Earth

  1. Earth

    Lightning creates radiation-safe zone

    A relatively safe region within the seas of radiation that surround Earth owes its existence to lightning storms.

    By
  2. Earth

    Breeding Parasites Along with Fish: Do sea lice from salmon farms spread far?

    Marine parasites known as sea lice spread readily from farmed salmon to passing wild fish, according to a controversial study conducted in British Columbia.

    By
  3. Earth

    Hit Again: December temblor probably caused new Sumatran quakes

    Seismic activity that rattled the Indonesian region early this week, including a quake that measured a whopping magnitude 8.7, was triggered by December's massive tsunami-spawning earthquake, scientists suggest.

    By
  4. Earth

    Volume of glaciers and ice caps is estimated

    New topographic data have enabled scientists to estimate the volume of water trapped in the ice caps and glaciers outside of Antarctica and Greenland and to predict how high the sea level would rise if this ice melted.

    By
  5. Earth

    An Ounce of Pollution: Particles’ harm varies by person, region, season

    A gram of small, air-polluting particles has deadlier effects in certain seasons and regions of the country than in others, and particulate pollutants may disrupt heart function most in people who already have cardiovascular problems.

    By
  6. Earth

    Paint additive hammers coral

    A pesticidal additive in the paint applied to ship hulls may be contributing to the worldwide decline of corals.

    By
  7. Earth

    A Whiff of Danger

    Synthetic fragrance chemicals can inhibit the activity of molecules that cells depend on to eject harmful substances.

    By
  8. Earth

    Nano Hazards: Exposure to minute particles harms lungs, circulatory system

    Inhaling microscopic nanospheres and nanotubes, as might occur during their manufacture or commercial use, could trigger damage well beyond the lungs.

    By
  9. Earth

    What’s in the Dirt?

    Curious about the abundance of various chemical elements in the area where you live? The U.S. Geological Survey offers a database of more than 60,000 chemical analyses of stream sediment and soil in different parts of the United States. Color-coded maps provide county-by-county data on the concentrations of such elements as mercury, arsenic, selenium, and […]

    By
  10. Earth

    Warm Spell: Arctic algae record shift in climate

    Analyses of sediment samples taken from remote arctic lakes indicate that the climate across large swaths of the Northern Hemisphere has been warming for many decades.

    By
  11. Earth

    Baking dirt to predict erosion after a fire

    Lab tests suggest that a wide variety of soils exposed to the heat of intense wildfires end up with a similar resistance to erosion, a finding that may help scientists model that process more accurately.

    By
  12. Earth

    Winged solution to biopollution?

    Government officials have released alien moths in hopes that they will rein in the spread of an aggressive climbing fern now invading some 100,000 acres in south Florida.

    By