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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
Melting icebergs fertilize ocean
Releasing extra iron into the water boosts carbon dioxide uptake by plankton.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Earth/Environment
Earthquake risk in Chile, plus an ancient Greek island and casino pollution in this week’s news.
By Science News - Earth
Ozone hole on the mend
Researchers claim to see atmospheric healing more than a decade earlier than a detectable uptick was expected.
- Chemistry
Idling jets pollute more than thought
Oily droplets emitted by planes operating at low power can turn into potentially toxic airborne particles.
By Janet Raloff - Life
Animals quickly colonized freshwater
Fossilized worm burrows show that life had moved beyond the oceans by 530 million years ago.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
So much for the man-sized snail, plus Indonesia’s quake risk, overheated reefs and more in this week’s news.
By Science News - Life
Fungus strikes but doesn’t kill European bats
Organism that is devastating North American populations might have coevolved with hosts overseas.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Warming dents corn and wheat yields
Rising temperatures have decreased global grain production and may be partly responsible for food price increases.
- Life
Giant ants once roamed Wyoming
The first complete fossil found in North America suggests warm spells in the far north allowed big insects to spread.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Earth/Environment
How Antarctica got its ice, plus Chinese dust-ups and rising bird malaria in this week’s news.
By Science News - Earth
Grand Canyon born by continental lift
A "drip" deep within the Earth may have raised the Colorado plateau to create the spectacular landscape of the U.S. Southwest.
- Earth
With warming, Arctic is losing ground
Scientists anticipate big ecosystem changes as erosion spills nutrients into the sea
By Janet Raloff