Earth
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Earth
EPA Gagged
Federal officials have been told not to talk freely to the press or others who might ask questions EPA doesn't want to answer.
By Janet Raloff -
Chemistry
Oil magnets
Featured blog: Nanomagnets and wires point to a potentially better mousetrap — or crude trap — for dealing with oil spills.
By Janet Raloff -
Ecosystems
Fish Houses
Tanked half-way houses allow people and fish to get acquainted on their own terms — and exhibit their individual personalities.
By Janet Raloff -
Plants
Fugitives spread bumblebee diseases
Pathogens hitchhike on commercial bees that escape from greenhouses. These escapees bring disease to wild bumblebees.
By Susan Milius -
Plants
Parasitic plant gets more than a meal
The parasitic vine known as dodder really sucks. It pierces the tissue of other plants — some of which are important crops — extracting water and nutrients needed for its own growth. But it also consumes molecules that scientists could manipulate to bring on the parasite’s demise.
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Earth
Seafloor chronicles
Survey of ocean floor reveals long history, from a geological fault to the wreckage of the Lusitania.
By Sid Perkins -
Agriculture
Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa
by Robert Paarlberg, Harvard Univ. Press, 2008, 235 p., $24.95.
By Science News -
Astronomy
Science Future for August 2, 2008
August 16–24 Australia celebrates National Science Week. Visit www.scienceweek.info.au September 18 and 19 University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Holtz Center presents “Climate Change is Global.” Visit www.sts.wisc.edu October 8 Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch as part of the final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Visit www.nasa.gov/missions
By Science News -
Ecosystems
Tracing Tahitian vanilla
The discovery of Tahitian vanilla’s heritage could set off a custody battle between nations.
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Agriculture
Dirt Is Not Soil
Probing the distinction in what you call the stuff that mud is made of.
By Janet Raloff -
Climate
Hydrogen economy sustainable in 15 years
Hydrogen fuel cells can eventually replace the combustion engine, but meanwhile a wider range of technologies will be needed to reduce carbon emissions.