Earth

  1. Earth

    Magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits Virginia

    The region's largest tremor in recent history hit northwest of Richmond, felt over much of the East Coast.

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  2. Earth

    Earth & Environment

    Antarctic ice flows, atmospheric response to nuclear fallout and more in this week's news.

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  3. Earth

    Stature’s heightened risk of cancer

    My daughter is always shopping for 4-inch heels or other elevating footwear to make her appear taller. But a new study suggests that diminutive stature has at least one major perk: a lower risk of cancer.

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  4. Tech

    Growing need for space trash collectors

    On April 2, for the fifth time in less than three years, the International Space Station fired its engines to dodge a piece of orbital debris that appeared on a collision path. Other spacecraft also regularly scoot out of the way of rocket and satellite debris. Such evasive action will be needed increasingly frequently, a new study finds.

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  5. Earth

    Earth & Environment

    Methane from rice, killer fungus and more in this week’s news.

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  6. Humans

    Big fish return to Mexican marine park

    Most effects of overharvesting reversed within a decade.

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  7. Tech

    Sparing the rare earths

    Potential shortages of useful metals inspire scientists to seek alternatives for magnet technologies

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  8. Humans

    Bag lunches invite disease, study finds

    “Sack” lunches often pose a ticking bacterial bomb, a new study indicates. And including an ice pack or two — ostensibly to keep perishables at safe temperatures — won’t necessarily eliminate the risk.

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  9. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    Ancient monster eruption found, plus balancing sea ice, Bt-resistant beetles and more in this week’s news.

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  10. Life

    Bacteria binged on BP oil but didn’t grow

    Researchers suspect the spilled crude didn’t provide a balanced diet.

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  11. Earth

    Marine microbes prove potent greenhouse gas emitters

    Earth’s oceans emit an estimated 30 percent of the nitrous oxide, or N2O, entering the atmosphere. Yet the source of this potent greenhouse gas has puzzled scientists for years. Bacteria — long the leading candidate — can generate nitrous oxide, but the seas don’t seem to contain enough to account for all of the nitrous oxide that the marine world has been coughing up. Now researchers offer a better candidate.

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  12. Earth

    Eels point to suffocating Gulf floor

    In June, scientists predicted that the Gulf of Mexico’s annual dead zone — a subsea region where the water contains too little oxygen to support life — might develop into the biggest ever. In fact, that didn’t happen. Owing to the fortuitous arrival of stormy weather, this year’s dead zone peaked at about 6,800 square miles, scientists reported on Aug. 1 — big but far from the record behemoth of 9,500 square miles that had been mentioned as distinctly possible.

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