Scientific American Content: Global

1. ‘Extreme’ wildfire sweeps Nevada as U.S. tallies almost 51,000 wildfires so far this year

   A wildfire outside Reno began on August 22 and has already burned more than 15,000 acres of land

2. Earth’s oceans just hit their hottest temperature ever recorded

   The world’s oceans hit 21.10 degrees Celsius last Saturday, breaking a record set in 2024

3. China delays ambitious Chang’e 7 moon mission until 2027

   The search for frozen water is crucial to both China’s and NASA’s plans to establish permanent moon bases

4. Sorry, Pluto’s still not a planet

   On the 20th anniversary of Pluto’s infamous demotion, Mike “Pluto Killer” Brown explains why any reversal of that decision would be driven more by nostalgia than science

5. Climate change opens Arctic shipping routes as roadless forest protections face rollback

   Forests, extreme weather and the realities of a warming world

6. See states’ kindergarten vaccination rates—from highest to lowest

   Even as cases of diseases such as measles rise, childhood vaccinations are declining, thanks to changes in public health policies and antivaccine sentiment, experts say

7. How “thunderquakes” could help reveal hidden structures inside the Earth

   When that energy reaches the ground, some of it is converted into seismic waves that ripple through the soil and rock beneath—“thunderquakes”

8. 60 years ago NASA took the first ever photo of Earth from the moon—and began a legacy

   Snapped on August 23, 1966, by the uncrewed Lunar Orbiter 1, the photo’s legacy lives on in the breathtaking images of Earth taken by the Artemis II crew

9. Why trauma changes how our memory engages with our conscious experience

   Trauma can distort how memories are stored and retrieved in the brain

10. Is lettuce safe to eat yet? New data suggest cyclosporiasis cases are slowing

    After a spike in infections in July, this explosive-diarrhea-causing outbreak may be coming to an end