Earth
- Tech
Tar sands ‘fingerprint’ seen in rivers and snow
A new study refutes a government claim (one echoed by industry) that the gonzo-scale extraction of tar sands in western Canada — and their processing into crude oil — does not substantially pollute the environment.
- Health & Medicine
Wheat genome announcement turns out to be small beer
The DNA sequence released by U.K. team still requires assembly.
- Climate
Academies recommend that IPCC make changes
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an authoritative scientific organization set up in 1989 to assess climate science, took some heat today from a group that it commissioned to investigate its credibility. The oversight group reported findings procedural weaknesses that preclude IPCC from responding nimbly to events — or from reliably identifying errors in its assessments.
- Earth
Primordial bestiary gets an annex
A classic Canadian fossil trove extends to thinner deposits, geologists find.
- Earth
‘Bug traps’ in Gulf to use BP oil as bait
To assay how appetizing polluting oil is to native Gulf micobes — and how rapidly they degrade it — researchers plan to set 150 “bug traps” on August 26.. Their bait: the same oil that had been spewed for months by BP’s damaged Deepwater Horizon well.
- Chemistry
Deep-sea plumes: A rush to judgment?
A new report suggests a deep-sea plume of oil in the Gulf of Mexico has been gobbled up by microbes. But the scientist who described the incident doesn't "know" that. He can't — yet.
- Chemistry
Deep-sea oil plume goes missing
Controversy arises over whether bacteria have completely gobbled oil up.
- Earth
Most BP oil still pollutes the Gulf, scientists conclude
Below the surface, plumes of oil are proving slow to disperse and break down.
- Planetary Science
Worldwide slowdown in plant carbon uptake
A decade of droughts has stifled the increasing growth of terrestrial vegetation.
- Earth
Tsunami triggered by one-two punch
Geologists report the first recorded observation of an unusual earthquake sequence.
- Health & Medicine
Traffic may drive some people to diabetes
Urban air pollution — especially the particles and gases emitted by heavy traffic — can increase a senior citizen’s risk of developing type-2 diabetes, according to a new German study. If confirmed, its authors say, pollution would represent a “novel and potentially modifiable risk factor” for the metabolic disorder.
- Earth
Perforated blobs may be early sponges
Odd shapes in Australian rocks could be the oldest fossil evidence of multicellular animals.
