Latest science news in Earth & Climate
New view of tectonic plates: Computer modeling of Earth's mantle flow, plate motions, and fault zones
Computational scientists and geophysicists have developed new computer algorithms that for the first time allow for the simultaneous modeling of Earth's mantle flow, large-scale tectonic plate motions, and the behavior...
Large CO2 release speeds up ice age melting
Radiocarbon dating is used to determine the age of everything from ancient artifacts to prehistoric corals on the ocean bottom. But in a recent study appearing in the Aug. 26...
Fertilizers found to damage aquatic life
RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Fertilizer chemicals that end up in streams and rivers may be causing development abnormalities in aquatic life, U.S. researchers say. ...
Scientists concerned about environmental impact of recycling of e-waste
Much of the world's electronic waste is being shipped to China for recycling and the cottage industry that has sprung up there to recover usable materials from computers, cell phones,...
'Stickybot' can walk up a pane of glass
PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Scaling vertical surfaces like Spider-Man could one day be a reality as new advances learn to mimic nature's best climbers, researchers say. ...
Herring to be counted near N.S.
Scientists from the Bedford Institute of Oceanography are on a mission to find out why herring fishermen in Nova Scotia are reporting fewer and smaller fish this season.
Computers take a closer look inside the Earth
More detailed pictures of the processes that continuously reshape the Earth from the inside out are being generated by new, more sophisticated computer models, yielding new insights into the hidden...
Paraguay marks fragile agriculture-based recovery
ASUNCION, Paraguay, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Paraguay is celebrating a record economic growth on the back of its soy exports but remains exposed to domestic and international pressures to...
What have engineers learned from Katrina?
Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, James N. Jensen, PhD, University at Buffalo professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, says that probably the biggest lesson learned from...
Texas A&M research produces tools to study stallions’ subfertility
COLLEGE STATION, Aug. 26, 2010 -- Subfertility of breeding stallions -- meaning the horses are less able to sire foals -- is a well-recognized...
Receding ice could unlock arctic trove
HELSINKI, Finland, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Receding arctic ice from global warming may open new avenues for tourism and trade and could reveal vast new natural resource reserves, researchers...
ISS ship-tracker operating alongside Norwegian satellite
(PhysOrg.com) -- Nearing the end of its third month of continuous operation, the International Space Station's ship-tracking experiment has experienced a marked increase in data quality. Now it operates along...
Riverside Park Plans Composting Restroom
A tennis association has proposed a carbon-neutral complex that would be the first public bathroom of its kind in a New York City park.
Core values unite Americans, despite divisions
ANN ARBOR, Mich. --- Americans are united when it comes to many core values, according to a University of Michigan survey. But the nation is deeply divided about certain...
Anthem Blue Cross is allowed to move ahead with rate hikes
State regulators find that the firm's proposal meets the requirement that 70% of premiums go for medical care. As a result, they can't stop the increases, which average 14%. Blue...
Unusual feed supplement could ease greenhouse gassy cows
(PhysOrg.com) -- Cow belches, a major source of greenhouse gases, could be decreased by an unusual feed supplement developed by a Penn State dairy scientist.
NRL scientist seeing clearly the effects of pyrocumulonimbus
(WASHINGTON, DC Aug. 26, 2010) -- Wildfires can wreak widespread havoc and devastation, affecting environmental assets lives, property and livelihoods. Meteorologist Mike Fromm of the Naval...
Aquanauts living on ocean floor come up for air
University of North Carolina Wilmington grad students and technicians have been living deep under water for nine days in the only seafloor laboratory and habitat in the world. ...
Mayan pool in the rainforest: Archaeologists find huge artificial lake with a ceramic-lined floor
Archaeologists from the University of Bonn found a water reservoir the size of a soccer field, whose floor is lined with ceramic shards, in the Mexican rainforest. It seems that...
How Galicia recovered from an oil spill
Can the recovery of the Galician coast provide inspiration for the fishing and tourism industries in the Gulf of Mexico?
Kiev holds steady on grain
KIEV, Ukraine, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- There will be no limits to grain exports from Ukraine despite warnings of imposing a quota, the Ukrainian government announced. ...
GALLERY: In the Northwest Passage
Scientific research aboard the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis St. Laurent
Nutrient shift occurring in the Gulf of Maine could affect planktonic ecosystem
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Gulf of Maine waters are cooler, fresher and lower in nitrate than they were 30 years ago, causing a nutrient shift that has potential implications for the...
More finger pointing in oil spill probe
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Representatives from the energy companies tied to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill resorted to finger pointing during testimony before U.S. government officials. ...
Belarus exploring gas diversity
MINSK, Belarus, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Belarus is examining liquefied natural gas and a European gas pipeline as ways to reduce dependency on Russian gas, the government said. ...
After the Leak, Restoring the Gulf Coast
Back in June, with oil still spewing from BP's blown-out well, President Obama charged Navy Secretary Ray Mabus with crafting a Gulf Coast restoration plan that would address both the...
Low water a concern for Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Officials have mixed feelings over whether low rains or upstream dams are influencing the rice and fishing sectors in Cambodia, authorities said. ...
BP scraps plans to drill in Arctic due to Gulf spill: report
BP has scrapped plans to drill in the Arctic, where a new oil rush is expected, amid fears such a move would be "political madness" after the Gulf oil spill,...