Environment
- Earth
Gassy farm soils are a shockingly large source of these air pollutants
California’s farm soils produce a surprisingly large amount of smog-causing air pollutants.
- Environment
Plastic pollution increases risk of devastating disease in corals
Researchers estimate about 11 billion pieces of plastic are polluting Asia-Pacific corals, raising the risk of disease at scores of reefs.
- Astronomy
Pollution is endangering the future of astronomy
Astronomers discuss multiple threats from pollution that will make it harder to observe the night sky.
- Health & Medicine
Fracking linked to low birth weight in Pennsylvania babies
Babies born to moms living within one kilometer of a hydraulic fracturing site were more likely to be born underweight, researchers say.
- Health & Medicine
Worries grow that climate change will quietly steal nutrients from major food crops
Studies show that rice, wheat and other staples could lose proteins and minerals, putting more people at risk of hunger worldwide.
- Animals
Seeds coated in a common pesticide might affect birds’ migration
Eating small amounts of a neonicotinoid pesticide can disorient white-crowned sparrows.
- Animals
Even a tiny oil spill spells bad news for birds
Just a small amount of crude can make birds less active.
- Animals
The key to breaking down plastic may be in caterpillars’ guts
Caterpillars that feast on plastic have different gut microbes than those that eat a grain-based diet.
- Environment
Pollution killed 9 million people in 2015
First global look estimates the massive human and financial toll caused by pollution-related health problems.
- Chemistry
Chong Liu one-ups plant photosynthesis
Chong Liu mixes bacteria and inorganics into systems that can generate clean energy better than a leaf.
- Environment
Radioactive material from Fukushima disaster turns up in a surprising place
Radioactive cesium is reaching the ocean through salty groundwater.
- Environment
The way poison frogs keep from poisoning themselves is complicated
Gaining resistance to one of their own toxins forced some poison dart frogs to make other genetic tweaks, too.
