Earth
- Tech
Airports’ leaden fallout may taint some kids
People who live below the flight path of piston-engine aircraft — or downwind of airports serving such small planes — are exposed to lead from aviation fuel. A new study now links an airport’s proximity to somewhat elevated blood-lead levels in children from area homes.
- Life
Oil spill didn’t hurt seagrass-dwelling juvenile fish
Long-term effects of early exposure to hydrocarbons remains unknown.
- Humans
Young minds at risk from secondhand smoke
Children exposed to secondhand smoke at home are at least twice as likely to develop a neurobehavioral disorder as are kids in smokefree homes, a new study finds. And roughly 6 percent of U.S. children — some 4.8 million — encounter smoke at home.
- Earth
Simulation tracks ocean’s missing heat
Climate scientists suggest energy is buried deep undersea or released to space.
- Humans
Metal water bottles may leach BPA
Consumers who switched from polycarbonate-plastic water bottles to metal ones in hopes of avoiding the risk that bisphenol A will leach into their beverages aren’t necessarily any better off, a new study finds. Some metal water bottles leach even more BPA — an estrogen-mimicking pollutant — than do ones made from the now-pariah plastic.
- Earth
Earth & Environment
Mountaintop mining, plastic fish and the return of the right whale in this week's news
- Tech
Some comfort about broken CFLs
My night-owl daughter woke me in a panic at around 2 a.m., a couple of weeks back. While swatting at a fly, she’d just broken the compact fluorescent light illuminating her closet. Having heard me warn endlessly of how we should be careful in handling these bulbs — since they contain mercury — she wanted to know what kind of damage control was called for. I only wish I knew then what I do now.
- Earth
Greenland’s ice sheets face new threat
Subsurface ocean warming is likely to be dramatic in that region, a new study finds.
- Earth
Sulfur stalls surface temperature rise
A new study shows how pollutants helped balance out the effects of greenhouse gases from 1998 to 2008.
- Physics
Rare earth elements plentiful in ocean sediments
The economically vital metals could be mined from the deep sea, Japanese geologists propose.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
Airplanes knock rain from the sky, plus a quick-melting glacier and BPA's diabetes link in this week's news.
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