Earth

  1. Earth

    Gooey rock in mantle thickens 1,000 kilometers down

    Gravitational tugs provide an unprecedented peek into the structure of Earth’s mantle and reveal a sudden increase in viscosity roughly 1,000 kilometers below ground.

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  2. Climate

    Global carbon emissions fell in 2015, despite economic growth

    Society’s carbon footprint fell slightly in 2015, largely due to decrease coal consumption in China, researchers report.

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  3. Paleontology

    New dating of dino ancestor challenges Triassic timeline

    New dates for geologic layers of well-known fossil formation show that dinosaurs and their ancient relatives were separated by less time than researchers thought.

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  4. Climate

    Warming culprit CO2 has a cool side — and it’s in Antarctica

    Rising CO2 levels above central Antarctica cause cooling, not warming, new research suggests. The odd effect results from surface temperatures that are colder than the overlying stratosphere.

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  5. Earth

    Humankind’s water use greater than thought

    Humans’ global water footprint increases when accounting for water losses from water management practices.

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  6. 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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  7. 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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  8. 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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  9. 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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  10. 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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  11. 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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  12. 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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