Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Climate
Meat-eaters’ greenhouse gas emissions are twice as high as vegans’
Meat-eaters dietary GHG emissions are twice as high as those of vegans, a study finds.
- Earth
Oklahoma earthquakes triggered by wastewater injection
Dumping wastewater from the oil and gas industry into disposal wells may have set off swarm of earthquakes in Oklahoma.
- Environment
Plastic goes missing at sea
A survey of the world’s oceans finds far less polymer trash than expected, and researchers don’t know where the rest of the plastic is.
- Animals
Emperor penguin population could decline by 2100
Emperor penguins’ reign over Antarctic sea ice could be in decline by the beginning of the 22nd century.
- Earth
Wavy jet stream linked with extreme weather
Extreme weather events have been linked with big waves in the jet stream.
- Environment
Triclosan may spoil wastewater treatment
Common antimicrobial could make microbes more drug resistant and less efficient at breaking down sewage sludge in municipal treatment plants.
- Environment
E-cigarettes may inflame lungs as much as cigarettes do
Acute lung impacts of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes are nearly identical, new study finds.
- Earth
Earth’s deep interior holds vast reservoir of water
Ocean’s worth of water trapped in Earth’s mantle, lab experiments and seismic data suggest.
- Earth
Rock made of plastic turns up on Hawaii beach
A new type of rock made from trash could mark human's impact on Earth in the future rock record.
- Agriculture
Fertilizer produces far more greenhouse gas than expected
Farmers’ overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizers may explain previously puzzling high emissions of nitrous oxide.
- Health & Medicine
Health risks of e-cigarettes emerge
Research uncovers a growing list of chemicals that end up in an e-cigarette user’s lungs, and one study finds that an e-cigarette’s vapors can increase the virulence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
- Oceans
Dusk heralds a feeding frenzy in the waters off Oahu
Even dolphins benefit when layers of organisms in the water column overlap for a short period.
