Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Cash for clunkers II: Appliances
States could soon roll out programs that help consumers replace energy hogging home appliances.
- Earth
Oh, rats — there go the snails
A food fad among introduced rats has apparently crashed a once-thriving population of Hawaii’s famed endemic tree snails.
- Earth
A trip to the garbage patch
Scientists bring back samples from the oceanic garbage patch off the coast of California.
- Chemistry
Nitrous oxide fingered as monster ozone slayer
Nitrous oxide has become the leading threat to the future integrity of stratospheric ozone, scientists report.
- Chemistry
Styrofoam degrades in seawater
Study suggests besides the visible plastic, smaller bits are fouling the waters
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- Animals
Back off, extinct moa
A New Zealand tree’s peculiar leaves may have served as defenses against long-gone giant birds.
- Animals
Vocal abilities lost, found and drowned out
Reports from the meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union
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- Earth
Rapid evolution may be reshaping forest birds’ wings
Logging during the last century might have driven birds in mature boreal forests toward pointier wings while reforestation in New England led to rounder wings.
- Earth
Hazy changes on high
A big boost in coal burning, especially in China, is adding aerosols to the stratosphere.
- Earth
Shaky Forecasts
Despite past failures, geophysicists think earthquake prediction might still be possible.
