Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Fluid mechanics used to help swimmers
TROY, N.Y., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist is using experimental flow measurement techniques to help American Olympic swimmers shave seconds from their lap times.
Climate change models may be inaccurate
PHOENIX, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've discovered some measures used in atmospheric science overlook important factors affecting climatic warming and cooling.
Pacific Shellfish Ready To Invade Atlantic
As the Arctic Ocean warms this century, shellfish, snails and other animals from the Pacific Ocean will resume an invasion of the northern Atlantic that was interrupted by cooling conditions...
Verizon, 2 unions agree on new 3-year contact
(AP) -- Verizon Communications Inc. and two unions representing 65,000 workers who had threatened to strike within hours agreed Sunday on a new three-year contract that provides 10.5 percent...
Studying Great Salt Lake’s High Mercury Levels
The Great Salt Lake is so briny that swimmers bob in the water like corks, and, for reasons scientists cannot explain, it is laden with toxic mercury.
Sub to make deep Caribbean dive
UK scientists will use their new auto-sub to explore the world's deepest undersea volcanoes, which lie 6km down in the Caribbean.
Canada releases once-infested elk herd
WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Canadian wildlife officials in the Yukon Territory released a herd of elk that had been rounded up to rid them of an...
Birds Move North with Climate Change
Birds in the Northeastern United States are moving their breeding ranges north, adding to concerns about the planet's changing climate.
Beijing Olympics Air Pollution Control Efforts Being Assessed
Flying downwind from Chinese mainland, unmanned aerial vehicles will measure emissions of soot and other forms of black carbon during China's "great shutdown."
Meta-materials Mimic Ice And Illuminate Why Water-ice Doesn't Fully Conform To Third Law Of Thermodynamics
Researchers are using meta-materials, which mimic the behavior of ice, but are created out of completely different substances, to and figure out why water ice doesn't completely conform to the...
WEEK IN PHOTOS: Cloned Pit Bull, Volcano Fireworks, Mor
Nicaragua celebrates its patron saint, an Amazonian volcano lets off steam, the Olympic torch reaches the Great Wall, and more best news photos this week.
Sputnik-era antenna gets 21st century upgrade
A mammoth MIT antenna installed in 1957 as the first radar system to conduct space surveillance (it observed the Sputnik satellite) is poised for many more years of key observations...
Study: Ego may spur some conservationists
EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A Canadian study suggests some people who engage in animal conservation efforts might do it more for their own egos than to...
Mars Clay "Layer Cake" Adds to Proof of Watery Past
Minerals exposed in an ancient Martian channel were likely formed when a large body of liquid water covered the region, a new study suggests.
African science on the rise thanks to regional initiative
Researchers in eight African countries will benefit from three US$800,000 grants from the Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE).
EERC's Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership and Ducks Unlimited Announce Carbon Credit Program
The Energy & Environmental Research Center's (EERC's) Plains CO2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership and Ducks Unlimited, Inc., a leading waterfowl conservation organization and a PCOR Partnership partner, announce the creation of...
Climate Change Equals Stronger Rains [News]
As the globe continues to warm, the rainiest parts of the world are very likely to get wetter, according to a new study in Science. Desert dwellers, however, are likely...
California eyes cattails to combat climate change
(AP) -- On one side of the gravel road are hundreds of acres of corn. On the other is a different crop that scientists hope will enable farmers to...
Closer ties urged between China and IEA
World energy forum needs China onboard to tackle carbon emissions and high oil prices
Monitoring Against Another Pompeii
A WiMAX-based connection to the Internet will enable real-time monitoring of potentially dangerous active volcanoes. For effective monitoring of volcanic activity, scientists want to know what is happening in real...
Feature: Water polo players immersed in hockey to gain winning edge
Australia's Olympic women's water polo team is preparing for the Beijing Olympics by thinking outside of the pool - and looking towards the hockey pitch, writes Tony Malkovic.
Australia's marine climate shifting south
Average surface temperatures in Australia's tropical waters have been steadily increasing, causing climate zones to shift southwards and putting marine ecosystems at risk, research has found.
Clean 3-way split observed
In chemistry as in life, threesomes are not known to break up neatly. And while open-minded thinkers have insisted that clean three-way splits do happen, nobody had actually witnessed one...
EPA rejects lower biofuels standards
WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a request by the State of Texas to lower the nation's renewable fuels standard.
Study: China's hail storms are decreasing
BEIJING, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. and Chinese researchers say they've determined climate change might be responsible for a decrease in hail falling across China.
Fuel from Cellulose
Independence from fossil fuel exporting nations, a reduction in the release of greenhouse gases, conservation of dwindling resources: there are any number of reasons to stop the use of fossil...
Blind students learn to surf in Southern California program
Two best friends want to live independently one day, so they push themselves to tackle new and sometimes scary experiences. ...
The Curious History of an Herbal Remedy
The herbal remedy foxglove joined the ranks of modern medicine, thanks to its eighteenth-century champion, Dr. William Withering. Would we be better off without it?