Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Ancient 'wrong way' river discovered
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Geologists say a river as big as the modern Colorado flowed 55 million years ago in Arizona and Utah -- in the...
Iraq raises oil reserve estimate
BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Iraq holds more than 140 billion barrels of extractable oil, an increase of about 25 percent, the country's oil minister announced Monday. ...
Climate change target 'not safe', researchers say
An analysis of geological records that preserve details of the last known period of global warming has revealed "startling" results which suggest current targets for limiting climate change are unsafe.
Ig Nobel Winners Laud Cursing, Collect Snot
Annals of Improbable Research Magazine Awards Scientists for Silly Science that Makes Sense
Genetically altered trees, plants could help counter global warming
Forests of genetically altered trees and other plants could sequester several billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year and so help ameliorate global warming, according to estimates published...
EPA Proposes 62 MPG Fuel Efficiency Standard by 2025
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards...
Britain Will Let Chevron Drill Deep in North Sea
"All lessons learned from Macondo have been applied to this well," the government says in a reference to BP's gulf spill.
Bt cowpea could generate up to US$1 billion for small farmers
Scientists have engineered a pest-resistant version of the cowpea, an ancient crop being rediscovered by small farmers in Africa.
PCs that boot in seconds are coming
LONDON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Time spent waiting for a computer to boot up could soon be cut to seconds by an update to one of the oldest parts...
'Real Deal' Planets, Near and Far
Scientists sitting on a living planet marvel at one that might be similarly suitable for biology.
How warm was this summer?
An unparalleled heat wave in eastern Europe, coupled with intense droughts and fires around Moscow, put Earth's temperatures in the headlines this summer. Likewise, a string of exceptionally warm days...
Active packaging keeps meat fresh for longer
To date, supermarkets have only been able to keep products on their meat counters for a few days. But now researchers have developed an antimicrobial active packaging film that destroys...
Study Shows Extent of Land Degradation and Recovery on Western Rangelands
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released a new study by scientists and conservationists showing that non-federal rangelands in the Western United States are productive, but that non-native grasses...
New league table of Spanish savings banks created
Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV, Spain) have produced a new league table of Spanish savings banks based on economic, financial and social criteria. This is the first...
EU irked over mackerel fishing
BRUSSELS, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Iceland and the Faroe Islands are exploiting European accomplishments in the management of mackerel stocks, European lawmakers complained. ...
On Our Radar: Politics and the Drilling Ban
The head of the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Management warns that the moratorium will not be lifted as a result of pressure, but there are signs that it will...
Algae biodiesel production has to be three times cheaper
The cost of producing biodiesel from algae is now three and a half times more than producing it from oil, and twice as much as producing fuel from rapeseed. Investments...
URI oceanographer to lead return visit to least inhabited place on Earth
(PhysOrg.com) -- Four University of Rhode Island oceanographers depart next week for an international research expedition to the middle of the South Pacific Gyre - an area that is as...
Ease into daylight savings time
With winter now behind us and the longer days of summer looming comes the annual switch to daylight saving time.
NOAA-sponsored scientists first to map offshore San Andreas Fault and associated ecosystems
For the first time, scientists are using advanced technology and an innovative vessel to study, image, and map the unexplored offshore Northern San Andreas Fault from north of San Francisco...
U.N. ties patents to green economy
BRUSSELS, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The global effort to combat climate change resulted in a significant boost in green economic activity, a U.N. review of patents found from Brussels. ...
Time likely to end within 5 billion years, physicists calculate
(PhysOrg.com) -- As far as astrophysicists can tell, the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, and will likely continue to do so indefinitely. But now some physicists are saying...
Major Marina del Rey sewage spill will keep beach closed for days
A blockage in a main sent about 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into a storm drain leading to Ballona Creek. The spill ranks among the worst in the last two...
Video: Tropical Weather Sweeps East Coast
A rain storm is moving up the East Coast, bringing heavy wind and flooding in some states. Dean Reynolds reports on the latest details of the storm and how some...
Mixed dolphin groups change how they talk
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Two distinct species of dolphins with separate calls and sounds seem to attempt to find a common language when they come...
Boat made of ice melts and sinks in U.K.
LONDON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- An attempt to test a World War II plan to create ships from ice came to an abrupt end when the frozen ship melted...
Planning the world's largest water tunnel research facility
The University of Miami College of Engineering has received funding from the Corporacion Andina de Fomento to undertake a feasibility study for a new experimental facility located in Panama. The...
Researchers find renewable energy leftovers could fertilize, cut carbon emissions
(PhysOrg.com) -- For hundreds of years, farmers in Brazil's Amazon Basin have hunted through dense jungles for what is called "terra preta" - mysterious plots of super-fertile black soil...