Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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- Chemistry
More evidence that BPA laces store receipts
People interested in limiting exposure to bisphenol A — a hormone-mimicking environmental contaminant — might want to consider wearing gloves the next time a store clerk hands over a cash-register receipt. A July 27 report by a public-interest research group has now confirmed many of these receipts have a BPA-rich powdery residue on their surface.
- Earth
Researchers create global map of tree height
A new map shows forest height around the globe and will improve estimates of how much carbon is stored in trees.
- Math
Swarming locusts impossible to predict
A mathematical analysis shows that random factors underlie the insects’ movements across the landscape.
- Planetary Science
Hole from on high
Researchers discover a fresh meteorite impact crater using Google Earth.
- Animals
Fearless tadpoles give invaders the edge
Clueless larvae don’t heed the scent of nonnative turtles, giving newcomers an edge over native species, a European study finds.
- Agriculture
Germs eyed to make foods safer
Adding viruses to foods doesn’t sound appetizing, much less healthy. But it’s a stratagem being explored to knock some of the more virulent food poisoning bacteria out of the U.S. food supply. Scientists described data supporting the tactic July 18 at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual meeting in Chicago.
- Earth
New ‘walking’ fishes discovered in Gulf oil-spill zone
Pancake batfishes may be getting oiled before they get named.
- Earth
Mangroves do a coast good
Left intact, dense swaths of trees can reduce tsunami damage, a new study suggests.
- Earth
Africa’s bumper crop of dust
Seafloor sediments show that agriculture has greatly boosted airborne dust in the last two centuries.
- Climate
New carbon data should produce better climate forecasts
BLOG: More refined measurements for carbon dioxide input by plants and carbon dioxide released during respiration will help models, Science News editor in chief Tom Siegfried reports from the Euroscience Open Forum 2010 in Turin, Italy.
- Climate
Methane releases in arctic seas could wreak devastation
Warming climate could lead to dead zones, acidification and shifts at the base of the ocean’s food chain.
