The Permian extinction, which wiped out almost all complex life, may have been caused by the undersides of continents slipping off into Earth’s interior

Everyone seems to agree trees are a major solution to climate change, but there is a danger that mass reforestation could see us to continue pumping carbon into the atmosphere

To find subjects to photograph, Kacper Kowalski takes to the air in a paramotor or gyrocopter, barely steering to allow the wind to dictate the direction

Buildings may one day be made using a strain of bacteria that creates a concrete-like material when combined with sand and nutrients

Olivia Colman and Helen Mirren have teamed up with the creators of Wallace & Gromit in a film called Turtle Journey to raise awareness about climate change and ocean pollution

Beneath all the charm, Aardman Animations' new short film makes serious points about ocean plastic, rising seas and why we need a global ocean treaty

Taal volcano, situated on an island in a lake, began erupting dramatically on Sunday, prompting an evacuation order for 450,000 people in the surrounding area

Wondering what to read, watch and see this year? Here's our cracking cultural calendar of the most interesting non-fiction, films, games, events and sci-fi in 2020

Wondering what to read, watch and see this year? Here's our cracking cultural calendar of the most interesting non-fiction, films, games, events and sci-fi

Fossilised tree roots found in a New York quarry are 386 million years old, making them the remains of the oldest known forest yet

From anti-ageing drugs to self-driving cars and long-lost human ancestors, New Scientist experts reveal what the biggest science stories will be in 2020

Undersea fibre-optic cables for transmitting data can also be used to detect earthquakes and find fault lines offshore

Brexit may seem important right now, but whoever wins the election will be in charge halfway to 2030 – a crucial time in efforts to limit dangerous warming, says Jacob Aron

A combination of cold weather and just the right amount of wave motion has caused strange frozen spheres to cover a Finnish beach

Seven Worlds, One Planet, David Attenborough’s stunning celebration of Earth’s biodiversity, prepares a new generation to save a beautiful world

The ice shelves in eastern Antarctic peninsula seem to have been thinning since around 1700, leaving ice shelves such as Larsen B vulnerable to their recent break-up as human-caused climate change...

Corners of unexpected planetary beauty are revealed in these stunning images on display in The Elevated Eye at Forest Lawn Museum, California

From Etna to Vesuvius, Santorini to Stromboli, volcanoes have long been linked to excellent wines. New book Volcanoes and Wine explores this unlikely terroir

An epic project has worked out how much carbon there is on Earth. The answer is 1.85 billion billion tonnes – and most of it is underground

Preserved microorganisms have been found encased in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks, confirming that single-celled life was thriving early in Earth’s history