Earth
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Earth
Sense of Wonder Contest
Rachel Carson aficionados will recognize The Sense of Wonder as the title of one of that environmentalist’s books. The Environmental Protection Agency is using that title to invite people young and old—literally and collaboratively—to explore that sense in poetry, essays, and photography. It’s inviting submissions from intergenerational teams “that best express the ‘Sense of Wonder’ […]
By Science News -
Earth
Tibetan Plateau history gets a lift
The Tibetan Plateau formed when the Indian and Eurasian plates collided, but scientists may have had the order of events wrong.
By Amy Maxmen -
Earth
A New Would-Be Hormone in Water
Nitrate, a common pollutant, may also perturb reproductive hormones—at least in frogs.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Floral Cues to Climate Change
Phenology may not be a word that trips off your tongue, but it may be one you want to consider adding to your vocabulary. It has the same root as phenomena, and in fact deals with biological events linked to climate—such as bird migrations and plant germination. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research has set […]
By Science News -
Earth
New Recipe for Pollution Stew: Another chemical culprit adds to ozone
A reactive chemical in urban air cleans up some pollutants but could introduce another.
By Sid Perkins -
Chemistry
Sense of Wonder
Multigenerational projects may help us visualize the big picture.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
The Costs of Meat and Fish
The purchase price is often but a small part of the true cost of many animal products in the diet.
By Janet Raloff -
Agriculture
Switchgrass Science
A native prairie grass shows promise as a substitute for corn in the production of fuel ethanol—an additive to stretch fossil-fuel resources for transportation. University of Tennessee researchers have produced a video on the science and prospects of switchgrass ethanol that is available in a 26-minute version and an abbreviated form. For those who don’t […]
By Science News -
Earth
Weather maker
The North Atlantic's Gulf Stream affects the overlying atmosphere more strongly than previously suspected.
By Sid Perkins -
Chemistry
Drugs on Tap
It's finally time to investigate whether pharmaceuticals in water pose a health risk.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Ocean ups and downs—the long view
Sea level has dropped about 170 meters in the past 80 million years, thanks in part to the thinning of ocean crust and the formation of land-based ice sheets.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Ancient Chasm: Parts of Grand Canyon may be 17 million years old
The chemical composition of mineral formations in caves along the Grand Canyon may provide fresh insight into the chasm's history, including its age and the rate at which it was carved.
By Sid Perkins