Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
The Long Burn: Warming drove recent upswing in wildfires
Major forest fires in the western United States have become more frequent and destructive over the past two decades, in step with rising average temperatures in the region.
- Earth
Underwater landslides tallied near Puerto Rico
An oceanographic survey off the northern coast of Puerto Rico has found remnants of many underwater landslides, a handful of which were large enough to have caused deadly tsunamis.
- Earth
Fast-food flies ferry foul fauna
Houseflies buzzing around fast-food restaurants could be spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
- Earth
Asian sediments betray age of nearby desert
Grains of silt embedded in thick sediments of northwestern China may settle a debate about the age of the Taklimakan Desert.
- Earth
Dirty Little Secret
Recognition is growing that many communities have soils laced with asbestos, which has prodded several federal agencies to probe the hazards they might pose.
- Earth
Toxic Leftovers: Microbes convert flame retardant
Bacteria can break down a common flame retardant into more-toxic forms.
- Earth
Something’s fishy about these hormones
Synthetic steroids used to beef up cattle can impair reproduction in female fish and even give them macho physical traits.
- Earth
Main source of airborne pollen varies by month
A 15-year study conducted in the New York City area charts how air concentrations of different types of allergy-causing pollen vary throughout an average year.
- Earth
Mineral Deposit: Asbestos linked to lupus, arthritis
Already known to cause lung cancer, asbestos has now been associated with three autoimmune diseases.
- Earth
Cleaning up pollution, whey down deep
Lab and field tests hint that dairy whey, a lactose-rich by-product of the dairy industry, could be used to clean up underground water supplies tainted by the solvent trichloroethylene.
- Earth
Subglacial lakes may not be isolated ecosystems
Large volumes of water may occasionally flow between the lakes that lie deep beneath Antarctica's kilometers-thick ice sheet.
- Earth
Gasp! Ozone limits don’t protect babies
In healthy infants, even ozone concentrations well below those allowed by federal law trigger asthmalike symptoms.
