Earth

Earth

Radiation Redux: Forest fires remobilize fallout from bomb tests

A sensor installed to monitor fallout from modern nuclear tests has detected small amounts of radioactive cesium produced by bomb tests decades ago and sent skyward by forest fires.

Earth

Asbestos fibers: Barking up a tree

Sixteen years after a mine with asbestos-contaminated ore shut down, trees in the area still hold hazardous concentrations of wind-deposited asbestos.

Earth

Warning: Slow down for whales

To protect a major population of right whales, the U.S. government is proposing periodic go-slow rules for big ships passing through the animals' migration routes.

Agriculture

Farm Fresh Pesticides

For people who live near croplands, traces of agricultural chemicals can find their way into homes by hitchhiking on windblown dust.

Earth

Visiting RadTown

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched an interactive Web site that uses an animated town to provide basic information on radiation in the environment—from lasers in a stadium light show to x rays at the dentist’s office. This virtual community shows the wide variety of radiation sources commonly encountered in everyday life. The site […]

Earth

The Long Burn: Warming drove recent upswing in wildfires

Major forest fires in the western United States have become more frequent and destructive over the past two decades, in step with rising average temperatures in the region.

Earth

Underwater landslides tallied near Puerto Rico

An oceanographic survey off the northern coast of Puerto Rico has found remnants of many underwater landslides, a handful of which were large enough to have caused deadly tsunamis.

Earth

Fast-food flies ferry foul fauna

Houseflies buzzing around fast-food restaurants could be spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Earth

Asian sediments betray age of nearby desert

Grains of silt embedded in thick sediments of northwestern China may settle a debate about the age of the Taklimakan Desert.

Earth

Dirty Little Secret

Recognition is growing that many communities have soils laced with asbestos, which has prodded several federal agencies to probe the hazards they might pose.

Earth

Toxic Leftovers: Microbes convert flame retardant

Bacteria can break down a common flame retardant into more-toxic forms.

Earth

Something’s fishy about these hormones

Synthetic steroids used to beef up cattle can impair reproduction in female fish and even give them macho physical traits.