Earth
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- Earth
Every six years, Earth spins slightly faster and then slower
Changes in day length linked to workings of Earth's core.
- Earth
Faults can reseal months after quakes
Measurements in southern China find quick healing of fractured rock.
- Chemistry
High methane in drinking water near fracking sites
Well construction and geology may both play a role in pollution.
- Earth
Cleaner air may have brought more storms
Pollution during the 20th century appears to have suppressed North Atlantic hurricanes.
- Earth
Satellite captures Earth’s greenery
Orbiting camera detects reflected light to determine the extent of the planet's vegetation.
- Life
Primitive fish could nod but not shake its head
Ancient fossils reveal surprises about early vertebrate necks, abdominal muscles.
- Climate
Southwest’s monsoon season may heat up with the climate
Warmer temperatures may bring stronger rainy seasons over the long term, study finds.
- Life
Invasive frogs may spread deadly amphibian fungus
African clawed frogs imported for 20th century pregnancy tests apparently communicate B. dendrobatidis to native species.
- Oceans
Glacier melt causes large fraction of sea level rise
From 2003 to 2009, thawing ice nearly as large a contributor to oceans as massive sheets at poles, researchers find in new analysis.
- Earth
Groundwater isolated for eons
At least 1.5 billion years after it last saw the surface, flowing liquid may host life.
- Climate
Warming may not release Arctic carbon
Element could stay locked in soil, 20-year study suggests.
