Earth

  1. Life

    Three scientists, three wishes (with extras for the cosmologist)

    Research luminaries reveal the questions they'd most like to see answered.

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  2. Earth

    Mining the maritime past for clues to climate’s future

    Researchers collect data through a mashup of 19th century ship records and 21st century crowdsourcing.

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  3. Tech

    Seeing red: Next installment in BPA-paper saga

    Consumers now have a way to identify cash register tape that is free of endocrine-disrupting chemical.

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  4. Humans

    Climate researcher speaks out

    BLOG: Michael Mann says scientists have lost control of the public message about climate change, Alexandra Witze reports from the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing meeting.

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  5. Earth

    Hurricane forecasts can be made years in advance

    Climate modelers say they can push Atlantic predictions beyond a single season.

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  6. Earth

    Fossil fangs not so fierce

    Cambrian predator might have eaten soft food.

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  7. Tech

    Election projections for science investments

    The November 2, mid-term election results are in (mostly) and pundits are billing it as a historic turnabout. With a divided Congress, passing legislation — never an easy task — risks becoming harder still. And with fiscal austerity having been a leading campaign issue for the newbies, R&D is unlikely to see a major boost in federal funding during the next two years.

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  8. Tech

    Plenty of foods harbor BPA, study finds

    Some communities have banned the sale of plastic baby bottles and sippy cups that are manufactured using bisphenol A, a hormone-mimicking chemical. In a few grocery stores, cashiers have already begun donning gloves to avoid handling thermal receipt paper whose BPA-based surface coating may rub off on the fingers. But how’s a family to avoid exposure to this contaminant when it taints the food supply?

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  9. Chemistry

    Skin is no barrier to BPA, study shows

    The new finding suggests handling store receipts could be a significant source of internal exposure to the hormone-mimicking chemical.

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  10. Earth

    Arctic lake yields climate record

    A Siberian drilling project goes to great lengths to capture an ancient climate record in a 3.6 million-year-old crater.

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  11. Humans

    BP gusher left deep sea toxic for a time, study finds

    In the early weeks after the damaged BP well began gushing huge quantities of oil and gas, a toxic brew was developing deep below the surface in plumes emanating from the wellhead. Finned fish and marine mammals probably steered well clear of the spewing hydrocarbons. But planktonic young — larval critters and algae that ride the currents — would have been proverbial sitting ducks.

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  12. Humans

    When to welcome ‘invading’ species

    As climate changes, some environments are becoming hostile to the flora and fauna that long nurtured them. Species that can migrate have begun to move into regions where temperatures and humidity are more hospitable. And that can prove a conundrum for officials charged with halting the invasion of non-native species, notes Jon Jarvis, a biologist who for the past year has headed the National Park Service.

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