Earth
- Climate
Globe’s non-Africans all descend from a single move out of Africa
Look back far enough and everybody’s ancestors were African no more than 72,000 years ago. Climate scientists would up that date to perhaps 100,000 years ago.
- Agriculture
Bananas under attack: Understanding their foes
Fungal blights threaten the world’s most popular fruit. But genetic studies hint at new ways to combat some of these diseases.
- Science & Society
Warming turns Alaskan villagers into climate migrants
Arctic warming is causing such severe erosion that an Alaskan coastal village has voted to abandon its shrinking island.
- Plants
Houseplants suck up air pollutants that can sicken people
Certain indoor air pollutants can sicken people. But some houseplants can remove those chemicals from a room’s air, new data show.
- 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.
