Earth

  1. Environment

    When measuring lead in water, check the temperature

    Lead contamination in drinking water can be much higher during summer than winter, new research suggests.

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  2. Environment

    U.S. oil and gas boom behind rising ethane levels

    Oil and gas operations on North Dakota’s Bakken shale are largely to blame for a recent rise in global emissions of the greenhouse gas ethane, researchers conclude.

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  3. Plants

    Here’s what a leaf looks like during a fatal attack of bubbles

    Office equipment beats synchrotrons in showing how drought lets air bubbles kill the water-carrier network of veins in plant leaves.

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  4. Animals

    Cause of mass starfish die-offs is still a mystery

    Sea stars off the U.S. west coast started dying off en masse in 2013. Scientists are still struggling to figure out the cause.

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  5. Earth

    Rainwater can help trigger earthquakes

    Rainwater plays a major role in the triggering of earthquakes along New Zealand’s Alpine Fault.

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  6. Climate

    Fizzled 2014 El Niño fired up ongoing monster El Niño

    The ongoing El Niño, one of the strongest on record, got a heat boost from a 2014 event that failed due to unfavorable winds.

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  7. Agriculture

    Bacterium still a major source of crop pesticide

    Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria have provided pest-fighting toxins for over 50 years.

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  8. Planetary Science

    How alien can a planet be and still support life?

    Geoscientists imagine the unearthly mechanisms that could keep alien planets habitable.

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  9. Animals

    Scientists find a crab party deep in the ocean

    A trip to check out the biodiversity off the coast of Panama revealed thousands of crabs swarming on the seafloor.

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  10. Climate

    Wildfire shifts could dump more ice-melting soot in Arctic

    Wildfires will emit more soot into the air in many regions by the end of the century, new simulations show.

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  11. Environment

    EPA boosts estimate of U.S. methane emissions

    A new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revises the agency’s methane emission estimates upward by 3.4 million metric tons.

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  12. Ecosystems

    Heat may outpace corals’ ability to cope

    Corals may soon lose their ability to withstand warming waters.

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