Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Cars’ ammonia may sabotage tailpipe gains
Though cars' catalytic converters clean up some of the acidic contributors to urban haze and particulates pollution, a subset of these pollution-control devices seems to foster the production of ammonia, another pivotal ingredient in haze and particulates.
- Earth
Wildfires spread across a parched West
Dozens of lightning-sparked wildfires seared the western United States last week, adding hundreds of thousands of acres of charred terrain to a tally that promises to make this fire season the worst in recent decades.
- Earth
Where’s Waldo . . . and 6 billion others?
Scientists have combined satellite imagery and detailed census data to develop a worldwide database that can provide estimates of the number of people located in areas on a grid that has boxes with areas of 1 square kilometer or less.
- Earth
Early web-footed bird made impression
Researchers have discovered the fossil tracks of an otherwise unknown bird in 110-million-year-old sediments, which pushes back evidence of web-footed birds by at least 25 million years.
- Earth
Solving one mystery of polar wander
Long-term fluctuations in pressure at the ocean's bottom may be the driving force for the Chandler wobble, which causes the North Pole to wander about 20 feet every 14 months or so.
- Earth
Lack of spring snowpack bodes ill for many
NASA satellite images released last week confirmed that the northern United States had much less snow cover than normal this spring, following North America's warmest winter on record.
- Earth
Estrogen effects linger in male fish
Male fish can inappropriately make egg yolk protein, even when only intermittently exposed to water tainted with an estrogenic pollutant.
- Earth
Death for the killer seaweed
Biologists have launched a campaign to eradicate the first infestation in open American waters of an invasive mutant algae.
- Earth
Newfound gas is greenhouse powerhouse
Scientists have detected in the atmosphere for the first time a gas that traps heat more effectively than any other previously found there.
- Earth
Living routes to toxic routs
Scientists are developing novel techniques for removing perchlorate, a potentially carcinogenic pollutant, from water.
- Earth
China: A mercury megapolluter
China's heavy reliance on coal burning makes it a world leader in mercury air pollution.
- Earth
Methylmercury’s toxic toll
More than 60,000 children are born each year with neurodevelopmental impairments due to their prenatal exposure to methylmercury.
