Latest science news in Earth & Climate
So. Ariz. man pleads guilty in jaguar's death
(AP) -- A southern Arizona biologist pleaded guilty on Friday to a misdemeanor federal charge for his role in the 2009 trapping and subsequent death of a rare jaguar...
Global Warming May Worsen Allergies, Study Finds
Elevated levels of carbon dioxide predicted by models of climate change can drive increased production of fungal spores, including some associated with allergies and asthma, according to a new study...
Scientists Say They Can Measure Rate of Oil Leak if BP Releases Clear Seafloor Video
The Largest of Two Leaks on The Deepwater Horizon Riser Since BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded into one of the worst man-made ecological disasters in history, one big question has remained unanswered: Just...
Gulf Oil Leaks Could Gush for Years
If efforts fail to cap the seafloor leaks, the continuous seep of oil could poison the Gulf's coastal habitats for decades, experts say.
Mortgage rates drop for fifth consecutive week
Interest rates hit their lowest level this year, mortgage company Freddie Mac says. The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan is 4.93%. The European debt crisis is helping to drive down...
The fungus among us: An eco-friendly way of decomposing BPA-containing plastic
Just as cooking helps people digest food, pretreating polycarbonate plastic - source of a huge environmental headache because of its bisphenol A (BPA) content - may be the key to...
Proposal would park a park on top of downtown L.A. freeway
A design firm's interns, with help from Caltrans, devise plans for a 100-acre park to "cap" a half-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway. Officials say it's a promising approach, but...
Scientists better prepared to judge ash cloud
Scientists say they are now better prepared for measuring Iceland's volcanic ash problem, which is expected to continue for several months, after experiments using modelling and lasers to probe the...
China scientists find use for cigarette butts
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chemical extracts from cigarette butts -- so toxic they kill fish -- can be used to protect steel pipes from rusting, a study in China has...
David Myers' culinary empire in flux
These are the last days of Sona, the elegant restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard that has been a fixture of Los Angeles' fine-dining scene for nearly eight years. On Saturday,...
UN chief presses Harper on climate change
The UN secretary-general delivered tough messages to the Harper Conservatives in Ottawa on Wednesday, urging them to champion climate change and the world's poor at next month's G20 and G8...
Low water likely in Great Lakes
DETROIT, May 12 (UPI) -- Water levels in the Great Lakes are expected to drop this summer because of a dry winter and spring, hydrologists say.
Senate panel tables soda tax
A proposal to help Californians slim down by putting a sugar tax on soda has run afoul of another bloating problem -- that of the state budget.
Possible next-gen iPhone surfaces on Vietnam sites
(AP) -- Another possible next-generation iPhone prototype has surfaced, this time in Vietnam.
Mapping Birds Without Boundaries
For the first time ever, scientists and government officials from the United States, Canada and Mexico have come together to produce a comprehensive assessment of land birds that live across...
3 new climate change reports to be released at May 19 public briefing
As part of its most comprehensive assessment to date, the National Research Council -- the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering ...
Carbon Fudgeprints
Carbon Fudgeprints It seems that everyone has a carbon footprint. The idea is that everything you do puts CO2 into the atmosphere or if it doesn't then it jolly well ought...
What Is A Sinkhole And Why Do Sinkholes Form?
A sinkhole in Saint-Jude, Quebec has just collapsed a house, killing a family of four inside, leading people to ask what they are, how they occur and obviously who is...
Powerful Quake to Test New Bridge Construction Method
(PhysOrg.com) -- A magnitude 7.0 earthquake will strike at the University at Buffalo on May 18 as researchers conduct tests on a 70-ton, 60-foot-long concrete bridge in the university's massive...
EU leader wants stricter CO2 cuts
LONDON, May 12 (UPI) -- The European Commission is ready to boost its body-wide climate emissions reduction target to revive the deadlocked climate negotiations and drive the price for...
Greenland glacier study will help improve sea level forecasts
(PhysOrg.com) -- Predicting sea levels could become more accurate thanks to a new discovery about how melting ice in the summer affects the movement of glaciers.
Interview: Jerome Milgram on oil spills
Emeritus Professor Jerome (Jerry) Milgram has researched the science of oil spills on the ocean surface and in deep water wells since 1970. He has overseen the containment of ruptured wells in the...
Digital divide widens in China
Rising Internet use has not erased the digital divide separating rural and urban China, finds a report.
The physics of magic, the magic of physics
Scientists are magicians? That's what professional stage magician Phill Smith is to discuss at a free public lecture at the University of Leicester. 'The Physics of Magic, The Magic of...
Hot science from a volcanic crisis
The eruption of Mount St Helens in 1980 left an indelible mark on the field of volcanology. Janet Fang reports.
Fishing Shrivels as the Slick Advances
The area of the Gulf of Mexico off limits to fishing grew yet again on Tuesday as federal officials invoked emergency powers to close down thousands of additional square miles...
Windsor lands solar panel plant
Ontario's first solar panel manufacturing facility is expected to start production by the end of the year on Windsor Airport lands and employ up to 200 people by next spring.
Riveting testimony on oil rig rescue effort
Workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig leaped eight stories into the Gulf of Mexico after the huge natural gas explosion, witnesses tell a federal hearing in Louisiana. ...