nature

The volatile seismic zone along the roughly 750-mile San Andreas Fault beneath California are "critically stressed" – a level of pressure that has reached its highest point in 1,000 years – increasing the likelihood of a big earthquake hitting the US.

The aroma of freshly cut grass is one of nature’s most recognizable scents, but it's not produced for our enjoyment. It's actually part of an ancient chemical war that plants have been fighting against predators for millions of years.

There are more than 800 species of carnivorous plants, and despite their diverse designs, the one thing they have in common is that they are built to trap and kill all prey. Or so we've believed – until scientists discovered how this meat-eater works.

The ability of the shellear fish to climb waterfalls is well established. The behavior has now been documented for the first time, with photos and videos showing just how these adventurous fish defy their legless physiology.

The Blue Mountains west of Sydney draw millions of visitors a year. Unfortunately, the Blue Mountains are also the site of a controversial investigation into water contamination with “forever chemicals”, also called PFAS.

Newly observed negative-phase waveforms in earthquake data has alerted scientists to a previously unrecognized feature of the "big ones" that occur when tectonic plates clash – and it may help us engineer safer structures in response to the movement.

In January 2023, an infant monkey made a bad choice at snack time. In a rare discovery, researchers found that by eating a rodent known as a fire-footed rope squirrel, the primate unwittingly spread monkeypox to nearly a third of its troop.

In 1995, divers first noticed a group of bizarre sandy "crop circles" on the seabed near southwest Japan. But it took decades for scientists to identify the marine artists behind them – and why they were building such geometrically precise structures.

From water-skipping robots to elephant-skin inspired cooling materials, engineers have continued to find inspiration in nature in order to move technology forward for humans. And it's set to take center-stage in the new age of robotics.

As our evolution slows and industrialization and technology accelerates, research suggests that human biology is struggling to keep pace. A new study investigated whether rapid and extensive environmental shifts have compromised the fitness of Homo sapiens.

A chance discovery in a US cheese cave has given scientists a rare glimpse of evolution in real time – and the surprise findings have huge potential for protecting human health, enhancing food security and even delivering new flavors to turophiles.

Researchers have successfully tweaked a specialized compound from brown seaweed to unlock its powerful anti-obesity potential. Instead of appetite suppression and fat burning, this molecule reshapes the gut microbiome to fight weight gain naturally.