Earth

  1. Life

    Giant ants once roamed Wyoming

    The first complete fossil found in North America suggests warm spells in the far north allowed big insects to spread.

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  2. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    How Antarctica got its ice, plus Chinese dust-ups and rising bird malaria in this week’s news.

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  3. Earth

    Grand Canyon born by continental lift

    A "drip" deep within the Earth may have raised the Colorado plateau to create the spectacular landscape of the U.S. Southwest.

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  4. Earth

    With warming, Arctic is losing ground

    Scientists anticipate big ecosystem changes as erosion spills nutrients into the sea

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  5. Earth

    Currents reach deep for seafloor larvae

    Surface waters circulate more than a mile down, transporting organisms between distant ocean-bottom habitats.

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  6. Life

    Antarctic humpbacks make a krill killing

    Late-arriving sea ice enhances crustacean feast for whales, but the bounty may be fleeting.

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  7. Earth

    Volcanic ash gets its close-up

    Last year’s eruption in Iceland spit out supersharp and potentially harmful particles, nanoscale images show.

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  8. Earth

    Earth/Environment

    Anticorrosion chemicals, ancient Arkansas rock, stowaway species and more in this week’s news.

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  9. Physics

    Salt clouds relieve some Arctic warming

    Sea sprays from increasingly open waters exert a cooling effect in the region.

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  10. Humans

    Because some foods carry organophosphate residues

    Three new papers link prenatal exposures to organophosphate (OP) pesticides with diminished IQs in children. Fruits and veggies are one continuing source of exposure to these bug killers. As to what we’re supposed to do with that knowledge — well, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, offers some guidance.

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  11. Earth

    Ozone loss made tropics rainier

    Hole over Antarctica changes weather patterns all the way to the equator, simulations suggest.

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  12. Chemistry

    Pesticides tied to lower IQ in children

    Chemicals once sprayed in homes — and still used on farms — were found to have significant effects in three studies.

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