Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Agriculture
Fishy Alpha Males
As a way to protect wild fish stocks, raising genetically engineered fish may be futile should some of these modified fish escape into the environment.
- Earth
Lowering the Boom? Impact crater may predate extinction of the dinosaurs
Analyses of sediments from the Yucatán in Mexico suggest that an extraterrestrial impact there more than 65 million years ago actually happened about 300,000 years before mass extinctions of dinosaurs occurred.
- Earth
Killer Waves
Scientists are using sophisticated computer models, field studies of coastal geology, and data from tidal gauges to assess the tsunami risk for coastal residents.
- Earth
Nanosponges: Plastic particles pick up pollutants
Nanometer-scale polymer particles can extract pollutants from contaminated soil.
- Earth
Catching Waves: Ocean-surface changes may mark tsunamis
A new theoretical model that describes a tsunami's interaction with winds may explain enigmatic observations associated with the waves and could lead to a technique for spotting them long before they hit shore.
- Earth
Desert Life
What is a desert? How many deserts are in North America? This extensive Web site offers information about the desert environment and the unique characteristics that define the beautiful desert landscapes of the U.S. Southwest. It includes images, stories, movie and audio clips, and virtual-reality tours on many desert-related topics, from plants and animals to […]
- Earth
Ancient whalers altered arctic lakes
Analyses of sediment and water samples taken from an arctic lake indicate that an ancient whaling community left a mark on the lake’s ecosystem that persists today, even though the settlement was abandoned more than 400 years ago.
- Earth
Ice-dammed lakes had cooling effect
New computer simulations suggest that massive lakes in northern Russia—formed when an ice sheet blocked the northward flow of rivers about 90,000 years ago—significantly cooled the region's climate in summer months.
- Earth
Danger on Deck?
The Environmental Protection Agency no longer allows residential installation of pressure-treated lumber and recommends the application of sealant to prevent leaching of carcinogens out of existing lumber structures.
- Earth
Warming climate may slam many species
Expected increases in global temperature could eradicate from a sixth to a half of the plant and animal species across large areas of the globe, a new analysis suggests.
- Earth
Farmed salmon bring PCBs to the table
High concentrations of chlorinated organic contaminants in farm-raised Atlantic salmon may warrant limiting consumption of the otherwise-healthful fish to no more than once per month.
- Earth
Air held oxygen early on
Chemical analyses of South African sediments suggest that oxygen was present in small quantities about 2.32 billion years ago, which is at least 100 million years earlier than previously thought.
