Earth

Earth

Finding fault for an old earthquake

Scientists in Southern California believe they've found evidence that finally identifies the source of one of the region's largest quakes, a magnitude 7-plus temblor that struck the area on Dec. 21, 1812.

Earth

Satellites could help track sea level

Experiments that used signals from Global Positioning System satellites to precisely measure altitude above a lake's surface may pave the way for fleets of spaceborne sensors that can quickly and inexpensively monitor local and global changes in sea level.

Earth

Beefy Losses

Cattle ranchers are facing some puzzling–and, at times, economically devastating–problems with pregnant cows and calves. At some facilities, high numbers of fetuses are aborting for no apparent reason. Other farmers successfully raise what look to be normal young cattle, only to learn when the animals are butchered that their carcasses appear old and, therefore, less […]

Earth

Bolts from the blue can have long reach

Current U.S. Air Force operating procedures recommend personnel stop working outdoors when lightning is spotted within 5 nautical miles, but a new analysis suggests that this distance may not be adequate to fully protect aircraft and ground crews.

Earth

Southeastern Alaska is on the rebound

Scientists using the Global Positioning System to track ground movement along faults in southeastern Alaska have measured something entirely different—the rapid rise of parts of the region due to the recent melting of glaciers.

Earth

Global warming to boost cotton yields

The increase of carbon dioxide expected in the coming decades may boost cotton yields up to 26 percent, new models predict.

Earth

Toxic metals taint ancient dust

A new study of dust lofted to Antarctica suggests that excess amounts of trace metals coated dust grains long before human industrial activity began loading the atmosphere with pollutants.

Earth

Turbulence leads to early rain of ash

A new aerodynamic analysis suggests that chaotic turbulence in a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash can cause small particles of the ash to clump together and fall to the ground much closer to the volcano than expected.

Earth

Hormones: Here’s the Beef

Runoff of the hormones excreted by steroid-treated livestock could subtly harm aquatic life.

Earth

It’s bottoms up for iron at sea’s surface

Sediments drilled from the seafloor off Antarctica suggest that the dissolved iron in surface waters that fuels much of the region's biological productivity comes from upwelling deep water currents, not from dust blowing off the continents.

Earth

Forest-soil fungi emit gases that harm ozone layer

Laboratory tests reveal for the first time that certain types of common fungi can produce ozone-destroying methyl halide gases.

Earth

Early last month, the iceberg cracked

A huge crack across the floating portion of an Antarctic glacier has cleaved the ice shelf and spawned a new iceberg much more quickly than scientists had expected.