Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Extinctions breed carbon chaos
Massive die-off left ecosystems vulnerable, an analysis suggests.
- Earth
Chile quake didn’t reduce risk
During the large 2010 tremor, faults ruptured mainly outside the area due for a big one, leaving the region vulnerable to future events.
- Humans
Amoebas in drinking water: a double threat
Analysis reveals widespread, hidden contamination by the sometimes lethal parasites.
- Earth
Dispersants persisted after BP spill
Chemicals used to break up oil remained in the Gulf’s depths months after being released, an analysis shows.
- Math
Unnatural selection
Inflicting damage on targeted species can help preserve perturbed ecosystems.
- Earth
Glaciers largely stable in one range of Himalayas
Amid icy retreats in neighboring ranges, ice in Karakoram region may even be growing, thanks to debris cover.
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- Earth
2010 ties record for warmest year yet
El Ni±o heated things up even as global temperatures continue to rise in the hottest decade on record.
- Paleontology
Early meat-eating dinosaur unearthed
Pint-sized, two-legged runner from Argentina dates back to the dawn of the dinos, 230 million years ago.
- Humans
Night owls may want to dim their lights
People who spend their evenings in relatively bright light run the risk of stressing their bodies by ratcheting down the production of melatonin. This hormone plays a pivotal role in setting the body’s biological clock – and, potentially, in limiting the development of certain cancers.
- Life
Aspens bust, diseased mice boom
As trees decline, populations of rodents that carry the deadly sin nombre virus are on the rise.
- Science & Society
Methane from BP spill goes missing
Latest sampling suggests either that microbes have already devoured the most abundant hydrocarbon produced by the leak — or that researchers have simply lost track of it.
