Earth

Earth

Seafloor features steered tsunamis

Tsunamis circled the globe after a magnitude 9.3 earthquake struck the Indian Ocean last Dec. 26, but the waves didn't spread evenly.

Earth

Spores record changes in ozone concentration

Decreasing concentrations of atmospheric ozone over Antarctica have triggered changes in the spores of a plant that grows in the region, a trend that could give scientists insight into ancient extinctions.

Earth

Earthshaking Event

Seismic instruments have provided a wealth of information about the earthquake that rocked Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004.

Earth

Inhaling salt raises blood pressure

People who work in environments where large amounts of salt particles hang in the air may literally breathe their way to high blood pressure.

Earth

Methane Maker: Method gets to root of gas from rice paddies

Scientists have singled out microorganisms that appear to be largely responsible for natural emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from rice paddies.

Earth

Study finds low battlefield hazard in depleted uranium

A calculation of the health impacts from the use of depleted uranium in antitank munitions projects small increases in the risk of lung cancer and colon cancer, but only for the most heavily exposed individuals.

Agriculture

Feds pull approval of poultry antibiotic

The FDA has announced its intent to ban an antibiotic used by poultry farmers because of concerns that continued use of the drug could make it harder to successfully treat food poisoning in people with products from the same class of antibiotics.

Earth

Infants pick up toxic chemicals in intensive care

Newborns in intensive care units absorb high concentrations of a potentially toxic phthalate from the plastic tubing and other equipment used in treating them.

Earth

Multifaceted Mineral: Intense heat, pressure bear new form of silica

By squeezing a mineral sample to pressures higher than those deep within Earth, then zapping it with a laser, scientists have created a crystalline form of silicon dioxide previously unknown on Earth.

Earth

Life thrived below solid ice shelf

A survey of a segment of Antarctic seafloor that until recently had laid beneath a thick, floating ice shelf for thousands of years has revealed an ecosystem apparently based on chemical nourishment, not sunshine.

Earth

Hurricanes get boost from ocean spray

A new model that describes airflow across the ocean's surface suggests that tiny droplets whipped from the tops of waves increase wind speeds well above what they'd be if the ocean spray wasn't there.

Earth

Great river cycles carbon quickly

Some of the organic material carried to the sea by the Amazon is thousands of years old, but much of the carbon in carbon dioxide emanating from the river was stored in plants for less than a decade.