Earth

Earth

Attack of the Rock-Eating Microbes!

Geologists who examine mineral transformations increasingly see bacteria at work, leading the scientists to conclude that if microbes aren't driving the underlying chemical reactions, at least they're taking advantage of the energy that's released.

Earth

Chemical Reaction: Two flame retardants to phase out in 2004

The sole U.S. manufacturer of two widely used brominated fire retardants pledged to phase out its production of both products by the end of next year.

Earth

Frosty Florida: Spread of agriculture may promote freezes

Planting crops in south Florida may have increased the risk of the freezes farmers hoped to avoid.

Earth

Cast-Iron Foot: Undersea snail has mineral armor

An as-yet-unnamed species of snail living around hydrothermal vents deep beneath the Indian Ocean bears a suit of armor forged from the minerals dissolved in the hot fluids that spew from its seafloor environment.

Earth

UV-pollutant combo hits tadpoles hard

Coincident exposure to ultraviolet light and an estrogen-mimicking pollutant severely jeopardized the chance a tadpole would reach adulthood.

Earth

Sewage linked to fish-gender quirks

Releases from sewage treatment plants appear to impair reproductive tissues in fish.

Earth

Pollutants shape baby-gator gonads

The same pollutants that appear to shorten the length of a grown-alligator's phallus actually lead to this organ's lengthening in baby gators.

Earth

POPs treaty enacted

A new United Nations treaty that seeks to phase down or eliminate production and use of 16 persistent, toxic pollutants has gone into effect.

Earth

Seals’ meals, plastic pieces and all

Bite-size pieces of plastic chipped from wave-battered consumer products work their way up marine food chains, suggests a study of fur seals in Australia.

Earth

Blame the Sea? Ocean may be melting ice shelf from below

Significant portions of a large Antarctic ice shelf just south of one that suddenly broke apart in February 2002 are rapidly thinning and may suffer a similar, catastrophic demise in less than a century.

Earth

Flaming Out? Days may be numbered for two fire retardants

The maker of two controversial flame-retardant chemicals has voluntarily initiated negotiations with the federal government to end their production.

Earth

California acts on plastic additive

Korean engineers have developed a replacement for a plasticizer used in polyvinyl chloride that California has just ruled is a known reproductive toxicant.