Earth

  1. Physics

    Dissolving a puzzle

    A mathematical analysis shows what it takes to remove rock fast enough to create a cavern.

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  2. Humans

    World could heat up 4 degrees C in 50 years

    Immediate and substantial action to reduce emissions would be needed to meet climate negotiators' goal of holding warming to a 2 degree Celsius increase, a new package of scientific papers concludes.

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  3. Life

    Mammal size maxed out after dinos’ demise

    Opening new ecological niches led to a worldwide boom in size, up to a point.

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  4. Earth

    Shuttle images reveal Egypt’s lost great lake

    Radar studies of desert drainage patterns point to ancient oases in the Sahara.

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  5. Earth

    Lakes are warming across the globe

    Throughout the past quarter-century, inland lakes have been experiencing a small, steadily rising nighttime fever. Globally, the average increase has hovered around 0.045 degrees Celsius per year, but in some regions the increase has been more than twice that — or about 1 °C per decade.

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  6. Tech

    Newfound water risk: Lead-leaching valves

    Hidden elements in drinking-water lines can shed large amounts of lead, a toxic heavy metal. And it's quite legal, even if it does skirt the intent of federal regulations.

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  7. Animals

    Island orangs descend from small group

    Bornean apes went through a genetic bottleneck when isolated during an ancient glaciation.

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  8. Humans

    Amphibian debuts

    Hunt for lost frog turns up new species in Colombian rain forests.

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  9. Tech

    Lots of blame over BP well blowout, panel reports

    Crews responsible for drilling BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, this past spring, missed plenty of signs that a catastrophic accident was looming, according to a November 17 interim report by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council.

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  10. Tech

    BPA: EPA hasn’t identified a safer alternative for thermal paper

    Some researchers and public interest groups have been arguing that BPAfree thermal receipts paper is a preferable alternative, at least from a health perspective. But is it really? That’s what Environmental Protection Agency scientists want to know. And to date, they maintain, the jury’s still out.

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  11. Humans

    BPA induces sterility in roundworms

    Bisphenol A does a real number on the genes responsible for successful reproduction in a 1-millimeter-long soil-dwelling roundworm. And that suggests BPA might pose similar risks to people because geneticists are finding that this tiny critter can be a remarkably useful “lab rat” — predicting impacts in mammals, including us.

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  12. Earth

    Warm spell spurred tropical biodiversity

    The number of plant species exploded in South America as atmospheric carbon dioxide, and temperatures, rose abruptly about 56 million years ago.

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