Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Hurricane Bill Update: Now a Major Storm, Beating Odds
Despite unfriendly conditions for Atlantic hurricane formation, Hurricane Bill is now at Category 4, and is expected to stay that way. Said one meteorologist: "Bill is lucky."
Stressed Crops Emit More Methane Than Thought
Scientists have found that methane emission by plants could be a bigger problem in global warming than previously thought. They say an uncounted-for source of greenhouse gas could promote global...
Annual Tahoe Report Says Asian Clam Invasion Is Growing Fast
(PhysOrg.com) -- Released today, UC Davis' annual Lake Tahoe health report describes a spreading Asian clam population that could put sharp shells and rotting algae on the spectacular mountain lake's...
Toxins' effects on embryos to be studied
HOUSTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The University of Houston says it has received a $3.2 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant to study how toxins affect embryonic development.
Cloaking Technology May Protect From Natural Disasters
Researchers have developed a cloaking technology that may protect from tsunamis and earthquakes.
Methane seeps from Arctic sea bed
Scientists say that the powerful greenhouse gas methane is escaping from the sea bed off Norway as the ice it is trapped in melts.
Agricultural Methods of Early Civilizations May Have Altered Global Climate
Massive burning of forests for agriculture thousands of years ago may have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide enough to alter global climate and usher in a warming trend that continues today,...
Culinary Circle macaroni & cheese recalled
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Supervalu Inc. announced the recall of its Culinary Circle-brand frozen gourmet macaroni and cheese products due to possible contamination.
Expedition cites new evidence related to origin and evolution of seismogenic faults
New research about what triggers earthquakes, authored by Michael Strasser of Bremen University, Germany, with colleagues from the USA, Japan, China, France, and Germany, appears in the 16 August issue...
Treated sewage to be used on N.M. parks
ALBUQUERQUE, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A utility official in Albuquerque says parks in the area are among 26 grassy locations to be watered with treated sewage.
Record British UFO sightings in 1990s
An increase in public awareness about aliens and UFO likely contributed to the record number of sightings reported to Britain's Defence Ministry in 1996, according to Britain's National Archives UFO...
Cape tulips -- pretty but pests in pastures
CSIRO and the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA) are collaborating to try to outwit one of southern Australia's worst agricultural weeds.
GPS Helps Locate Soil Erosion Pathways
A new study that examines whether reliable prediction models could be created to identify eroded waterways from digital terrain information, in order to help farmers and conservation professionals do a...
Sensors Mounted On Commercial Airliners Networked For Most Accurate Weather Forecasts Ever
AirDat's sensors, currently installed on the nosecones of 160 commercial airplanes, beam real-time atmospheric data to forecasters Last September, five days before Hurricane Ike pulverized the Texas coast, the National Hurricane Center pegged...
Lake Winnipeg shows nitrogen, phosphorus spike
Experts say massive spring flood in Manitoba's Red River Valley will result in more algae growth on Lake Winnipeg.
Trees defy warming predictions
Research has revealed that, contrary to scientists' expectations, treelines aren't universally advancing in response to climate change.
Feature: Land of the giants
Katherine Smith reports on a new popular account of the rise and demise of the Australian megafauna.
Harper to attend Arctic exercise
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will arrive in Iqaluit on Monday as part of an Arctic trip that will include observing an anti-submarine warfare exercise.
Biosphere project to bring theories of evolution into the real world
An academic at the University of Southampton has been awarded funding to predict the effects of climate change on soil behaviour...
UTSA biology researchers demystify elusive war zone bacterium
San Antonio ? Tao Weitao, a researcher in the College of Sciences' Department of Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio is making great strides in a project...
Sunken steel cages could save coral reefs
• Low-level electric current attracts coral to structure
Just H2O, Chilled? For Games in Vancouver, Ice Isn’t So Easy
Five icemeisters, specialists from all over Canada, face dozens of challenges in getting the ice just right for the Winter Games in an area that combines sea-level elevation and high...
Climate Models Confirm More Moisture In Atmosphere Attributed To Humans
When it comes to using climate models to assess the causes of the increased amount of moisture in the atmosphere, it doesn't much matter if one model is better than...
New data: Mega-quake could strike near Seattle
Using sophisticated seismometers and GPS devices, scientists have been able to track minute movements along two massive tectonic plates colliding 25 miles or so underneath Washington state's Puget Sound basin....
Tribal effort to fix broken world hinges on condor
(AP) -- The tribes of the lower Klamath River have since ancient times decorated themselves with condor feathers when they performed the dances designed to heal a world gone...
Tropical forests to aid society
An international group have developed a new way to reap social and environmental benefits from tropical forests worldwide.
To understand the universe, science calls on the ultrasmall
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2009 -- Will the universe expand outward for all of eternity and end in a vast, dark, cold, sterile, diffuse nothingness?
Tiger claws out a 2-shot lead at the PGA
CHASKA, Minn. (AP) -- The coronation of Tiger Woods turned into a contest Saturday at the PGA Championship. What had looked so inevitable - Woods with...