Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Rising temperatures may cause problems for cold-blooded critters
Ectotherms cannot easily handle extreme temperatures, a new study finds.
- Environment
E-cigarette flavorings may harm lungs
Certain e-cigarette flavors, such as banana pudding, may damage lung tissue
- Earth
Asteroids boiled young Earth’s oceans, remnant rocks suggest
Giant asteroid impacts may have boiled Earth’s oceans around 3.3 billion years ago, snuffing out near-surface life.
- Oceans
Mysterious form of phosphorus explained
Mysterious form of phosphorus may be used as shadow currency by marine microbes, potentially upending scientists’ understanding of nutrient exchanges.
- Animals
An island in the Maldives is made of parrotfish poop
Coral-eating parrotfish create much of the sediment that a reef island is made of, a new study finds.
- Earth
Another strong quake strikes Nepal
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit eastern Nepal on May 12, just 17 days after one that killed more than 8,000 people in the region.
- Climate
Flood planners should not forget beavers
Beaver dams can reduce flooding downstream, new research shows.
- Microbes
Pig farm workers at greater risk for drug-resistant staph
Pig farm workers are six times as likely to carry multidrug-resistant staph than workers who have no contact with pigs.
- Climate
Rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide rise unprecedented
The current rate of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere is unprecedented over at least the last 66 million years, new research shows.
- Astronomy
Wandering planets, the smell of rain and more reader feedback
Readers consider how hard it would be to fashion Paleolithic tools, discuss what to call free-floating worlds and more.
- Physics
Scientists take first picture of thunder
Scientists precisely capture thunder sound waves radiating from artificially triggered lightning.
- Animals
Lazy sunfish are actually active predators
Ocean sunfish were once thought to be drifting eaters of jellyfish. But they’re not, new research shows.
