Science Daily

• One of America’s largest reservoirs just hit a record low

  Lake Powell has fallen to its lowest level on record after an exceptionally dry and warm winter left the Colorado River Basin with little mountain snow to melt. Lake Mead also reached record lows, raising concerns for a river system that supplies water and power to more than 40 million people. Federal officials have taken emergency steps to stabilize Lake Powell, including sending in water from another reservoir and reducing releases downstream.

• The end of humanity? What would happen if the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted now

  A Yellowstone super-eruption would begin not with a sudden surprise, but with weeks of increasingly alarming warning signs such as migrating earthquake swarms, rapid ground uplift, changing geysers, and rising volcanic gases. In a worst-case scenario, those signals could culminate in a VEI 8 eruption that blasts ash tens of kilometers into the atmosphere, unleashes deadly pyroclastic flows, buries parts of the western United States in ash, and cripples transportation, electricity, water systems, agriculture, and communications across much of North America.

• This new concrete is stronger and pulls CO2 from the air

  Researchers have created a concrete mixture that is both stronger and capable of absorbing carbon dioxide. The best formula, combining zeolite with bamboo biochar, boosted compressive strength by 7.48% and tensile strength by 15% compared with conventional concrete. It also captured about 1.2 grams of CO₂ per day in laboratory testing.

• A strange circle on satellite maps turned out to be a 390-million-year-old impact crater

  An amateur astronomer searching satellite maps for a Quebec camping spot accidentally discovered a massive ancient impact crater. Scientists later found shatter cones that confirmed the 25-kilometer-wide structure was blasted into Earth roughly 390 million years ago.

• Humpback whale mother may have mourned her dead calf for days

  Researchers observed a humpback whale mother staying beside her presumed stillborn calf for hours and possibly days off Australia’s Gold Coast. She maintained eye contact and remained close to the calf in behavior resembling caregiving and nurturing. Scientists say the rare observation may provide new insight into grief, maternal attachment, and emotional complexity in humpback whales.