Environment
- Earth
Plastics at sea create raft of problems
About 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic float in the world's oceans, a new study finds. That's a problem. This 269,000 tons of plastic can choke, entangle and poison a wide variety of sea creatures.
- Animals
Spidey sense: Eight-legged pollution monitors
Spiders that prey on aquatic insects can serve as sentinels that naturally monitor banned chemicals that still pollute many rivers across the United States.
- Environment
Soot fouls subway stations — and maybe lungs
Soot levels in stations for New York City’s electric subway trains exceed the levels outdoors, a new study finds. The underground source of this black carbon: maintenance trains that share the tracks with subway trains. Breathing soot can aggravate asthma and other lung disease.
- Earth
Artificial sweeteners pollute streams
Fake sugars sweeten foods without adding calories. But most pass right through the body, down the toilet, into water treatment plants — and from there, right into lakes and streams.
- Agriculture
Drones put spying eyes in the sky
From keeping tabs on changing landscapes to protecting animals from poachers, scientists are using drones to push their fields forward.
- Earth
How people have been shaping the Earth
We are the dominant force of change on Earth. Some experts propose naming our current time period the ‘Anthropocene’ to reflect our impact.
- Animals
Chef puts eco-bullies on the menu
Some immigrant species can become a nuisance, eating up or displacing the natives. Often people find little incentive to catch and remove the newcomers — unless they find them too yummy to pass up.
- Tech
Soaking up oil spills — with cotton
Natural, low-grade cotton could help clean up oil spills better than synthetic materials, a new study finds. And unlike synthetics, cotton breaks down naturally.
- Animals
Wind farms: Restaurants for seals?
Scientists have tracked harbor seals visiting the turbines of ocean wind farms. The predators may be drawn by fish that make their homes in the artificial reefs created by the manmade structures.
- Environment
Watering plants with wastewater can spread germs
Recycled waste water may slake the thirst of outdoor plants. But it also can spread bacteria, a new study finds — germs that antibiotics may not be able to kill.
- Environment
Explainer: What are endocrine disruptors?
Some chemicals can act like hormones, turning on or off important processes in cells. That can harm development or even trigger disease.
- Environment
Bug-killer linked to decline in birds
One of the most popular chemicals used to protect crops from bugs may also take a toll on birds, a Dutch study finds. U.S. farmers also rely on these insecticides, a second study finds.
