Scientists have uncovered the secret ingredient fueling supercharged storms on Uranus and Neptune: methane.
Uranus and Neptune are the outermost planets of the solar system and are known as ice giants because they are rich in water. Scientists understand very little about these distant realms. But after the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by them in the 1980s, scientists realized that these worlds occasionally host massive, short-lived storms. The violent-but-fleeting storms pop up every few years and are so big you can see them (with a telescope) from Earth.
