Earth

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- Tech
Ground-thumping cheers help scientists
Eager to test new sensors before the next ‘big one,’ earthquake scientists make use of a predictable source of ground-shaking: football fans.
- Climate
New El Niño coming on strong
The current El Niño event could be a record breaker, changing weather patterns worldwide and bringing rain to drought-parched California.
- Climate
Scientists Say: Cyclone
These strong storms have different names in different oceans. But all are cyclones.
- Chemistry
Bacteria become source of ‘greener’ blue jeans
Manufacturing indigo to dye blue jeans now relies on harmful chemicals. But researchers have found a less polluting way to produce the blue tint: bacteria.
- Brain
To protect kids, get the lead out!
Lead poisons hundreds of thousands of children. In Chicago, experts show how the toxic metal hurts test performance in school.
- Climate
Scientists Say: Hurricane or typhoon?
Sometimes you read about hurricanes, and sometimes about typhoons. The difference? Location, location, location.
- Environment
The heat that keeps on giving
Burning fossil fuels generates heat and carbon dioxide. That pulse of heat is quickly exceeded by the warmth that carbon dioxide traps in Earth’s atmosphere.
By Beth Geiger - Environment
Many of Earth’s groundwater basins are drying out
A majority of Earth’s largest underground reservoirs of water are being depleted. These aquifers lose more water each year than they gain.
- Climate
Pacific hurricanes to strengthen as Earth warms
Global warming is heating up the oceans. That is causing waters to warm. As a result, Pacific storms — called typhoons — will become more destructive.
- Animals
A whale of a journey
The 5,200-kilometer (3,200 mile) journey of Isabela provides a window into the migration patterns of blue whales.
- Environment
Gulf oil spill: Still poisoning dolphins to crickets
Once the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill ended, oil continued to harm animals in the Gulf of Mexico. Five years later, it still may not be over, biologists worry.
By Beth Mole - Environment
Scientists Say: Eutrophication
When a body of water is filled with nutrients, algae and plants may take advantage. And their presence isn’t always a good thing.