Earth

  1. Earth

    Germy with a chance of hail

    Aerial microbes can trigger precipitation and may influence global warming.

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  2. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    Earth’s iron heart can melt, plus Atlantic weather and more ice thinning in this week’s news.

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  3. Physics

    Rogue waves captured

    Re-creating tiny versions of these monster swells in a laboratory tank reveals their mathematical underpinnings.

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  4. Life

    Numbers flap has minor implications for global extinctions

    A statistical technique used to estimate rates of species disappearance is flawed, two ecologists charge — but not enough to invalidate recent dire assessments.

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  5. Humans

    It’s time to put a price on carbon, NRC says

    “It is imprudent to delay actions that at least begin the process of substantially reducing emissions [of greenhouse gases],” according to a May 12 report by the National Research Council. It didn’t get a lot of press play in the past week, perhaps because its 144 pages don’t say anything readers might not have expected this august body to have proclaimed years ago. But that shouldn’t diminish the significance of this report, its authors contend.

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  6. Chemistry

    Melting icebergs fertilize ocean

    Releasing extra iron into the water boosts carbon dioxide uptake by plankton.

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  7. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    Earthquake risk in Chile, plus an ancient Greek island and casino pollution in this week’s news.

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  8. Earth

    Ozone hole on the mend

    Researchers claim to see atmospheric healing more than a decade earlier than a detectable uptick was expected.

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  9. Chemistry

    Idling jets pollute more than thought

    Oily droplets emitted by planes operating at low power can turn into potentially toxic airborne particles.

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  10. Life

    Animals quickly colonized freshwater

    Fossilized worm burrows show that life had moved beyond the oceans by 530 million years ago.

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  11. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    So much for the man-sized snail, plus Indonesia’s quake risk, overheated reefs and more in this week’s news.

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  12. Life

    Fungus strikes but doesn’t kill European bats

    Organism that is devastating North American populations might have coevolved with hosts overseas.

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