Earth

  1. Earth

    Wet terrain responsible for Iceland’s hollow lava towers

    Normally found underwater, the rocky structures form on land too.

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  2. Climate

    Tiny shells hint at hidden ocean warming

    Pacific waters are heating up 15 times faster than in earlier eras.

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  3. Earth

    Pressure patterns could portend heat waves

    High-pressure systems may help scientists forecast temperature hikes 15 to 20 days out.

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  4. Environment

    Polluted water interferes with drug that combats parasitic scourge

    Arsenic contamination fuels resistance to one treatment for leishmaniasis.

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  5. Environment

    Mercury contamination in California to last 10,000 years

    Toxic remnants of gold rush will seep into San Francisco area waterways for millennia.

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  6. Earth

    Trees mark the spot of buried gold

    Tiny bits of the precious metal in eucalyptus leaves indicate treasure lurks belowground.

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  7. Environment

    Feedback

    Readers respond to "Solving soot," trade-offs of horn size for male Soay sheep and the huge galactic explosion story from 50 years ago.

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  8. Agriculture

    Fertilizer has staying power

    Nitrogen-based fertilizer may remain in the soil for eight decades, complicating efforts to reduce pollution from runoff into rivers.

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  9. Climate

    Tropics to launch into uncharted climate territory by 2038

    Global temperatures will take a permanent leap above historical bounds by 2047 if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, a simulation suggests.

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  10. Earth

    African dust once fertilized the Everglades

    Humans aren't the only source of nutrients for Florida’s wetlands. African dust may have fertilized the region thousands of years ago.

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  11. Earth

    Deep network

    The NEPTUNE observatory — a ring of six underwater research stations connected to the Internet with fiber optic cables — is the first online observatory to brave the depths of the abyss.

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  12. Earth

    Quake forms island in Arabian Sea

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