Earth
-
Earth
Breaking Crust: Sonar finds new kind of deep-sea volcano
Undersea explorations more than 600 kilometers east of Japan have discovered evidence of a previously unknown type of volcanism.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Intrepid Explorer
A robotic torpedo called an autonomous underwater vehicle has provided scientists with an unprecedented look at the underside of an Antarctic ice shelf.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Sandy clues to ancient climate
The orientation of dunes in north-central Nebraska indicates that the climate there a millennium ago was much different than it is today.
By Sid Perkins -
Agriculture
Demand for Ethanol May Drive Up Food Prices
The production of ethanol from corn and other crops for fuel could drive up food prices.
By Ben Harder -
Earth
Global warming heats up nursery of hurricanes
Sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean reached record highs last year.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Alaskan coral beds get new protection
To protect cold-water corals, huge areas of Alaskan waters will be off limits to trawls and other fishing gear that typically scrape the seafloor.
By Janet Raloff -
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.
By Sid Perkins -
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.
By Janet Raloff -
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.
By Janet Raloff -
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.
By Janet Raloff -
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 […]
By Science News -
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.
By Ben Harder