Earth

  1. Oceans

    Plastic may take unexpected routes to marine garbage patches

    By redefining ocean boundaries, researchers offer new insight to how litter moves through the oceans and who’s to blame for the floating clumps of trash.

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  2. Physics

    Unusual turbulence seen along North Carolina coast

    Storm winds in Currituck Sound, North Carolina, may have created just the right conditions for scientists to see a rare type of turbulence in ocean waves for the first time.

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  3. Earth

    Death Valley’s sailing stones caught on the move

    Mysterious sailing stones wandering around Death Valley are powered by ice and wind.

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  4. Materials Science

    Greener water splitter for hydrogen fuel designed

    A new gadget that runs on a single AAA battery might truly reduce the carbon emissions from hydrogen fuel cell production down to zero.

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  5. Earth

    Sometimes value lies deep below the surface

    Stories on jellyfish, Ebola, carbon capture's future and heart disease's past reveal how crises old and new often lead to science's healthiest advances.

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  6. Life

    Feedback

    Readers discuss Dulles' microscapes exhibit, baby birthweights and what should be done about the triclosan problem.

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  7. Environment

    Carbon capture and storage finally approaching debut

    Carbon capture and storage offers a way to rein in global carbon emissions. But financial and regulatory obstacles, as well as public fears, are delaying the technology’s long-awaited implementation.

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  8. Animals

    Seeing past the jellyfish sting

    Jellies don’t get nearly as much love as their cousins, the corals, but they deserve credit for providing homes to some creatures, dinner to others and more. They’re an integral part of the oceans.

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  9. Climate

    Multiple oceans may help stall global warming

    The Atlantic and Southern oceans, not the Pacific, may be largely to blame for the recent pause in rising global temperatures.

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  10. Oceans

    Viruses might tame some algal blooms

    The rapid demise of a giant, carbon-spewing algal bloom points to the influence of viral wranglers.

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  11. Agriculture

    Killer bug behind coconut plague identified

    A pest has devastated coconuts in the Philippines, and scientists now realize the perp is not the bug they thought was causing the damage.

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  12. Environment

    Fetuses may be exposed to antimicrobial compounds

    Health risks remain uncertain as scientists find common soap chemicals in pregnant women and cord blood.

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