Earth

  1. Earth

    Nanowaste: Predicting the environmental fate of buckyballs

    The potentially harmful effects of buckyballs in aquatic environments could vary depending on the chemistry of the water.

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  2. Earth

    Bed of Armor: Large rocks hold fast in flooding streams

    The relative proportions of rocks of various sizes in gravel-lined streams remain constant, even during substantial floods.

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  3. Agriculture

    Insecticide Inside: Gene-modified rice cuts chemical spraying in China

    In the hands of Chinese farmers, varieties of rice genetically modified to fend off insects reduce pesticide use and increase crop yields.

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  4. Earth

    Oysters under siege: Heat and pollution

    With global warming, some polluted waters could become graveyards for certain shellfish.

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  5. Earth

    Coming Storms: Method predicts intensity of U.S. hurricane seasons

    A new computer model that analyzes summer-wind patterns can help predict whether the United States will suffer a damaging hurricane season.

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  6. Earth

    Balloons, condoms release likely carcinogens

    Balloons and condoms that come in contact with body fluids discharge chemicals suspected of being human carcinogens.

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  7. Earth

    Rice with a Human Touch: Engineered grain uses gene from people to protect against herbicides

    A human gene inserted into rice enables that plant to break down an array of chemicals used to kill weeds.

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  8. Earth

    Blowflies shed mercury at maturity

    Blowflies that absorb mercury from fish carcasses they feed on as larvae rid themselves of much of that toxic metal when they become adults.

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  9. Earth

    Lightning creates radiation-safe zone

    A relatively safe region within the seas of radiation that surround Earth owes its existence to lightning storms.

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  10. Earth

    Breeding Parasites Along with Fish: Do sea lice from salmon farms spread far?

    Marine parasites known as sea lice spread readily from farmed salmon to passing wild fish, according to a controversial study conducted in British Columbia.

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  11. Earth

    Hit Again: December temblor probably caused new Sumatran quakes

    Seismic activity that rattled the Indonesian region early this week, including a quake that measured a whopping magnitude 8.7, was triggered by December's massive tsunami-spawning earthquake, scientists suggest.

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  12. Earth

    Volume of glaciers and ice caps is estimated

    New topographic data have enabled scientists to estimate the volume of water trapped in the ice caps and glaciers outside of Antarctica and Greenland and to predict how high the sea level would rise if this ice melted.

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