Analysis of stalagmite samples from caves in southern Morocco has provided new insights into rainfall patterns in the Sahara Desert in the past. Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine have discovered that rainfall in the desert increased between 8,700 and 4,300 years ago, which had a major impact on ancient herding societies. The study is available to read in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

High above Earth’s poles, intense electrical currents called electrojets flow through the upper atmosphere when auroras glow in the sky. In March, NASA plans to launch its EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission to learn more about these powerful currents, in the hopes of ultimately mitigating the effects of such space weather for humans on Earth.

In a paper published in Science Bulletin, China’s scientists presented the newest evidence of how many trees exist in China. In 2020, China had ~142.6 billion trees—equivalent to ~100 trees per person.