Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Ozone hole might not recover until the year 2065
The ozone-free zone that develops high in the atmosphere over Antarctica each summer as the result of the presence of chlorine- and bromine-containing chemicals may not heal until 15 years later than previously projected.
- Earth
Lab tests hint at where xenon hides out
Results of recent experiments in which scientists squeezed a mixture of xenon and powdered quartz at high temperatures and pressures may explain why the gas is found at relatively low concentrations in the atmosphere.
- Earth
TB Dilemma: Badger refugees complicate culling
Two new analyses bring an ironic twist to the heated debate over whether badgers in Britain should be killed to prevent them from spreading tuberculosis among cattle.
- Earth
Glacial Change: Greenland’s ice loss doubled in 2005
A host of observations suggests that Greenland's ice sheet diminished this year at a rate more than twice that seen just a few years ago.
- Earth
Microbe polishes off pollutant
Researchers have determined how long a pesticide residue would remain in the environment if the microbe Pseudomonas pavonaceae didn't metabolize it.
- Earth
Changes in the Air
Changes in the atmospheric concentration of oxygen through geologic time, some gradual and some drastic, have strongly shaped evolution among many types of creatures.
- Earth
Is Teddy a pollution magnet?
Stuffed toys can accumulate high concentrations of potentially toxic air pollutants.
- Earth
Elevated pesticide threatens amphibians
The survival of certain mountain-dwelling amphibians may be threatened by toxic pesticides that are blown uphill from distant agricultural lands in California's Central Valley.
- Agriculture
Organic Doesn’t Mean Free of Pesticides
Even organic produce, especially root crops, can carry trace residues of long-banned pesticides.
- Earth
Nonstick Taints: Fluorochemicals are in us all
A new federal study strongly suggests that all U.S. residents harbor measurable traces of fluorochemicals, compounds found in a host of consumer products.
- Earth
Roots of Climate: Plants’ water transport cools Amazon basin
Field tests in the Amazon have for the first time measured daily and seasonal movements of soil moisture through the deep roots of trees.
- Earth
Antibiotics afield
Antibiotics shed by livestock in manure can end up in crops or bound to soil, where they can foster disease-resistant germs.
