Earth
- 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.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
How Antarctica got its ice, plus Chinese dust-ups and rising bird malaria in this week’s news.
- 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.
- Earth
With warming, Arctic is losing ground
Scientists anticipate big ecosystem changes as erosion spills nutrients into the sea
- Earth
Currents reach deep for seafloor larvae
Surface waters circulate more than a mile down, transporting organisms between distant ocean-bottom habitats.
- Life
Antarctic humpbacks make a krill killing
Late-arriving sea ice enhances crustacean feast for whales, but the bounty may be fleeting.
- Earth
Volcanic ash gets its close-up
Last year’s eruption in Iceland spit out supersharp and potentially harmful particles, nanoscale images show.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
Anticorrosion chemicals, ancient Arkansas rock, stowaway species and more in this week’s news.
- Physics
Salt clouds relieve some Arctic warming
Sea sprays from increasingly open waters exert a cooling effect in the region.
- 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.
- Earth
Ozone loss made tropics rainier
Hole over Antarctica changes weather patterns all the way to the equator, simulations suggest.
- 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.
