Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Damp sandcastles
What keeps the 500-meter-tall dunes of China's Badain Jaran desert immobile, despite arid, windy conditions, is a previously unknown source of groundwater.
- Earth
Salmon puzzle: Why did males turn female?
Most of the spawning female Chinook salmon in one part of the Columbia River appear to have started life as males.
- Earth
Dead zones may record river floods
Microorganisms that live in seafloor sediments deposited beneath periodically anoxic waters near the mouths of rivers could chronicle the years when those rivers flooded for extended periods.
- Earth
Lead’s a moving target at rifle ranges
The lead used in bullets and shotgun pellets can be a threat to the environment near rifle ranges but many of its hazards are manageable.
- Earth
Can Banking Carbon Cool the Greenhouse?
Stockpiling carbon dioxide in plants and soil may be effective only for the short term, if at all.
- Earth
Wafting pesticides taint far-flung frogs
Agricultural pesticides blowing into California's wilderness areas have played a role in mysterious declines in frog populations.
- Earth
New accord targets long-lived pollutants
Negotiators drafted an agreement to ban or phase out some of the world's most persistent and toxic pollutants.
- Earth
Choked Up: How dead zones affect fish reproduction
Some Gulf coast fish exposed to low oxygen are experiencing reproductive problems, and lab studies suggest that a particular protein that silences or reduces sex hormones may be to blame.
- 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.
