Latest science news in Earth & Climate
3rd spacewalk needed to restore cooling system
(AP) -- A pair of space station astronauts had to hammer loose a stuck connector during an urgent spacewalk to restore a crucial cooling system Saturday, then an ammonia...
Ship's discovery whets appetite for more
YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers who discovered a 19th century sailing ship say they'll mount another expedition to find more ships despite some criticism of...
World War II Still Shapes Atoll's Ecosystem
As Dr. Sterling winds down her sea turtle research and returns to New York, new groups of scientists will arrive to study other pieces in the Palmyra ecosystem puzzle.
Climate Clues Sought in Ancient Ice
Drillers Reach 120,000 Year-Old Greenland Bedrock in Search for Data
Warming could affect ocean food chain
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, July 30 (UPI) -- Scientists say the amount of ocean plankton, the foundation of the aquatic food chain, has declined over the past century as ocean...
Reducing Soot Might Be Shortcut to Reverse Climate Change, New Study Says
Pollution Creates Soot Emissions from power plants can contribute to soot formation. via Flickr/ akeg The quickest way to slow the melting of Arctic sea ice is through reducing soot emissions, according to...
Kiev plans gas transit network upgrades
KIEV, Ukraine, July 30 (UPI) -- Kiev aims to raise more than $6 billion to help modernize a Soviet-era natural gas pipeline for Europe, the Energy Ministry announced. ...
Your Oil Spill Cleanup Idea Could be Worth $1.4 Million
Do you have an idea on how to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? It could earn you $1.4 million.
Study changes picture of U.S. quake hazards
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The risk of earthquakes in the U.S. Midwest may be more widespread than geologists have believed, but a "big one" may be less likely at Missouri's New...
EPA rejects challenges to climate report
WASHINGTON, July 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it has denied 10 petitions challenging its 2009 determination that climate change is real and threatens humans. ...
Phytoplankton Population Drops 40 Percent Since 1950
The microscopic plants that form the foundation of the ocean's food web are declining, reports a study published July 29 in Nature . [More] ...
Climate Study: Expect Refugee Inflow to U.S.
Global Warming Study Sees Big Rural Refugee Migration to U.S.Over Next Decades
Household chemicals eyed in duck deaths
DENVER, July 28 (UPI) -- Chemicals found in many U.S. household products may have contributed to the deaths of more than 1,000 ducks in the winter of 2007-2008, wildlife...
Mississippi River blamed for giant 1811 quakes
Massive earthquakes that struck the town of New Madrid, Mo., in 1811 can be traced to the actions of the mighty Mississippi River thousands of years earlier, a new study...
Study: Fungus could be weapon against BPA
WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- Scientists say a fungus may provide a safe, eco-friendly way to dispose of food container plastics, controversial for their content of bisphenol A, or...
To Track An Oxidant
Indoor Air: Scientists measure hydroxyl radicals for the first time in an unperturbed indoor environment.
International Fusion Effort Finally Gets Go-Ahead, and a New Leader
As expected, the governing council of the ITER fusion effort today finally approved the...
Oil industry is driving force behind Proposition 23's attack on California's new greenhouse gas regulation
If a ballot initiative is known by the company it keeps, we should be just a teeny bit suspicious of Proposition 23, the Nov. 2 measure...
California, New Mexico and 3 Canadian provinces outline regional cap-and-trade program
The Western Climate Initiative would cut greenhouse gas emissions 15% below 2005 levels by putting restrictions on the energy sector, large industrial plants and transportation. ...
New criteria for T-cell lymphoma diagnosis
Researchers in Italy have discovered new diagnostic criteria to differentiate peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs).
Food: The global farm
With its plentiful sun, water and land, Brazil is quickly surpassing other countries in food production and exports. But can it continue to make agricultural gains without destroying the Amazon?...
Food: An underground revolution
Plant breeders are turning their attention to roots to increase yields without causing environmental damage. Virginia Gewin unearths some promising subterranean strategies.
Global warming pushes 2010 temperatures to record highs
Scientists from two leading climate research centres publish 'best evidence yet' of rising long-term global temperatures • Jeffrey Sachs: Obama must take a lead on climate changeGlobal temperatures in the first half of...
Picking Winners: Is Government Technology Strategy Good Or Bad? (Or, Say “Thai Baht” Three Times Really Fast)
The Portland International Conferences on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET) occur in Oregon in odd-numbered years, and in diverse locales in the even. I write from lovely Phuket island...
Nord Stream makes landfall in Russia
VYBORG, Russia, July 28 (UPI) -- A ship moored off the Russian coast of the Gulf of Finland pulled a section of the Nord Stream pipeline onto the shore,...
Microbes To The Rescue?
Oil Spill: The fate of spilled oil in the Gulf rests with the hydrocarbon-digesting microbes colonizing underwater plumes.
Water scarce in Egypt
CAIRO, July 28 (UPI) -- Water shortages are expected to grow more severe in Egypt and public frustration with the situation is growing, water engineers say. ...
Marine Recorders Being Used to Assess Ecological Impact of Gulf Oil Spill on Whales
Like giant canaries in a coal mine, whales reflect the health of their environment. Now, the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in partnership with NOAA, is...