News
August 4, 2026
Chinese rocket scientists find ‘most effective’ way to nuke a doomsday asteroid. China’s two-pronged method could blast apart an Earth-threatening space rock using a 3-megaton explosion equivalent to 200 Hiroshima bombs
July 31, 2026
Ranked: The World’s Biggest Mineral Producers. Minerals are essential to energy systems, construction, manufacturing, and advanced technologies. Yet production is highly concentrated among countries with large resource endowments and major fossil fuel industries.
This visualization ranks global mineral production by country in 2024, measured by total production in metric tons. The data comes from the Austrian Ministry of Finance and includes all metals, industrial minerals such as bauxite and diamonds, and mineral fuels such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas.
July 28, 2026
Ranked: The Countries That Consume the Most Coal
Coal remains the world’s largest source of electricity generation, even as countries invest heavily in renewable energy.
This graphic ranks countries by coal consumption in 2025, revealing the scale of Asia’s influence on global demand.
The data for this visualization comes from the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2026. It measures primary coal consumption in exajoules (EJ) during 2025.
July 27, 2026
Scientists talked about the signs of tectonic activity of Venus. Wide and high uplifts along the edges of rift valleys on Venus may indicate that some of the faults remain active or have stopped moving relatively recently. This is stated in a study published on July 24 in Nature Geoscience.
July 6, 2026
Ranked: Which Countries Produce the Most Natural Gas? Natural gas remains one of the world’s most important energy sources, powering electricity generation, heavy industry, and home heating.
Production is concentrated among a relatively small group of countries, with the U.S. alone accounting for more than one-quarter of global output.
This map ranks countries by marketed natural gas production in 2025, measured in billion cubic meters (bcm). The data comes from OPEC.
July 2,02027
Climate scientists have formally challenged a US government report they say incorrectly downplayed clear evidence of human-driven warming. A leading climate scientist is challenging “demonstrably incorrect” claims in a major US government report that he says misrepresented his research and minimized the role of human activity in global warming.
June 2026, 2026
Swarm robots inspired by bees and ants could transform the future of mining. Researchers at Adelaide University have developed a new type of robotic system inspired by bees and ants that could make mining safer, more efficient and more sustainable.
June 25, 2026
Mapped: Which Countries Hold the Biggest Mineral Reserves? A small group of countries controls the world’s largest reserves of many of the minerals that power modern economies.
This map shows the top reserve-holding country for 18 key minerals, from iron ore and copper to rare earths and cobalt. In several cases, a single nation accounts for an outsized share of global reserves, creating potential supply chain bottlenecks and geopolitical leverage.
June 14, 2026
Giant fan-shaped structure found under East Antarctica. An international team of researchers including our Department of Geography has discovered a vast geological structure hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Enormous subglacial basins
June 1, 2026
Ranked: Who Controls the World’s Uranium Supply? See visuals like this from many other data based on data from the World Nuclear Association, shows how annual uranium production has changed by country between 2015 and 2024.
Nuclear power is regaining momentum as countries seek stable electricity supplies and lower-carbon energy sources. That has pushed uranium, the fuel used in nuclear reactors, back into focus.