In New Mexico, where half the state faces “exceptional drought” conditions, water districts are delaying allotments to farmers and urging them to simply not plant crops if possible. All told, nearly 85% of the West is suffering through drought conditions right now, according to US Drought Monitor. Almost half the region is now in an extreme or exceptional drought, following years of dry, hot condi

The most detailed dark-matter map of our universe is weirdly smooth The Dark Energy Survey’s newest findings help confirm much of what we already knew about the universe—and add a surprising wrinkle. Trying to describe dark matter is like trying to describe a ghost that lives in your house. You can’t see it at all, but what you can see is all the stuff it’s moving around. And the only explanation