Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Estrogens classified as carcinogens
The sex hormones known as steroidal estrogens, which are used in hormone-replacement therapies and birth control pills, have joined a government list of known human carcinogens.
- Earth
Contraceptive ring could pose risks after its disposal
Discarded vaginal contraceptive rings could interfere with fishes' reproduction by releasing estrogen into streams.
- Earth
Snow alga may be sizable carbon sink
A common microorganism that adds a reddish tinge to some patches of snow may be a significant consumer of planet-warming carbon dioxide.
- Earth
Earth Art
Brilliant, colorful patches of Earth, as seen in photographs snapped by the Landsat-7 satellite, can look like the work of abstract artists. A number of these beautiful, high-resolution images have now been assembled into an online gallery depicting “Our Earth as Art.” Go to: http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/earthasart/
- Earth
Northern Vents: Arctic shows surprising hydrothermal activity
A recent survey along a midocean ridge beneath the Arctic icepack unveiled an unexpected abundance of hydrothermal activity.
- Earth
Predicting geomagnetic storms
Recent observations with an Earth-orbiting spacecraft may provide new ways to predict when solar temper tantrums will cause the geomagnetic storms that disrupt communications systems on Earth and harm satellites.
- Earth
Rivers run to it
Increasing freshwater discharges into Arctic waters could disrupt important patterns of deep-water ocean circulation that affect climate.
- Earth
Hawaii’s Hated Frogs
Wildlife officials in Hawaii are investigating unconventional pesticides to eradicate invasive frogs—or at least to check their advance.
- Earth
Sulfur Studies: Early Earth’s air was oxygen-poor
Analyses of ancient sulfide minerals and the modern organisms that create sulfides are giving scientists a better idea of what Earth's atmosphere and oceans may have been like billions of years ago.
- Earth
Mapping with GRACE
Global gravity maps compiled from data painstakingly gathered during the last 30 years have now been rendered obsolete by a pair of satellites that were launched just last March.
- Earth
Mercurial Effects of Fish-Rich Diets
In the spring of 2000, one of Jane M. Hightower’s patients had been concerned about hair loss, so the internist referred the woman to a specialist in her building. That dermatologist probed the woman’s medical history but could find no explanation. That is, until she suddenly recalled a radio broadcast about mercury poisoning in people […]
- Earth
Life at the Frigid Edge: Microbes turn up deep in Antarctic lake ice
A pocket of cold, concentrated saltwater at the bottom of an Antarctic lake could harbor life, say researchers who found microbes in the ice right above the briny layer.
