Earth

  1. Climate

    IPCC admits Himalayan glacier error

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledged today that it had erred in projecting the rate and impacts of retreating Himalayan glaciers in a 2007 report.

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  2. Earth

    BPA is regulated . . . sort of

    Food and Drug Administration officials “say they are powerless to regulate BPA” because of a quirk in their rules, according to a story that ran Sunday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It comes from a reporter who has made an award-winning habit of documenting the politics that have helped make the hormone-mimicking bisphenol-A a chemical of choice for many manufacturers.

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  3. Agriculture

    How better weather models can save peanut farmers money

    Better weather forecasts could help farmers avoid unnecessary pesticide spraying.

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  4. Climate

    IPCC relied on unvetted Himalaya melt figure

    British newspapers have uncovered what appears to be an embarrassing fact-checking omission by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. It regards the degree of glacial melting in the Himalayas — information that said parts of the area could be icefree a quarter century from now.

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  5. Earth

    Scientists scramble to analyze Haiti quake

    Teams work to understand and model what could happen next.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    BPA and babies: Feds acknowledge concerns

    Federal health and research officials outlined new guidance today for parents on the use of plastics made from bisphenol-A, a hard, clear plastic. Their bottom line: Minimize BPA-based products that could make contact with foods or drinks that infants or toddlers might consume — especially hot foods and drinks. But the Food and Drug Administration stopped short of recommending that parents pitch baby bottles and sippy cups made from BPA. Nor did it call for parents to avoid processed infant formulas and baby foods — some of which it acknowledges are contaminated with traces of BPA.

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  7. Earth

    Copenhagen Meeting Highlights

    Find all the Science News coverage of the 2009 United Nation's climate summit in one place.

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  8. Climate

    Acidifying ocean may stifle phytoplankton

    Chemical changes in seawater make a key nutrient less available to these organisms.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Study supports connection between BPA and heart disease

    U.S. population data reveal possible relationship between cardiovascular risk and plastics chemical.

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  10. Earth

    Hydrothermal vent environments not unchanging

    Once-rare organisms can become dominant, probably as some environmental conditions change over time.

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  11. Earth

    Footprints could push back tetrapod origins

    Newly discovered trackways much older than previous evidence for sea-to-land transition.

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  12. Earth

    Age of solar system needs a fresh look

    Honed measurements show age overshot by amount significant to earliest stage of formation.

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