Earth

  1. Climate

    Human CO2 emissions put Arctic on track to be ice-free by 2050

    Sea ice is shrinking by about three square meters for each metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted, new research suggests.

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  2. Earth

    Mount St. Helens is a cold-hearted volcano

    Geophysics reveals that deep beneath Mount St. Helens, there’s no source of hot magma, just a wedge of cold serpentinite rock. Where is the missing heat?

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  3. Earth

    The southern San Andreas has a smaller, neighboring fault to its west

    The newly-discovered Salton Trough Fault runs parallel to the southern San Andreas Fault in California, potentially affecting the region’s earthquake risk.

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  4. Earth

    ‘A Most Improbable Journey’ offers scientific take on human history

    Walter Alvarez’s “A Most Improbable Journey” gives readers a tour of “Big History,” linking human history to unpredictable cosmic, geologic and biological events.

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  5. Climate

    Climate change shifts how long ants hang on to coveted real estate

    Simulated climate warming reveals a new pattern in turnover of ant nests.

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  6. Climate

    Wanted: New ways to chill air conditioners, fridges

    A new amendment to the Montreal Protocol will phase out potent greenhouse gases currently used in air conditioners and refrigerators, prompting a hunt for eco-friendly alternatives.

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  7. Climate

    Warmer waters bring earlier plankton blooms

    As oceans warm, phytoplankton grow quickly.

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  8. Earth

    There’s a new way to stop an earthquake: put a volcano in its path

    An earthquake rupturing along a fault in Japan was blockaded by the magma chamber below the Mount Aso volcano, researchers propose.

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  9. Oceans

    Reef rehab could help threatened corals make a comeback

    Reefs are under threat from rising ocean temperatures. Directed spawning, microfragmenting and selective breeding may help.

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  10. Climate

    Extreme lightning events set records

    A lightning flash stretching 321 kilometers across and one that lasted 7.74 seconds have been named the most extreme events on record, thanks to a new rule change.

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  11. Life

    Ocean archaea more vulnerable to deep-sea viruses than bacteria

    Deep-sea viruses kill archaea disproportionately more often than bacteria, a killing spree with important impacts on the global carbon cycle.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, noise was a nuisance (it still is)

    In 1966, scientists warned of the physical and psychological dangers of a louder world.

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