Earth
- Earth
Switchgrass may yield biofuel bounty
Making ethanol from switchgrass yielded more than 5 times more energy than needed to grow the crops in a large-scale farming trial.
- Agriculture
A Sweeter Hops
Federal scientists have bred a new, antimicrobial-rich hops variety for tea.
- Earth
Hued Afterglow: Fingerprinting diamonds via phosphorescence
The eerie phosphorescence displayed by a rare form of blue diamond can be used as an easy, cheap, and nondestructive way to identify individual gemstones and to distinguish natural blue diamonds from synthetic ones.
- Earth
Focus on Our Planet
Although the United Nations has officially designated 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth, the 3-year celebration actually began a year ago and will continue through December 2009. The program’s ultimate goal: “to build safer, healthier and wealthier societies around the globe” through a better appreciation for and harnessing of Earth sciences. The UN […]
- Earth
Plowing the Ancient Seas: Iceberg scours found off South Carolina
Recent sonar surveys off the southeastern United States have detected dozens of broad furrows on the seafloor that were carved by icebergs during the last ice age.
- Earth
In 2007, Greenland set a melting record
The duration and extent of ice melt across high-altitude portions of the Greenland ice sheet last year were the highest they've been in recent decades, satellite observations indicate.
- Earth
No-drive experiment curbs air pollution in Beijing
Traffic-control measures can significantly reduce urban air pollution, a field study in Beijing this past summer indicates.
- Earth
Smog’s heavy impacts
Being overweight increases the risk that people will develop breathing difficulties after encountering smoggy air.
- Earth
Portrait of a Meltdown: Many factors led to 2007’s record low in Arctic sea ice
A variety of climatological factors converged in a perfect storm that melted the Arctic Ocean's ice cover to a record low in 2007. It could be a harbinger of ice-poor summers for decades to come.
- Earth
Dead Serious
Little progress has been made this decade in reducing the size of the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, a massive area of oxygen-depleted water caused by agricultural and urban runoff.
- Earth
North by Northwest
The Earth's magnetic poles wander around quite a bit, a phenomenon that occasionally confounded ancient explorers but is proving useful for today's archaeologists.
- Earth
Water Vapor by Any Other Name
One can learn a lot by studying clouds—or just relax and soak in their beauty. Subscribers to both schools can find plenty of fodder in the British Cloud Appreciation Society’s gallery of nearly 3,200 photos. They’re organized by meteorological type, optical effects, and even by what a cloud might resemble—like “Casper the Ghost, spotted over […]
