Earth
- Life
Microbes may sky jump to new hosts
The role of microbes in cloud formation and precipitation may not be an accident of chemistry so much as an evolutionary adaptation by certain bacteria and other nonsentient beings, a scientist posited at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
- Earth
Germy with a chance of hail
Aerial microbes can trigger precipitation and may influence global warming.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
Earth’s iron heart can melt, plus Atlantic weather and more ice thinning in this week’s news.
- Physics
Rogue waves captured
Re-creating tiny versions of these monster swells in a laboratory tank reveals their mathematical underpinnings.
- 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.
- 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.
- Chemistry
Melting icebergs fertilize ocean
Releasing extra iron into the water boosts carbon dioxide uptake by plankton.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
Earthquake risk in Chile, plus an ancient Greek island and casino pollution in this week’s news.
- Earth
Ozone hole on the mend
Researchers claim to see atmospheric healing more than a decade earlier than a detectable uptick was expected.
- Chemistry
Idling jets pollute more than thought
Oily droplets emitted by planes operating at low power can turn into potentially toxic airborne particles.
- Life
Animals quickly colonized freshwater
Fossilized worm burrows show that life had moved beyond the oceans by 530 million years ago.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
So much for the man-sized snail, plus Indonesia’s quake risk, overheated reefs and more in this week’s news.
