Earth
- Chemistry
Particles in air help fatten clouds’ water droplets
Making their own clouds has shown scientists how the fattest water droplets form. Understanding this could lead to better forecasts of climate change.
- Earth
Quake risk in some central states rivals California’s
Risks of tremors in some central U.S. states are as high as those in quake-prone California. The reason: waste fluids from oil and gas drilling.
- Chemistry
Smash hit: Making ‘diamond’ that’s harder than diamonds
Scientists had suspected extreme meteorite impacts might turn graphite into an unusual type of diamond. Now they’ve seen it happen — in under a nanosecond.
- Environment
Breathing very dirty air may boost obesity risk
Breathing dirty Beijing air made rats heavier and less healthy than rats breathing clean air. Scientists now worry such polluted air may do the same thing to people.
- Microbes
Microbes mine treasure from waste
Like miniature factories, bioreactors house microbes recruited to chew through wastes to clean dirty water, make chemicals or generate electricity.
- Environment
Not so sweet: Fake sugar found at sea
Sucralose — sold in stores as Splenda — has begun turning up in seawater. This raises concern about the fake sweetener’s impacts on the environment.
- Tech
Eggshells help hatch a new idea for packaging
Why just crack an egg? Make the shell into itty bitty bits and use them to build a more biodegradable plastic. New research shows how.
- Environment
Enormous natural-gas leak polluted L.A. air
A massive methane release from a single leaky underground well spewed as much of the greenhouse gas into the air as a mid-sized European country does in an entire year.
- Archaeology
Diving deep into history
New technologies help underwater archaeologists learn more about shipwrecks and other artifacts at the bottom of rivers, lakes and oceans.
- Tech
Cool Jobs: The power of wind
Science and engineering careers explore all aspects of wind, from terrible tornadoes to aeronautics and clean energy.
- Environment
Gulf oil spills could destroy shipwrecks faster
In the Gulf of Mexico, leftover crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may be speeding the corrosion of old shipwrecks.
- Climate
Sea level rising fastest in 2,800 years
The oceans rose faster during the 20th century than any time in the past 2,800 years. More than half of the rise came from global warming.
