Earth
- Agriculture
Spying Genetically Engineered Crops
Environmental Protection Agency scientists are exploring the use of satellites to monitor genetically engineered crops. At ground level, genetically modified corn plants don’t look any different from conventional ones, but data suggest that satellite sensors may be able to read different spectral signatures from the two types of the crop. USDA Most of these genetically […]
- Earth
Long Ride West: Many western sediments came from Appalachians
Much of the material in several thick layers of sandstone in the western United States originated in the Appalachians.
- Earth
A late arrival for platinum and gold?
An extraterrestrial source may explain why Earth's mantle holds more platinum, gold, and certain other elements than it should.
- Earth
Strange crystal birth found in mine
Deep in a Wisconsin mine, researchers have uncovered a new way for crystals to grow in nature.
- Earth
Nonstick but not nontoxic
A proliferating pollutant shed by nonstick products and surfactants caused neonatal deaths and developmental impairments in tests with rodents.
- Earth
Testing computers’ hazardous potential
The approved test for evaluating the ability of wastes to leach toxic metals fails to identify lead risks from some electronics equipment.
- Earth
Big worries about little tubes
The size and chemical makeup of some nanotubes being developed for industrial operations resemble mineral fibers, including asbestos, that pose a serious cancer risk.
- Earth
Clearing the Air: Ozone-killing bromine is on the decline
Chemical analyses of Earth's lower atmosphere show that the overall concentration of bromine, a component of some potent ozone-destroying chemicals, has dropped by 5 percent since peaking in 1998.
- Earth
On Shifting Ground
In earthquake-prone areas of the United States and elsewhere in the world, debates go on over whether—and how much—to reinforce buildings.
- Earth
Not So Green? Using hydrogen as fuel may hurt environment
Replacing fossil fuels with clean-burning hydrogen—considered to be a way to reduce globe-warming carbon dioxide—may create a different set of environmental problems, including larger and longer-lasting ozone holes.
- Earth
Saltier Water: Climate change can slow ocean’s absorption of carbon dioxide gas
A decrease in precipitation over the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii in recent years has left the ocean there saltier and has diminished its ability to soak up carbon dioxide.
- Agriculture
Fluid Security—Overcoming Water Shortfalls in the 21st Century
About 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered with water, some 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of it. Too bad almost 96.5 percent of it’s salty, and another 2 percent is locked away as ice in remote places such as Greenland and Antarctica. All told, just a little more than 1 percent of our planet’s water […]
