Latest science news in Earth & Climate
'Emissions-free' coal plant pilot fires up in Germany
One of Europe's biggest power companies inaugurates on Tuesday a pilot project using a technology that it is presenting as a huge potential breakthrough in the fight against climate change.
Experts offer scaled-back sea level rise forecast
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Worldwide sea levels may rise by about 2.6 to 6.6 feet by 2100 thanks to global warming, but dire predictions of larger increases seem unrealistic, U.S. scientists...
Raising vegetables under Canada's midnight sun
INUVIK, Northwest Territories (Reuters) - Amanda Joynt reached down and picked a fresh tomato from the vine. That's no small feat when you are living 200 km (120 miles) above...
A Deep Thaw: How Much Will Vanishing Glaciers Raise Sea Levels?
Greenland, the world's largest island, holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 23 feet (seven meters). Add the ice sheets of Antarctica and the oceans would deepen more...
Feds Warn Climate Change Could Harm Giant Sequoias
Warming temperatures could soon cause California's giant sequoia trees to die off more quickly.
EPA Cracks Down On Polluting Lawnmowers
Gasoline-powered lawnmowers that are a big cause of summertime air pollution will have to be dramatically cleaner under rules issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Dental fillings without gaps
Tooth cavities are usually closed with plastic fillings. However, the initially soft plastic shrinks as it hardens. The tension can cause gaps to appear between the tooth and the filling,...
Envisat Images Hurricane Gustav
The development and path of Hurricane Gustav is shown via a sequence of satellite images acquired by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument on 25 August, 28 August, 30...
Tim Radford on geoengineering and climate change
Can the new science of geoengineering save the planet? Tim Radford weighs the probabilities
Asian soot, smog may boost global warming in US
(AP) -- Smog, soot and other particles like the kind often seen hanging over Beijing add to global warming and may raise summer temperatures in the American heartland by...
VIDEO: Deadly Hanna Deluges Haiti
"If I couldn't swim, I would have been dead," said one Haitian survivor after tropical storm Hanna caused massive flooding, cutting off one city and killing dozens.
Researcher says: No-till practices show extended benefits on wheat and forage
With more than 3 million acres of wheat in north Texas, 50 percent or more of which is grazed by 1 to 2 million head of cattle, it is important...
Liberals call for resignation of agriculture minister
The Liberal party is calling for the resignation of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, accusing him of staging a coverup over changes to food safety inspections.
Oceanic Dead Zones Continue to Spread
More bad news for the world's oceans: Dead zones--areas of bottom waters too oxygen depleted to support most ocean life--are spreading, dotting nearly the entire east and south coasts of...
Fewer April Showers for U.S. Southwest as Climate Changes
The already parched U.S. Southwest is drying up even more, at least in early spring, because of climate change. A new study in Geophysical Research Letters shows that since 1978,...
Ancient Amazon Actually Highly Urbanized
In 1925 British adventurer Colonel Percy Fawcett disappeared into the wilds of the Amazon, never to be heard from again after going there in search of a lost city he...
New NIST publication series addresses design of earthquake-resistant structures
Where can you find some of the latest insights in designing earthquake-resistant buildings joined together with current information on building codes? As part of its support for the National Earthquake...
Major flooding risk could span decades after Chinese earthquake
Up to 20 million people, thousands of whom are already displaced from their homes following the devastating Chinese earthquake, are at increased risk from flooding and major power shortages in...
Last woolly mammoths had North American roots: study
The last of the woolly mammoths to roam the Earth had North American ancestry, according to a study released Thursday by researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton.
Potential New Threat For Coral Reefs And Health Of Communities In The Tropics
Human activities bear a large part of the responsibility for coral reef degradation. Several threats hang over this complex ecosystem with its extraordinary biodiversity, whether in the form of anthropogenic...
Researchers pinpoint climate change 'hotspots'
Researchers have mapped climate change hotspots around the globe, focusing on specific hazards including floods, cyclones and droughts.
Sony recalls 440,000 Vaio laptops for overheating danger
Tokyo-based Sony Corp. on Thursday said it is recalling about 440,000 Vaio laptop computers worldwide to fix a faulty wiring problem that could cause the products to overheat.
Cloud-seeding ships could combat climate change
Pumping salt water into the air could keep global temperatures stable for decades, say scientists
Q&A: African Agriculture with Florence Wambugu
Florence Wambugu, winner of the 2008 YARA prize for African agriculture, speaks to SciDev.Net about the challenges facing the field.
Engineers Without Borders Works with Kenyan Village to Improve Water Supply
Members of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) student chapter at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently returned from a three-week trip to Kenya, where they worked to improve drinking water...
Interview: Mapping out success
OBC lecture award winner, Akimitsu Okamoto, talks to Vikki Allen about chemical probes and daydreaming over maps
Sharp Adds the D65U and D85U Series to Their AQUOS Line
Sharp, a worldwide leader in flat panel LCD's, expands their widescreen, full HD 1080p line of AQUOS LCD TVs with the attractive D65U and D85U series. Both the D65U and...
VIDEO: Dogsledding Without Snow
Australia sees little snow, but that doesn't stop some enthusiasts from "dogsledding." How? Just add wheels.