Latest science news in Earth & Climate
NZealand rescuers save 14 whales from stranded pod
(AP) -- Rescuers who battled exhaustion and darkness succeeded in saving 14 pilot whales from a pod of 74 that stranded on a remote New Zealand beach.
Human-powered plane takes to skies
A Canadian student inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's centuries-old sketches of an ornithopter he was the first to make a sustained flight in a human-powered, wing-flapping aircraft.
Around 1970, Northern Oceans Chilled
The oceans in the Northern Hemisphere cooled dramatically beginning in the late 1970s, while the Southern Hemisphere continued its gradual warming, a new study indicates.
Oceans divide over 1970s warming
The oceans went through a short period of rapid temperature change 40 years ago, scientists find, with no cause identified.
New species of sea slug discovered by UCSB marine scientist
Sometimes, treasures can be found in your own backyard - especially if you know what to look for. This is what happened to Jeff Goddard, project scientist with the Marine...
China tops world in catch and consumption of fish
China leads the world in tonnage of fish caught annually as well as the amount of fish consumed, according to new findings. The research ranks the top 20 nations that...
‘Dry water’ could make a big splash commercially
An unusual substance known as “dry water,” which resembles powdered sugar, could provide a new way to absorb and store carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas that contributes to global...
Brazil's threatened Cerrado gets a protection plan
The Brazilian government last week announced a new plan to protect the Cerrado, a massive expanse of biologically diverse savannah that is under huge pressure from encroaching development...
Malagasy Spiders Spin the World's Toughest Biological Material
Arachnid architects build brawny webs that stretch across rivers and streams
Atmospheric science: A towering experiment
An ambitious project to track greenhouse gases from a perch high above the Amazon forest will provide crucial data — but only if scientists can get it built.
East Africa to boost potential of cassava, potato
Five East African countries have agreed on processing standards for cassava and potato to exploit growing demand for the crops.
2010 Gives West a Respite From Fire
The fire season still has some weeks to go, but it is running neck and neck with the one in 2003 for the title of least severe.
Feature: Science, ‘sceptics’ and spin: framing the climate change debate
Alexendra de Blas investigates and details the role of scientists, deniers and the media in the public climate change debate.
Warming worry shades ozone success
CFC replacements may have helped repair the hole in the ozone layer, but could contribute significantly to climate change
Greenpeace 'occupies' Chevron vessel
LONDON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Environmental activists attached themselves to the anchor of an oil drilling ship, stopping it from heading to the Shetland Islands, Greenpeace said. ...
Earth's pulse felt at hot spots
Enigmatic volcanic hot spots around the world might be pulsating together — like a great planetary heartbeat — at the rates of five and 10 million years, say researchers from...
Titanic sunk by steering mistake, author says
The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing,...
World eyes Arctic oil reserves
Climate change has focussed attention on the economic potential of the Arctic.
Nobelist Walter Kohn to Receive 2010 Prange Prize
Nobel laureate Walter Kohn, who invented the density-functional theory of matter, has been named the 2010 recipient of the Richard E. Prange Prize and Lectureship in Condensed Matter Theory and...
Americans Want Environmentally Sustainable Businesses
Americans believe that U.S. business leaders must understand how to manage business in an environmentally sustainable manner to remain globally competitive.
Servers perform well in cooler temperatures
Lots of energy can be saved by using outside air directly for cooling in data centers in the north. In a study by researchers of Helsinki Institute for Information Technology...
Money for Stoves; the Other Pledges?
What happened to the $30 billion in fast-track financing that developed countries pledged for climate-change mitigation and adaptation?
87 percent of gulf open, NOAA says
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- More than 85 percent of U.S. federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico are open to commercial and recreational fishing, NOAA announced Wednesday. ...
Malaysian authorities save hundreds of lizards
Malaysian wildlife authorities said Wednesday they had seized 422 clouded monitor lizards being smuggled out of the country and destined for cooking pots in Asia.
L.A. County tests plan for bird-friendly plant maintenance at parks
Officials and environmentalists hope that by trimming trees and cutting vegetation only in winter, they can avoid disturbing birds and their nests in Whittier Narrows.The distress call of a marsh...
Phys Ed: Can Concussions in Kids Cause Problems Later in Life?
Some effects may last for years and very probably are permanent.
Risk of beetle outbreaks rise, along with temperature, in the warming West
The potential for outbreaks of spruce and mountain pine beetles in western North America's forests is likely to increase significantly in the coming decades, according to a study conducted by...
Learning to live on land: How some early plants overcame an evolutionary hurdle
Diversity of life would be impossible if the ancestors of modern plants had stayed in the water with their green algal cousins. Moving onto dry land required major changes to...