Nature

Over 50% of Earth's oxygen is produced by the ocean.

Marine plankton, seaweed and other photosynthetic organisms produce more than half of the world's oxygen, according…

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth.

Built by billions of tiny coral polyps, this massive ecosystem stretches over 2,300 kilometers and is visible from…

Indonesia's Kawah Ijen volcano erupts with blue lava.

The 'blue lava' is actually sulfuric gas that combusts upon contact with air, burning with an electric blue flame at…

The oldest known living tree is over 5,000 years old.

Named Methuselah, this Great Basin bristlecone pine is located in the White Mountains of California. Its exact…

Sunflowers track the sun's movement across the sky when they are young.

This process is called heliotropism. Young sunflower buds face east in the morning and follow the sun to the west…

The world's tallest tree, named Hyperion, is taller than the Statue of Liberty.

This coast redwood stands at over 115 meters (379 feet) tall. It was discovered in 2006 in a remote part of Redwood…

The Darvaza gas crater, known as the 'Door to Hell', has been burning for over 50 years.

Located in Turkmenistan, Soviet engineers accidentally drilled into a massive natural gas pocket in 1971. They set it…

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway is a secure backup facility holding over a million crop seed samples.

Buried deep inside a mountain on a remote island, the 'Doomsday Vault' protects the world's food supply against…

Cycads heat their reproductive structures up to 15 degrees Celsius above ambient temperature.

These ancient plants produce heat and emit infrared light to attract pollinating beetles. Heat pollination may be the…

Cacti can take forms ranging from 18-metre columns to coin-sized balls.

The cactus family is extremely diverse. Some branch out like massive trees, others stand as columns reaching 18…

There are plants that appear to die completely in drought and come back to life with rain.

Known as resurrection plants, these species lose almost all their water and look dead. When rain returns, they…

The Amazon zombie fungus also lives inside mosses without causing harm.

The Ophiocordyceps fungus, known for infecting ants and altering their behaviour, was found living inside mosses at…

A new plant that does not photosynthesise was discovered in Malaysia.

Thismia aliasii, nicknamed the fairy lantern, obtains nutrients by parasitising fungi instead of photosynthesising…

The Atacama Desert in Chile is covered in flowers after unusual rainfall.

The Atacama is one of the driest deserts in the world. In years with exceptional rainfall, more than 200 species of…

A fungus that turns spiders into zombies has been discovered.

A new species of fungus was discovered in 2025 and infects spiders, controlling their behaviour before killing them…

An unknown green photoprotein has been discovered in a marine organism.

Researchers identified a set of natural green photoproteins in the marine organism Velamen parallelum. These…

A time crystal has been created using common screen materials.

Researchers created a classical time crystal using liquid crystals, the same type of material used in smartphone and…

The extinction rate of plants at the tops of European mountains is increasing.

A study from the University of Vienna analysed 62 European mountain peaks and concluded that while plant diversity…

Volcanic eruptions can produce lightning, called dirty thunderstorms.

During eruptions, ash and rock fragments collide and generate electrical charges. The result is volcanic lightning…

Giant sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years.

Giant sequoias in California are the oldest trees in the world. Some exceed 3,000 years of age. Their thick bark…

Antarctica is a desert, despite being covered in ice.

A desert is defined by the amount of precipitation, not by temperature. Antarctica receives less than 50 millimetres…

Lotus leaves repel water and always stay clean.

The surface of lotus leaves has a microscopic structure that makes water form droplets and slide off, taking dirt…

An average cumulus cloud weighs about 500 tonnes.

A typical cumulus cloud contains about 500 tonnes of water in the form of droplets. The weight does not fall on us…

All snowflakes have six sides, but no two are alike.

Snowflakes form from ice crystals that grow according to the hexagonal structure of the water molecule. That is why…