Tornadoes and Global Warming

Scientists can't say yet whether global warming will increase tornadoes. Linking any particular weather event to climate change is always tricky, because weather is inherently random. But weather patterns can speak to a warming planet. Scientists can detect that extreme rain events, for instance, are already happening more often than they used to, and that a warmer atmosphere with more water vapor in it is making such events more likely.

3-D Scans Reveal Caterpillars Turning Into Butterflies

Left: Chrysalis of a painted lady butterfly, showing breathing tubes (blue) and guts (red), at day 1 (left), day 13 (centre) and day 16 (right). Credit: Lowe et al. 2013. Interface.

The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is one of the most exquisite in the natural world. Within the chrysalis, an inching, cylindrical eating machine remakes itself into a beautiful flying creature that drinks through a straw.