Earth

  1. Earth

    Exposure to phthalate may shorten pregnancy

    Babies exposed to a common phthalate plasticizer before birth spend a week less in the womb than do those without evidence of exposure.

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  2. Earth

    Product Health and Safety

    What’s under your kitchen sink, in your garage, in your bathroom, and on the shelves in your laundry room? Do these household products pose a potential health risk to you and your family? The National Library of Medicine’s new Household Products Database offers users information on the potential health effects of about 2,000 ingredients contained […]

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  3. Earth

    Indonesian reefs fell prey to fires

    The fires that swept through Indonesian rain forests late in 1997 apparently laid waste to some marine ecosystems, as well.

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  4. Earth

    Live from the Aquarium

    The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California offers Webcam views of its kelp forest, penguins, and sea otters, along with underwater glimpses of its open ocean exhibit and images of the ocean waters along Cannery Row, just off the aquarium’s decks. The cameras are on from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., PST, so they capture the […]

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  5. Agriculture

    Spying Genetically Engineered Crops

    Environmental Protection Agency scientists are exploring the use of satellites to monitor genetically engineered crops. At ground level, genetically modified corn plants don’t look any different from conventional ones, but data suggest that satellite sensors may be able to read different spectral signatures from the two types of the crop. USDA Most of these genetically […]

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  6. Earth

    Long Ride West: Many western sediments came from Appalachians

    Much of the material in several thick layers of sandstone in the western United States originated in the Appalachians.

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  7. Earth

    A late arrival for platinum and gold?

    An extraterrestrial source may explain why Earth's mantle holds more platinum, gold, and certain other elements than it should.

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  8. Earth

    Strange crystal birth found in mine

    Deep in a Wisconsin mine, researchers have uncovered a new way for crystals to grow in nature.

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  9. Earth

    Nonstick but not nontoxic

    A proliferating pollutant shed by nonstick products and surfactants caused neonatal deaths and developmental impairments in tests with rodents.

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  10. Earth

    Testing computers’ hazardous potential

    The approved test for evaluating the ability of wastes to leach toxic metals fails to identify lead risks from some electronics equipment.

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  11. Earth

    Big worries about little tubes

    The size and chemical makeup of some nanotubes being developed for industrial operations resemble mineral fibers, including asbestos, that pose a serious cancer risk.

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  12. Earth

    Clearing the Air: Ozone-killing bromine is on the decline

    Chemical analyses of Earth's lower atmosphere show that the overall concentration of bromine, a component of some potent ozone-destroying chemicals, has dropped by 5 percent since peaking in 1998.

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