Earth

Earth

Contemplating an Arctic oil spill

The waters off northern Alaska may be “the largest oil province in the United States” after the Gulf, notes Edward Itta, a native of Barrow, Alaska. He is also mayor of the North Slope Borough, an 88,000-square-mile jurisdiction that runs across the upper part of the state. And in a September 27 videoconference with the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, he tried to impress upon the commissioners just how remote his neck of the tundra is.

Chemistry

BP oil: Gulf sediment at risk, oceanographer claims

Most of BP’s spilled oil remains in the Gulf — with little sign of degrading, according to Ian MacDonald of Florida State University. And much of this surviving oil could be in sediment or on its way there, the scientist reported at a September 27 meeting in Washington, D.C.

Physics

Being single a real drag for spores

Launching thousands of gametes at once helps a fungus waft its offspring farther.

Tech

Poor initial Gulf spill numbers did ‘not impact’ response

In the early weeks after the catastrophic blowout of the deep-water well in the Gulf of Mexico this spring, BP — the well’s owner — provided the government dramatically low estimates of the flow rate of oil and gas into the sea. Did telling Uncle Sam and the public that the flow rate was 1,000 barrels per day and later 5,000 barrels per day — when the actual rate was closer to 50,000 to 65,000 barrels per day — affect the spill’s management?

Climate

Annual Arctic ice minimum reached

Melt isn’t as bad as 2007, but still reaches number three in the record books.

Earth

Clean out your medicine cabinet: Today!

For years, people have been chastised for pitching unused drugs into the trash, turning them into potentially toxic pollutants that can leach into the environment. On Saturday, September 25, the Drug Enforcement Administration is offering to take those drugs off our hands. For free. No questions asked.

Health & Medicine

Disease donations

Sometimes organ donors share more than a functioning body part. They can unwittingly bestow quickly lethal infections. That’s what happened, beginning last November, according to a new case report.

Life

Lone Star cats rescue cousins in Sunshine State

Florida panther numbers have tripled since the introduction of females from Texas injected vital genetic diversity, a new report says.

Earth

Gulf spill may have been somewhat bigger than feds, BP estimated

Researchers estimate the oil output using a new technique developed for measuring the output of marine hydrothermal vents.

Earth

Back to the moon’s future

New crater and composition measurements from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are helping scientists understand the moon’s history and scout for future landing sites.

Environment

Gases dominate Gulf’s subsea plumes

Shipboard experiments in June show that natural gas dominates the Gulf oil plumes and that its components are the favorite choice of microbes.

Life

Streetlights turn young duds into studs

Nocturnal illumination starts youthful male blue tits chirping earlier in the morning, tempting the mates of their still-snoozing elders.