ancient wetland system in southern Africa.