Earth

Tech

Preventing disastrous offshore spills may require space-program diligence

As crude oil continues to spew from the Gulf of Mexico seafloor — two weeks now after the Deepwater Horizon accident and sinking — questions continue to surface about what went wrong. To my mind, what went wrong was almost blind optimism on the part of industry, regulators, the states and the public. And any niggling doubt about the wisdom of that optimism was likely assuaged by at least a little greed.

Earth

Gulf oil spill a slow-motion hurricane

The accident’s timing could determine how badly it damages coastal marshes.

Earth

BP oil rig’s sinking and gushing crude raise questions

Around 10 p.m. local time on April 20, the Deepwater Horizon — a floating oil-drilling platform leased to British Petroleum — suffered an explosion and fire about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast. While the aftermath of that devastating accident is now being observed and chronicled in painful detail, even the most basic features of what triggered it remain sketchy.

Earth

Wringing hope from crashing biodiversity

Biodiversity losses have not slowed despite a treaty designed to protect variety in the natural world.

Paleontology

Dinos molted for a new look

In one species, adolescents appear to have sprouted a new type of feathers as they matured.

Ecosystems

Forests on the wane

Early last decade, the world’s tree coverage dropped by more than 3 percent.

Space

Life in the sticky lane

Tropical asphalt lake could be analog for extraterrestrial microbial habitat.

Earth

Emerging Northwest fungal disease develops virulent Oregon strain

Uncommon but sometimes fatal infections of the lung or brain can show up months after someone inhales spores.

Agriculture

Rural ozone can be fed by feed (as in silage)

Livestock operations take a lot of flak for polluting. Researchers are now linking ozone to livestock, at least in one of the nation's most agriculturally intense centers. And here the pollution source is not what comes out the back end of an animal but what’s destined to go in the front.

Earth

Studies aim to resolve confusion over mercury risks from fish

Several new papers suggest strategies by which American diners can negotiate a mercury minefield to tap dietary benefits in fish.

Earth

Severe weather has favorite spots

New analyses of tornadoes and lightning highlight U.S. danger zones.

Humans

Mercury surprise: Rice can be risky

A new study out of China shows that for millions of people at risk of eating toxic amounts of mercury-laced food, fish isn't the problem. Rice is.