Earth
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Earth
Snow alga may be sizable carbon sink
A common microorganism that adds a reddish tinge to some patches of snow may be a significant consumer of planet-warming carbon dioxide.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Earth Art
Brilliant, colorful patches of Earth, as seen in photographs snapped by the Landsat-7 satellite, can look like the work of abstract artists. A number of these beautiful, high-resolution images have now been assembled into an online gallery depicting “Our Earth as Art.” Go to: http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/earthasart/
By Science News -
Earth
The Case for DDT
What do you do when a dreaded environmental pollutant saves lives?
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Northern Vents: Arctic shows surprising hydrothermal activity
A recent survey along a midocean ridge beneath the Arctic icepack unveiled an unexpected abundance of hydrothermal activity.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Predicting geomagnetic storms
Recent observations with an Earth-orbiting spacecraft may provide new ways to predict when solar temper tantrums will cause the geomagnetic storms that disrupt communications systems on Earth and harm satellites.
By Ron Cowen -
Earth
Candid cameras catch rare Asian cats
Remote cameras have confirmed that despite 30 years of armed conflict, jungle cats and many other large mammals continue to thrive in Cambodia.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Rivers run to it
Increasing freshwater discharges into Arctic waters could disrupt important patterns of deep-water ocean circulation that affect climate.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Hawaii’s Hated Frogs
Wildlife officials in Hawaii are investigating unconventional pesticides to eradicate invasive frogs—or at least to check their advance.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Sulfur Studies: Early Earth’s air was oxygen-poor
Analyses of ancient sulfide minerals and the modern organisms that create sulfides are giving scientists a better idea of what Earth's atmosphere and oceans may have been like billions of years ago.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Mapping with GRACE
Global gravity maps compiled from data painstakingly gathered during the last 30 years have now been rendered obsolete by a pair of satellites that were launched just last March.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Mercurial Effects of Fish-Rich Diets
In the spring of 2000, one of Jane M. Hightower’s patients had been concerned about hair loss, so the internist referred the woman to a specialist in her building. That dermatologist probed the woman’s medical history but could find no explanation. That is, until she suddenly recalled a radio broadcast about mercury poisoning in people […]
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Life at the Frigid Edge: Microbes turn up deep in Antarctic lake ice
A pocket of cold, concentrated saltwater at the bottom of an Antarctic lake could harbor life, say researchers who found microbes in the ice right above the briny layer.