Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Paleontology
India yields fossil trove in amber
Insect remains suggest the continent hosted a surprisingly wide variety of creatures 50 million years ago.
