Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Contrails forecast on the horizon
Studies of the contrails generated by jets flying high over Alaska may lead to improved techniques for predicting the formation of the artificial clouds, which some scientists suggest have a warming effect on Earth's climate.
- Earth
Warm arctic summer melted much ice
Satellite observations of the Arctic Ocean show that the amount of sea ice there this year was the lowest it's been in more than 20 years.
- Earth
Warm arctic summer melted much ice
Satellite observations of the Arctic Ocean show that the amount of sea ice there this year was the lowest it's been in more than 20 years.
- Earth
Dust Up: Office bustle launches anthrax spores
The commotion of everyday business in indoor spaces contaminated with anthrax can launch the bacterium's dangerous spores into the air.
- Earth
Disaster Pix
If you’re one of those people who need to see the extent of intense weather events and great natural disasters–preferably as they are developing–this Web site is for you. Satellite images, provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Operational Significant Event Imagery division, portray hurricanes, dust storms, snowfall, forest fires, volcanic plumes, and much […]
- Earth
Ocean View
Ocean observatories have revealed unexpected discoveries, and now scientists want to widen the lens.
- Earth
Solving Hazy Mysteries
Aerosols such as smoke, soot, and sea spray make for hazy vistas and stunning sunrises, but they also play major roles in Earth's climate and atmospheric chemistry.
- Earth
Child-care sites, health threats
Federal agencies have completed the first national study of lead, pesticides, and allergens in U.S. child-care facilities.
- Earth
El Niños came more often in Middle Ages
Analyses of layered sediments from a South American lake suggest that the worldwide warm spells known as El Niños occurred more frequently about 1,200 years ago, when Europe was entering the Middle Ages, than they do today.
- Earth
Taming Toxic Tides
A growing international cadre of scientists is exploring a simple strategy for controlling toxic algal blooms: flinging dirt to sweep the algae from the water.
- Earth
Outside-In: Clearing up how cloud droplets freeze
A fresh look at old experimental data suggests that water droplets in clouds freeze from the outside inward rather than from their core outward.
- Earth
Rural living may hobble sperm
An epidemiological study provides evidence that sperm concentrations in men residing in rural areas are significantly lower than those of men living in urban centers.
