HS-ESS3-4
Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
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Animals
Catching ‘Dory’ fish can poison entire coral reef ecosystems
More than half of saltwater-aquarium fish sold in the United States may have been caught in the wild using cyanide, new data show.
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Environment
Fighting big farm pollution with a tiny plant
Fertilizer runoff can fuel the growth of toxic algae nearby lakes. A teen decided to harness a tiny plant to sop up that fertilizer.
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Tech
Concrete science
Teen researchers are exploring ways to strengthen this building material, use it for safety purposes and use its discarded rubble.
By Sid Perkins -
Climate
Zapping clouds with lasers could alter Earth’s climate
Scientists zapped ice crystals in a lab. They were exploring whether this approach might be used to break those crystals in clouds — potentially as a way to cool Earth’s fever.
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Environment
Common water pollutants hurt freshwater organisms
The germ killers we use and the drugs we take don’t just disappear. They can end up in the environment. There they can harm aquatic organisms, three teens showed.
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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.
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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.
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Oceans
Arctic ice travels fast, carrying pollution
Climate change is melting old sea ice in the Arctic. Now, younger, thinner ice is migrating far and fast, taking pollutants with it.
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Environment
Wildlife forensics turns to eDNA
Environmental DNA, or eDNA, tells biologists what species have been around — even when they’re out of sight or have temporarily moved on.
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Environment
Table salt and shellfish can contain plastic
Bits of plastic have turned up in sea salts purchased in Chinese supermarkets. The finding suggests all sea salts may be similarly tainted. Shellfish too.
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Space
Collecting trash in space
Space junk threatens satellites that cost millions of dollars. But one teen has come up with an idea to collect and dispose of that orbiting trash.
By Sid Perkins -
Climate
Warming’s role in extreme weather
Extremes in temperature and precipitation will be more common as global temperatures rise. Human-led climate change is largely to blame, a new study finds.
By Beth Mole