Earth
- Chemistry
Bioplastics could put some shrimp in your Barbie
Teen researchers are looking to natural materials like shrimp shells and banana peels to make plastics ecofriendly and biodegradable.
By Sid Perkins - Environment
‘Boot camp’ teaches rare animals how to go wild
Animals raised in captivity cannot safely re-enter the wilds without first understanding how to find food and avoid becoming a predator’s lunch. Scientists are helping some species learn this.
- Oceans
Small swimmers may play huge role in churning the seas
Hoards of migrating shrimp and krill can cause large-scale water movements in the ocean, a new study suggests.
- Environment
Restaurant diners may ingest extra pollutants
People who dine out have higher levels of certain potentially harmful pollutants in their bodies than do people who eat home-cooked meals, new data show.
- Environment
Scientists Say: Runoff
Water that flows through soil and into rivers, lakes and oceans becomes runoff. That runoff can carry part of the land — including its pollution — to the sea.
- Earth
Robots and ‘green energy’ win the day at Intel ISEF
The top three awards — each worth $50,000 to $75,000 — went for a window-washing robot, low-cost big batteries and ‘green’ capacitors
By Sid Perkins - Oceans
Ocean heat waves are on the rise — and killing coral
Ocean heat waves are becoming hotter and more frequent. And one can be blamed for the 2016 coral deaths on the Great Barrier Reef.
By Dan Garisto and Carolyn Gramling - Earth
How long will Kilauea’s new eruption last?
A government volcano expert answers burning questions about the ongoing Kilauea eruption.
- Chemistry
Banana plant extract can slow how fast ice cream melts
Food scientists now show that adding these tiny plant particles to ice cream may delay the rate at which this treat melts into a soupy mess.
- Environment
Pacific garbage patch may be 16 times bigger than thought
The giant ‘garbage patch’ that floats between Hawaii and California weighs at least 79,000 tons, a new estimate suggests.
- Environment
Dirty air can harm your brain and stress the body
New research shows that polluted air can mess with the bodies — including the brains — of even healthy kids and teens.
- Environment
Plastic taints most bottled water, study finds
Tiny bits of plastic contaminated nearly every tested sample of bottled water from nine countries. Whether ingesting the plastic might pose some risk remains unknown.