Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Mount St. Helens is a cold-hearted volcano
Geophysics reveals that deep beneath Mount St. Helens, there’s no source of hot magma, just a wedge of cold serpentinite rock. Where is the missing heat?
- Earth
The southern San Andreas has a smaller, neighboring fault to its west
The newly-discovered Salton Trough Fault runs parallel to the southern San Andreas Fault in California, potentially affecting the region’s earthquake risk.
- Earth
‘A Most Improbable Journey’ offers scientific take on human history
Walter Alvarez’s “A Most Improbable Journey” gives readers a tour of “Big History,” linking human history to unpredictable cosmic, geologic and biological events.
- Climate
Climate change shifts how long ants hang on to coveted real estate
Simulated climate warming reveals a new pattern in turnover of ant nests.
- Climate
Wanted: New ways to chill air conditioners, fridges
A new amendment to the Montreal Protocol will phase out potent greenhouse gases currently used in air conditioners and refrigerators, prompting a hunt for eco-friendly alternatives.
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- Earth
There’s a new way to stop an earthquake: put a volcano in its path
An earthquake rupturing along a fault in Japan was blockaded by the magma chamber below the Mount Aso volcano, researchers propose.
- Oceans
Reef rehab could help threatened corals make a comeback
Reefs are under threat from rising ocean temperatures. Directed spawning, microfragmenting and selective breeding may help.
- Climate
Extreme lightning events set records
A lightning flash stretching 321 kilometers across and one that lasted 7.74 seconds have been named the most extreme events on record, thanks to a new rule change.
- Life
Ocean archaea more vulnerable to deep-sea viruses than bacteria
Deep-sea viruses kill archaea disproportionately more often than bacteria, a killing spree with important impacts on the global carbon cycle.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, noise was a nuisance (it still is)
In 1966, scientists warned of the physical and psychological dangers of a louder world.
- Animals
Bees take longer to learn floral odors polluted by vehicle fumes
Car and truck exhaust mingling with a floral scent can slow down the important process of honeybees learning the fragrance of a flower.
