Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
It’s a Rough World
Scientists are using fractals, mathematical forms that can describe objects with fractional dimensions, to model phenomena such as wildfire propagation and the spread of toxic fluids through rocks and soil.
- Earth
Algae do battle with bioweaponry
Beneath the frozen surface of Sweden's lakes, algae wage wars over nutrients, and one combatant apparently prevails by releasing chemicals toxic to its adversaries.
- Earth
Toxic Pfiesteria inhabit foreign waters
The notorious Pfiesteria microbes, implicated in fish kills and human illness along the mid-Atlantic U.S. coast, have turned up in Norway.
- Earth
Earth’s inner core could include silicon
Laboratory experiments investigating the crystal structure of iron-silicon alloys at high temperatures and pressures may yield new insights into the mineral composition of Earth's core.
- 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.
