Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Climate
Rising CO2 levels might not be as good for plants as we thought
A 20-year experiment spots a reversal in the way two kinds of plants take up extra carbon from the atmosphere.
- Microbes
This plastic-gobbling enzyme just got an upgrade
Scientists tweaked a bacterial enzyme and made it more efficient in breaking down plastics found in polyester and plastic bottles.
- Oceans
Masses of shrimp and krill may play a huge role in mixing oceans
Hoards of migrating shrimp and krill can cause large-scale turbulence in the ocean, a new study suggests.
- Climate
Cargo ships must cut their emissions in half by 2050
A new international agreement places a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from international cargo ships.
- Genetics
Sweet potatoes might have arrived in Polynesia long before humans
Genetic analysis suggests that sweet potatoes were present in Polynesia over 100,000 years ago, and didn’t need help crossing the Pacific.
- Oceans
Ocean heat waves are becoming more common and lasting longer
Over the last 100 years, the world’s oceans have sweltered through a rising number of heat waves.
- Environment
Microplastics may enter freshwater and soil via compost
Compost is pinpointed as a source of plastic pollution, but environmental fate and effects unknown.
- Paleontology
This ancient lizard may have watched the world through four eyes
A lizard that lived 50 million years ago had both a third and a fourth eye.
- Earth
Efforts to contain Mississippi floods may have made them worse
Intensive management of the Mississippi River has increased the size of its largest floods, suggests a new study.
- Health & Medicine
Are we ready for the deadly heat waves of the future?
As heat waves become more common, cities try to respond.
- Climate
Seafloor map shows why Greenland’s glaciers melt at different rates
A new high-res look at the seafloor shows how ledges and dips affects whether relatively warm ocean water reaches the ice.
- Earth
Powerful New England quake recorded in pond mud
The newfound sediment signature of the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake could be used to trace other prehistoric temblors.
