Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Even Nunavut gets plenty of dioxin
Within a few weeks, some of the dioxin generated by industrial activities in the United States and Mexico falls out in the high Arctic.
- Earth
Two microbes team up to munch methane
Aggregates of two different microorganisms in methane-bearing ocean sediments collected off the Oregon coast appear to collaborate to consume methane despite a lack of oxygen.
- Earth
The Making of a Grand Canyon
Carving this beloved hole in the ground may not have been such a long-term project.
- Earth
Model offers grounds for midwestern quakes
A new computer model may help explain how earthquakes can happen at fault zones located far from the edges of a tectonic plate.
- Earth
Strange crystal birth found in mine
Deep in a Wisconsin mine, researchers have uncovered a new way for crystals to grow in nature.
- Earth
A late arrival for platinum and gold?
An extraterrestrial source may explain why Earth's mantle holds more platinum, gold, and certain other elements than it should.
- Earth
High-Flying Science, with Strings Attached
In the hands of scientists, kites do serious data gathering.
- Earth
Small quake shakes up hydrothermal vents
Long-term, post-earthquake fluctuations in the temperature and volume of water spewing from hydrothermal vents off the coast of Washington state suggest that the fluid flow feeding such vents may be much more complex than previously thought.
- Earth
Bt corn pollen can hurt monarchs
A second test of a strain of corn genetically engineered to make its own insecticide finds potential for harm to monarch butterfly caterpillars.
- Earth
Girls may face risks from phthalates
The high incidence of premature breast development in Puerto Rican girls has been linked with phthalates, a family of ubiquitous pollutants found in plastics, lubricants, and solvents.
- Earth
Cooking up a key chemical of life
Researchers have simulated the conditions and ingredients found at hydrothermal vents to create pyruvic acid, an organic chemical vital for cellular metabolism.
- Earth
Greenland ice variation appears normal
Changes in snowfall observed in parts of southern Greenland between 1978 and 1988 appear to be normal if gauged against the variations recorded in ice cores over the past 400 years.
