Rudy Molinek

Rudy Molinek is Smithsonian magazine's 2024 AAAS Mass Media Fellow.

An artist's rendering of gamma-ray glows observed during the research, with gamma rays colored purple for emphasis

Scientists Use Cold War-Era Spy Plane to Find Unexpected Gamma Rays in Thunderstorms

The new findings bring storm researchers one step closer to solving the mystery of how lightning forms

Mount Everest seen at sunset, as the peak’s height continues to grow at a rate of about two millimeters per year.

Geologists Reveal a Surprising Reason Why Mount Everest Grows Taller Each Year

Earth's highest peak has gained as much as an extra 165 feet in elevation as the planet's crust adjusts due to erosion from a river, according to a new study

Orcas are the oceans’ apex predator, even outranking the great white shark, but their hunting behaviors are still not fully understood by scientists.

Rare Drone Footage Captures Orcas Feeding on Dusky Dolphins

The predatory pod hunts off the coast of Chile and is led by a matriarch called Dakota

Intense flooding continued on August 7, after the sudden draining of a glacial lake near the Mendenhall River in Juneau, Alaska.

When a Glacial Dam Burst, an Alaskan Town Was Hit With a Sudden Flood

From Alaska to Peru and the Himalayas, glacial lakes are suddenly breaking free and causing deaths and millions of dollars in damages

Healthy little brown bats in Mt. Aeolus cave in Vermont in 2012

The Surprising Link Between Bats Dying and Human Infant Mortality

A new study finds that when bats in U.S. counties were decimated by the deadly white-nose syndrome, human deaths followed closely behind

Phoenix, Arizona, has experienced a record 100 days in a row over 100 degrees Fahrenheit as of Tuesday. Forecasters say no relief is in sight.

Phoenix Shatters Heat Record With 100 Consecutive Days Above 100 Degrees

Forecasts show no relief from the extreme heat over the next few weeks, which promises to extend the streak far beyond the previous high of 76 days set in 1993

The doomed porbeagle shark, just after being tagged and released by researchers in 2020.

Scientists Solve a 'Murder Mystery' After a Pregnant, Tagged Shark Got Eaten

It's rare for apex predators to become prey, but researchers suggest they've documented the first known case of a porbeagle shark getting consumed by another animal

A recent expedition to the Titanic's wreckage found that part of the ship's iconic bow railing has collapsed.

New Photographs Reveal Decay of the Titanic and Collapse of Its Iconic Railing

An expedition this summer documented signs of deterioration on the wreck, but it also rediscovered the Diana of Versailles statue, the centerpiece of the ship’s first-class lounge

A bottlenose dolphin photographed in Honduras shows its teeth.

A Dolphin Keeps Biting People in Japan. Researchers Think It's Just Lonely

A series of dolphin attacks in Wakasa Bay is believed to be the doing of a lone male bottlenose dolphin looking for friends or a mate—but finding only humans

So-called “corn sweat,” the water vapor released by the process of evapotranspiration, can raise humidity in corn-producing areas on the hottest days of summer.

Feeling Sticky This Summer? 'Corn Sweat' Could Be Raising the Humidity

The natural process of plant evapotranspiration is pumping moisture into an already hot and humid atmosphere, especially in the corn-growing areas of the Midwest

Human flesh might resemble this nice beef fillet.

What Does Human Flesh Taste Like? The Answer Depends on Who You Ask

Cannibals have weighed in with different opinions. Some say it tastes like pork, while others say like veal—and still others say like nothing else

A 2023 commemorative stamp from Serbia’s postal service showing Milutin Milanković alongside illustrations of some of his scientific work.

This World War I Prisoner of War Solved the Mystery of the Ice Ages

Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković changed our understanding of Earth’s climate—and did a key part of his work while detained by Austro-Hungarian forces

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi holds up the newly discovered diamond, which weighs more than a pound.

Largest Diamond Since 1905 Unearthed by Miners in Botswana

Volcanic eruptions long ago brought the 2,492-carat diamond—the latest in a string of stunning discoveries over the last decade—to the surface

A waterspout photographed in the Adriatic Sea near Brac Island, Croatia, like the one implicated in sinking a yacht in Sicily this week. These sudden, violent storms are hard to predict and can occur more often in warmer waters heated by climate change.

A 'Tornadic Waterspout' Likely Sank a Billionaire's Yacht Near Sicily. Here's What That Means

Scientists say the extreme weather phenomenon could grow more common as climate change brings warmer water temperatures and more intense storms to the Mediterranean

Teflon’s unique molecular structure made it useful in myriad applications, from nuclear weapons laboratories to your kitchen.

The Long, Strange History of Teflon, the Indestructible Product Nothing Seems to Stick to

Chemists accidentally discovered the material in 1938, and since then it has been used for everything from helping to create the first atomic bomb to keeping your eggs from sticking to your frying pan

The European ant species Lasius emarginatus arrived to Manhattan around 2011 and has since become one of the most dominant ant species in the city.

Invasive 'ManhattAnts' Are Taking Over New York City and Spreading Quickly

Since appearing on Manhattan in 2011, the species has become one of the island's most dominant ants, and scientists formally identified it this year

Maletsunyane Falls in the Lesotho Highlands shows how a river can erode deep valleys into uplifted lands.

Slow-Motion Ripples in Earth's Mantle Built Mysterious and Stunning Highland Landscapes, Study Finds

Following the break-up of an ancient supercontinent, waves propagated through the hot, rocky layer beneath the planet's brittle crust and reshaped its surface over millions of years

A picture of Calhoun in a mouse utopia in 1970

This Old Experiment With Mice Led to Bleak Predictions for Humanity’s Future

From the 1950s to the 1970s, researcher John Calhoun gave rodents unlimited food and studied their behavior in overcrowded conditions

Lava erupts from the Sundhnúkur volcano on June 3, 2024, on the Reykjanes Peninsula near Grindavik, Iceland. The volcano has erupted five times since December 2023, forcing evacuations of Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.

Hidden Underground Magma Pools Fueled Iceland's Volcanic Eruptions, Study Suggests

A subterranean plumbing system of magma beneath the island’s Reykjanes Peninsula may have helped set off the recent series of eruptions that could last for centuries

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin deploys a device to detect moonquakes during the first moonwalk.

Thousands of Moonquakes Rocked the Apollo Landing Sites in Less Than a Decade

A new study found 22,000 previously unidentified lunar seismic events recorded between 1969 and 1977

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