Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Sonic Sands: Uncovering the secret of the booming dunes
The age-old mystery of sand dunes that produce loud, thrumming noises is explained by a new theory that involves a resonant layer of dry sand.
- Earth
Oxygen Rocks: Volcanoes spurred early atmospheric change
Earth owes its oxygen-rich atmosphere to a change in volcanic activity about 2.5 billion years ago.
- Earth
Tiny tubes, big pollution
Making carbon nanotubes also produces a lot of airborne carcinogens.
- Earth
Arctic snow was dirtier in early 1900s
Arctic snow collects less soot now than it did a century ago, but it's still dirtier than it was before the Industrial Revolution.
- Earth
Don’t Bite the Dust
Several studies show that children and adults accumulate substantial amounts of the flame retardants called PBDEs—from food, breast milk, and probably house dust.
- Earth
O River Deltas, Where Art Thou? Coastal sinking stalls sediment accumulation
The western coast of Siberia lacks river deltas because of the way the terrain has subsided since the end of the last ice age.
- Earth
Cat disease associated with flame retardants
An epidemic of hyperthyroidism in house cats may be the result of environmental exposure to certain flame retardants.
- Earth
It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature
Throwing tiny particles into the atmosphere to counteract global warming could cause extended droughts and other weather disruptions.
- Earth
Cellulose Dreams
Turning cellulose from plants into ethanol for fuel could help lower greenhouse-gas emissions—but the conversion is far from straightforward.
- Earth
How reading may protect the brain
People who read well show more resistance to the toxic brain effects of lead exposure.
- Agriculture
Living Rust
Mention rust, and most of us think of the oxidized metal that signals the aging and decay of cars, fences, and bolts on the backyard deck. However, many plants also suffer from rust—in this case, fungal diseases named for their characteristic reddish-orange color. With a particularly virulent example known as Ug99 (see Wheat Warning—New Rust […]
- Earth
Drug Overflow: Pharmaceutical factories foul waters in India
A treatment plant in India that processes waste from drug factories feeds enormous amounts of antibiotics and other drugs into local waterways.
