Earth

  1. Earth

    Pioneering geologist sought to demystify volcanic eruptions

    In The Last Volcano, a geologist profiles Thomas Jaggar, one of the 20th century’s most influential volcanologists.

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  2. Earth

    Don’t flip out: Earth’s magnetic poles aren’t about to switch

    Earth’s waning magnetic field is returning to its long-term average, not heading toward a catastrophic magnetic reversal, new lava analysis suggests.

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  3. Climate

    Thinning ice leads to winter warming in the Arctic

    Thinning Arctic sea ice could boost heat-trapping water vapor in the air during autumn and winter, leading to more ice loss.

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  4. Animals

    Getting creative to cut methane from cows

    Changing feed, giving vaccines and selective breeding may enable scientists to help beef and dairy cattle shake their title as one of society's worst methane producers.

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  5. Life

    Truffles aren’t laced with radioactive cesium

    Fallout from the Chernobyl disaster hasn’t made truffles dangerously radioactive, scientists find.

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  6. Plants

    Genetic battle of the sexes plays out in cukes and melons

    Genetics reveals new approach to preventing inbred seeds and encouraging more fruitful crops.

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  7. Climate

    Geoengineering is world’s last hope, new book argues

    Geoengineering is humankind’s only viable solution to curb climate change impacts, a journalist contends in The Planet Remade.

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  8. Life

    ‘Racing Extinction’ documents plight of endangered species

    The new documentary "Racing Extinction" offers hope that people can halt the sixth mass extinction.

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  9. Earth

    Earth’s water originated close to home, lava analysis suggests

    Scarcity of a hydrogen isotope called deuterium in molten rock from Earth’s depths suggests that the planet’s H2O originated from water-logged dust during formation, not comets.

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  10. Paleontology

    Land life spared in Permian extinction, geologists argue

    New rock layer dating in South Africa’s Karoo Basin suggests that extinctions of land species didn’t coincide with the Permian extinction around 252 million years ago.

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  11. Climate

    Kangaroo farts may not be so eco-friendly after all

    Kangaroos fart methane, but not much thanks to the metabolism of gut microbes

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  12. Science & Society

    Quantum spookiness, magnetic mysteries and more feedback

    Letters and comments from readers on quantum spookiness, Earth's magnetic field, and more.

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