Earth and Human Activity
- Animals
Electronics may confuse a bird’s ‘compass’
Birds use Earth’s magnetic field to help guide them as they migrate. A new study suggests that electromagnetic radiation given off by some electronic devices may act like “noise” and confuse the long-traveling birds.
- Tech
The road less worn
Two teens have found a new use for old tires. By grinding them up and adding them to asphalt, the old rubber can create stronger, longer-lived roads. And the bonus: The process recycles tires that might otherwise have been burned, creating pollution.
- Climate
Arctic sends weird weather south
Arctic warming is affecting weather farther south, where most of the world lives. The impacts are especially worrisome for agriculture.
- Earth
Intel STS finalist takes on arsenic poisoning
Concerned about arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh, Intel Science Talent Search finalist Thabit Pulak invented an affordable filter to help people remove this toxic pollutant from their drinking water.
- Environment
China exports pollution alongside goods
Many companies have moved the plants that make their products to developing countries, such as China. But the pollution linked to making those products can travel around the world.
- Animals
Birds versus windows
Buildings in the United States can be deadly obstacles to flying birds. A new study estimates that as many as 1 billion birds die every year after colliding with windows. And low buildings — not skyscrapers — account for most of those deaths.
- Earth
Mining metals amidst seafloor animals
Miners may need to get their feet — and everything else — wet as they carefully seek out loads of copper and other valuable natural resources.
- Microbes
Arctic thaw is spreading wildlife diseases
Polar animals are encountering new, killer parasites as melting ice unlocks their access to new hosts.
- Animals
First living fish leaves ‘endangered’ list
Twenty-one years ago, a minnow facing a high risk of extinction was placed on the U.S. Endangered Species List. With help from scientists, the fish appears to have largely recovered. It’s the first ‘listed’ fish to do so.
- Life
Caught in the act
Scientists observe some evolutionary speed demons as they adapt over the course of just a few years to new environmental conditions.
- Animals
Explainer: People can sicken animals
Wildlife can sometimes become infected with germs shed by people.
- Chemistry
Explainer: Ocean acidification
Here’s why shellfish and other animals in the sea suffer when the ocean is forced to absorb too much carbon dioxide.
