Earth

Earth

DDT linked to miscarriages

A study of Chinese women finds that the pesticide DDT can not only affect menstrual cycles but also foster miscarriages very early in pregnancy.

Earth

Can phthalates subtly alter boys?

Researchers have linked a mom's exposure to phthalates with a genital marker in boys suggesting a subtle feminization of their reproductive organs.

Agriculture

Frozen Assets

A U.S. gene bank has begun deep-freezing semen and other livestock 'seed' for possible future use in research or breeding.

Earth

Pesticide Disposal Goes Green

Chemists have developed a new technology to safely clean up toxic agricultural pesticides and a whole lot more.

Earth

Fighting Water with Water: To lift the city, pump the sea beneath Venice

With technology commonly used in oil fields, engineers could inject large volumes of seawater into sandy strata deep beneath Venice, Italy, to reverse the ground subsidence that plagues the city.

Earth

Lemon-scented products spawn pollutants

Some fragrances used in home-care products can play a role in generating potentially harmful air pollution.

Earth

Dioxin-type carcinogens pose additive risks

Pollutants known as dioxins, furans, and certain chemically related polychlorinated biphenyls have additive cancer-causing effects when mixed together, as has been assumed in calculating the chemicals' health risks.

Earth

Chalk reveals greatest underwater landslide

Seismic waves generated by an extraterrestrial object crashing into Mexico 65 million years ago appear to have sent sediment from shallow waters sliding off the continental shelf.

Agriculture

Learning from Studs

Livestock gene banks offer dividends to researchers hoping to milk higher profits out of dairying.

Earth

Life Landed 2.6 Billion Years Ago

Unusually carbon-rich rocks found in eastern South Africa may push back the evidence of life on land to 2.6 billion years ago, more than twice the current age of indisputably terrestrial organisms.

Earth

Change in the Weather? Wind farms might affect local climates

Large groups of power-generating windmills could increase wind speed, temperature, and ground-level evaporation, thereby influencing a region's climate.

Earth

Extra rainfall may stem warming in Midwest

Increased precipitation in parts of the Midwest may reduce the temperature increases expected to occur in the next few decades as a result of global warming.