Earth
- Environment
Mercury contamination in California to last 10,000 years
Toxic remnants of gold rush will seep into San Francisco area waterways for millennia.
- Earth
Trees mark the spot of buried gold
Tiny bits of the precious metal in eucalyptus leaves indicate treasure lurks belowground.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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- Climate
Humans found guilty in climate change
International panel’s confidence increases that society is responsible for global warming.
- Oceans
Greenland Sea warming faster than world ocean
Deep water temperature of Greenland Sea rises 0.3 degrees Celsius in 30 years.
- Earth
Oxygen wafted into Earth’s atmosphere earlier than thought
Date pushed back to 3 billion years ago, suggesting photosynthesis had evolved by then.
- Environment
Pregnant women carry fewer traces of flame retardants
Class of toxins linked to IQ deficits dropped drastically in three years, a new study shows.
