Earth

Oceans

3.5 billion years ago, oceans were cool, not hot

Extensive new evidence from South Africa suggests that 3.5 billion years ago, Earth was locked in a cold spell, with isolated blasts of hydrothermal heat that may have helped incubate life.

Environment

California gas leak spewed massive amounts of methane

New estimates suggest that a 2015 natural gas well blowout injected tons of greenhouse gases into the Los Angeles atmosphere.

Earth

Readers respond to blue tarantulas, multiparticles and white outs

Readers respond to the January 9, 2016 issue of Science News with thoughts on blue tarantulas, multiparticles, and avalanches.

Oceans

Great Barrier Reef acidification predictions get worse

New simulations suggest that ocean acidification poses an even greater threat to the Great Barrier Reef than suspected.

Oceans

Corals need to take their vitamin C

Newly settled corals use vitamin C to help build their stony skeletons, researchers propose.

Oceans

Gulf oil spill could hasten corrosion of shipwrecks

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster could hasten the corrosion of historical shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, new studies of marine microbes suggest.

Climate

20th century sea level rose at fastest rate since founding of Rome

Sea levels rose more rapidly in the 1900s than during any other century in at least 2,800 years, with global warming causing at least half that rise.

Earth

‘Eruption’ looks back at devastating Mount St. Helens blast

In Eruption, a science writer recounts the societal, economic and geologic forces that contributed to the Mount St. Helens disaster.

Agriculture

FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide

Amid controversy and conflicting studies, the FDA will test food for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world.

Environment

Vaping linked to host of new health risks

Animal studies and analyses of gene activity point to broad range of potential new health risks from vaping affecting everything from sperm to heart and immunity to mental health.

Earth

New app puts an earthquake detector in your pocket

Smartphone app MyShake uses motion-sensing accelerometers to detect nearby quakes. The app could provide early warnings of incoming tremors, its creators say.

Astronomy

In all sorts of circumstances, life finds a way

Editor in Chief discusses the new marine habitats formed by human pollution and the alarming rise of the Zika virus.