Earth
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Climate
Goldilocks tree leaves
Leaves mostly keep their cool (or warmth) wherever they live, a finding that might affect reconstructions of past climates.
By Susan Milius -
Climate
Polar Bear Fallout
Why fights are likely to break out in the next few months to years between industry, environmental advocates, and the feds as regulations are developed, and litigated, over how to conserve declining numbers of polar bears.
By Janet Raloff -
Climate
Science academies call for climate action
Thirteen national academies of science today called on world leaders to “to limit the threat of climate change.” Read more in the current Science & the Public blog by Janet Raloff.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
A rapid rise for the Andes
New evidence suggests that the South American mountain chain shot up 2.5 kilometers in a geological blink of an eye.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Slip, Slide, Shake
Analyses of GPS and seismic data about one of Antarctica’s largest and most dynamic glaciers provide new insights into the ice stream’s lurching march to the sea.
By Sid Perkins -
Agriculture
Federal Research Censorship
The media-affairs office in federal agencies can be fairly obstructionist, and when they do, the public comes out the loser.
By Janet Raloff -
Agriculture
Green Living, Chinese-Style
Chinese is developing eco-cities to take their citizens straight from the agricultural to the ecological age.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Natural heat
Heat from the decay of radioactive elements deep within the planet could meet Earth’s energy needs almost three times over — if we could harness all of it.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Virtual seismometer
A new supercomputer simulation of the large quake that struck central China earlier this month could help researchers estimate the size of the ground motions experienced in areas that didn’t have seismic instruments.
By Sid Perkins