Earth

Earth

Gulf gusher is far and away the biggest U.S. spill

As cleanup efforts progress, scientists try to track missing oil roaming below the surface.

Earth

BP oil isn’t the only source of Gulf’s deep roaming plumes

During a June 8 briefing for reporters, a NOAA science officer described deep strata of water tainted with oil identified during a recent cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. The presumption was that anything they found would be plumes of oil spewed by the jet of hydrocarbons emanating from the BP well head. But the chemical fingerprinting of diffuse undersea clouds of oil at one sampling site was “not consistent with BP oil,” he pointed out.

Earth

Possible snake shortage looms

Declines among species in Europe and Africa raise herpetologists’ worries of widespread population losses.

Climate

With warming, some commercial fish may boom and bust

Higher temps in Arctic waters might be good for some species but not for others, new research suggests.

Planetary Science

Before the Mississippi, minerals show ancient rivers flowed west

Michigan zircons uncover the path of an ancient river system across North America.

Earth

Hazy antidote to a faint young sun

A new theory suggests atmospheric answer to the continuing paradox of why early Earth wasn’t icy.

Animals

Diversified portfolio yields benefit for salmon stocks

Local diversity keeps sockeye from going bust every few years, a study finds.

Archaeology

Jamestown settlers’ trash confirms hard times

Analyses of discarded oyster shells confirm a deep drought during the Virginia colony’s earliest years.

Ecosystems

Honeybee death mystery deepens

Government scientists link colony collapse disorder to mix of fungal and viral infections.

Paleontology

Octopus origins

After examining more than 90 new specimens of Nectocaris pteryx, paleontologists put it near the root of the cephalopod evolutionary tree.

Earth

BP’s estimate of spill rate is way low, engineer suggests

“It’s not rocket science.” That’s how a Purdue University mechanical engineer described his calculations of startling amounts of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from fissures in heavily damaged piping at a BP drill site. During a May 19 science briefing convened by a House subcommittee, Steve Wereley walked members of Congress through his use of particle image velocimetry to explain how he and other engineers track changes in video images of gases or liquids to estimate the volumes billowing before their eyes.

Chemistry

Exposure of moms-to-be to hormone-mimicking chemical may affect kids years later

In mice, BPA can cause pregnancy complications that can also trigger later metabolic effects in both moms and grown male offspring.