Earth
- Agriculture
Readers debate GMOs
Genetically-modified food, nuclear fusion, black holes and more reader feedback.
- Agriculture
Wine quality subject to climate change
Wine quality could suffer as climate change desynchronizes warm temperatures and droughts, preventing grape growers from harvesting at the optimum time.
- Agriculture
Climate change threatens quality of French, Swiss wines
Wine quality could suffer as climate change desynchronizes warm temperatures and droughts, preventing grape growers from harvesting at the optimum time.
- Earth
CO2 shakes up theory of how geysers spout
Carbon dioxide helps fuel eruptions of Spouter Geyser, and perhaps other features, in Yellowstone National Park, new research suggests.
- Climate
Antarctic history suggests ice sheet ‘danger’ threshold
Carbon dioxide levels during the Antarctic ice sheet’s formation 34 million years ago suggest that Earth could soon enter “danger zone” for ice sheet’s demise.
- Quantum Physics
Finding wonders in fat
In the latest issue of Science News, Editor in Chief Eva Emerson talks fat cells, thermodynamics, and lead poisoning.
- Oceans
Swirls of plankton decorate the Arabian Sea
The dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans is taking over in the Arabian Sea, posing a potential threat to its ecosystem.
- Climate
Earlier blooming intensifies spring heat waves in Europe
The early arrival of spring plants due to climate change amplifies springtime heat waves in Europe, new climate simulations suggest.
- Climate
Hurricane frequency dropped during 17th century ‘Little Ice Age’
Atlantic hurricane activity fell around 75 percent when the sun dimmed from 1645 to 1715, a new analysis of shipwrecks and tree rings suggests.
- Animals
Parasites help brine shrimp survive toxic waters
When brine shrimp are infected with tapeworms, the tiny aquatic organisms survive better in warm waters and in those laced with toxic arsenic.
- Oceans
Magnetism from underwater power cables doesn’t deter sea life
High-voltage power cables that ferry electricity across the seafloor do not negatively impact local fish and crabs, new studies show.
- Environment
Low levels of radiation from Fukushima persist in seafood
Aquatic species in Japan contain low levels of radioactive cesium, but some freshwater species risk high contamination.
