Earth

Environment

Laundering clothes may send indoor pollutants outdoors

Clothing absorbs pollutants from indoor air. During washing and drying, the fabric releases those chemicals into the outdoor environment, a new study finds.

Earth

Nicotine from smoke enters body through the skin

Scientists have shown for the first time that nicotine from cigarette smoke can enter the body through bare skin from the air or contact with smoky clothes.

Earth

‘Weather bomb’ storms send tremors through Earth

Scientists have detected tiny tremors in the Earth coming from an extreme storm. One day, those tiny tremors could help reveal Earth’s innermost secrets.

Earth

Scientists Say: Permafrost

In polar regions, it gets cold enough that the very dirt will freeze, and stay frozen. This soil has a special name.

Fossils

These may be the oldest fossils on Earth

Some mini mounds in Greenland may just be the earliest evidence of life on Earth, deposited a mere 800,000 years after our planet first formed.

Agriculture

Sneaky! Virus sickens plants, but helps them multiply

The cucumber mosaic virus helps tomato plants lure pollinators. When the plants multiply, the virus now gets new hosts.

Chemistry

Lab creates new, unexpected type of ‘firenadoes’

A newly discovered type of fiery vortex burns hot and generates little soot. Scientists suspect it could be a solution to cleaning up oil spills at sea.

Environment

Scientists Say: Aufeis

Water keeps flowing underground even in the coldest Arctic winters. But when it comes to the surface, it chills out and forms large layers of ice — called aufeis.

Ecosystems

Algae embedded in sea ice drive the Arctic food web

Scientists traced where zooplankton in the Arctic get their energy from. Many open ocean species rely on algae found in sea ice, which is disappearing.

Climate

Scientists Say: Albedo

To measure how much light reflects off an object, scientists measure its albedo.

Earth

Oxygen-rich air emerged super early, new data show

Scientists had thought animals were slow to emerge because they would have needed oxygen-rich air to breathe. A new study finds that plentiful oxygen may have developed early. So animals may have been late on the scene for another reason.

Archaeology

The first farmers were two groups, not one

The humans that began farming 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent may have been two cultures living side-by-side.