Earth
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Environment
Fracking chemicals can alter mouse development
Hormone-disrupting chemicals used in fracking fluid cause developmental changes in mice, new experiments show.
By Beth Mole -
Materials Science
Suds turn silver nanoparticles in clothes into duds
Bleach-containing detergents destroy antibacterial silver nanoparticles that coat clothes.
By Beth Mole -
Climate
Antarctic ice shelves rapidly melting
Melting around Antarctica is accelerating, with several ice shelves projected to vanish entirely within 100 years.
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Chemistry
Air pollution molecules make key immune protein go haywire
Reactive molecules in air pollution derail immune responses in the lung and can trigger life-long asthma.
By Beth Mole -
Life
A vineyard’s soil influences the microbiome of a grapevine
Vineyard soil microbes end up on grapes, leaves and flowers, study finds.
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Environment
Manganese turns honeybees into bumbling foragers
Ingesting low doses of the heavy metal manganese disrupts honeybee foraging, a new experiment suggests.
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Climate
Rain slows whipping hurricane winds
Taking raindrop drag into account — which may slow hurricane winds by as much as 30 percent — could help improve hurricane forecasts.
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Climate
Winter storms 24 times as deadly as estimated
By ignoring car and plane crashes related to bad weather, U.S. tallies of winter storm deadliness severely underestimate hazard.
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Paleontology
Rise of East African Plateau dated by whale fossil
A whale fossil is helping to pinpoint when the East African Plateau started to rise and how the uplift played a role in human evolution, scientists say.
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Climate
Arctic warming bolsters summer heat waves
Sagging storms brought on by rapid Arctic warming worsen summertime heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere.
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Agriculture
Cage free isn’t good enough for livestock, ‘The Modern Savage’ argues
Even on a small farm, life can be brutal for animals, historian and animal rights advocate says in new book.
By Beth Mole -
Environment
Replacement for toxic chemical in plastics, receipts may be just as toxic
Mounting evidence suggests that BPS, a common chemical in plastics, may cause the same health effects as BPA.
By Beth Mole