Elephants reassure other elephants in distress

Elephants get distressed when they see others in distress, reaching out to calm them down.

Clouds circling a supermassive black hole

An international team of astronomers sight huge clouds of gas orbiting supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. Watch a video depicting the swirling clouds.

Image of polar vortex at its peak, January 2014

NASA image shows the polar vortex as it plunged into the United States, on its peak day of January 6, 2014.

Aurora borealis seen at low latitudes on February 18-19

Observers in the northern half of the United States and Canada captured it in photos.

Maui forest mist

The mist-filled forest at Maui's Polipoli State Park, by Chris Tinker.

Earth-orbiting satellites see Arctic surface darkening faster

The retreat of Arctic sea ice is diminishing Earth's albedo, or reflectivity, by an amount about twice as large as previously thought.

Warm U.S. West balanced cold U.S. East to create average January

Overall, the average temperature for January 2014 in the U.S. was 30.3 degrees, only one-tenth of a degree below normal for the month.

Fewer shark attacks in 2013, but more fatalities

Shark attacks worldwide in 2013 were the lowest since 2009, but fatalities were above average, a new study reports.

Interstellar magnetic fields warp as our sun and heliosphere move through galaxy

This illustration shows our heliosphere - the sphere of the sun's influence - moving through the space of our Milky Way galaxy.

Help name this polar bear cub

Help choose a name for this polar bear cub. Here are a few videos to help you decide.