Earth

  1. Climate

    Extreme heat on the rise

    Recent years saw an increase in peak high temperatures on land despite Earth’s stalled averages.

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  2. Environment

    Handling receipts increases exposure to BPA

    People who handle cash register receipts printed on thermal paper show notable exposure to bisphenol A.

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  3. Earth

    Age of Earth’s crust confirmed

    Decaying atoms traced in zircon uphold dating of Earth's crust at about 4.374 billion years old.

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  4. Environment

    Legionnaires’ disease bacteria lurk in tap water

    Found in nearly half of faucets, contamination could explain sporadic cases of disease.

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  5. Animals

    Fish lose their fear on a denuded reef

    Juvenile damselfish lose their ability to smell danger when in a degraded habitat.

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  6. Life

    Big study raises worries about bees trading diseases

    Pathogens may jump from commercial colonies to the wild.

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  7. Oceans

    Unknowns linger for sea mining

    Scientists struggle to predict underwater digs’ effects on sea life.

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  8. Earth

    Magma spends most of its existence as sludgy mush

    Volcanic magma may spend most of its time in a chunky state resembling cold porridge, a new study finds.

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  9. Climate

    Sharks could serve as ocean watchdogs

    Tagged with sensors, toothy fish gather weather and climate data in remote Pacific waters.

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  10. Ecosystems

    Arctic melting may help parasites infect new hosts

    Grey seals and beluga whales encounter killer microbes as ranges change.

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  11. Environment

    How oil breaks fish hearts

    Hydrocarbons that spill into oceans stifle the beat of tuna cardiac cells.

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  12. Earth

    The Sixth Extinction

    On only five occasions in Earth’s long history has a large fraction of the planet’s biodiversity disappeared in a geological instant. But, journalist Kolbert reminds us in her new book, we are well on our way to making it six.

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