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Nov 30, 2008

2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer

On Dec. 31 this year, your day will be just a second longer. Like the more well-known time adjustment, the leap year, a leap second is tacked on to clocks every so often to keep them correct. Earth's trip around the sun — our year with all its seasons —...

Nov 30, 2008

The Energy Debates: Ethanol

Editor's Note: The Energy Debates is a LiveScience series about the pros, cons, policy debates, myths and facts related to various alternative energy ideas. We invite you to join the debate by commenting directly on each article. The Facts Instead of relying on just gasoline, many cars are now also...

Nov 30, 2008

U.S. Death Map: Where and How Nature Kills Most

A new map plotting deaths resulting from forces of nature reveals where Mother Nature is most likely to kill you. People living in the South along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts have a higher likelihood of dying from a natural hazard compared to residents of the Great Lakes area and...

Nov 30, 2008

Vote: The Best Alternative Energy Idea

In The Energy Debates, we examined the pros, cons, policy debates, myths and facts related to all these alternative energy ideas: Biodiesel, Clean Coal, Electric Cars, Ethanol, Geothermal Energy, Hybrid Vehicles, Hydrogen Vehicles, Nuclear Power, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, Power from Flowing Water & Waves, Solar Energy at Home, Solar...

Nov 30, 2008

Science Returns to the White House

In announcing four top science advisers Saturday, President-elect Barack Obama set lofty goals for an open and honest scientific process and dialogue in his new administration. The truth is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources — it's about protecting free and open inquiry, Obama said in his weekly...

Nov 30, 2008

Global Warming Might Cook Up Too Many Male Fish

Many reptiles have no sex chromosomes. Instead, their gender is determined by temperature. In crocodiles, for example, males are hot: eggs incubated in sand above a certain “pivotal temperature” almost always hatch males. That could spell trouble, because Earth is warming so fast that natural selection may not have time...

Oct 31, 2008

Solar Cells Set New Performance Mark

Researchers have announced a solar energy breakthrough that could lead to its more widespread use with their achievement of the highest efficiency ever for one type of solar cells. The photovoltaic cells, called dye-sensitized solar cells or Gräztel cells, could expand the use of solar energy for homes, businesses and...

Oct 31, 2008

Incredible Deep-Sea Discoveries Announced

An astounding batch of new deep-sea discoveries, from strange shark behavior to gigantic bacteria, was announced today by an international group of 2,000 scientists from 82 nations. The Census of Marine Life is a 10-year project to determine what's down there. Among the new findings: A large proportion of deep...

Oct 31, 2008

The Exciting Evolution of ... Rocks

Every rock tells a story. And some of those stories are about the history of life. You might think rocks and the minerals they are made of are rather boring. But a new study shows life has been integral to the evolution of minerals, giving rise to the majority of...

Oct 31, 2008

Should Wildfires Be Fought So Aggressively?

Anyone watching from afar as fires rage in Southern California may wonder why people live in fire-prone areas. Another question that's starting to spread like wildfire: Should such fires be fought so aggressively, often at great financial expense and at the risk of firefighters lives? Now there are even questions...

Sep 30, 2008

Oldest 'Footprints' on Earth Found

The oldest-known tracks of a creature apparently using legs have been discovered in rock dated to 570 million years ago in what was once a shallow sea in Nevada. Scientists think land beasts evolved from ancient creatures that left the sea and evolved lungs and legs. If the new finding...

Sep 30, 2008

Arctic Grows Stormier

The Arctic has become more stormy in the past 50 years due to the warming climate, which in turn has quickened the pace of drifting sea ice, a new NASA study finds. Based on model results, climate scientists had long predicted that a warming climate would increase the frequency and...

Sep 30, 2008

Typhoons Bury Carbon in Oceans

The torrential rains of a single typhoon can bury tons of carbon in the ocean, two new studies suggest. It's Nature's way of healing itself. The findings help determine how much carbon that big storms have historically taken from the atmosphere and buried for thousands of years beneath the sea....

Sep 30, 2008

Scientists Determine Which Species to Save

Earth may be in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event due to our impact on the planet, scientists have said, and the upshot could mean nearly 50 percent of all plant and animal species will disappear in the coming decades. Rather than try to save them all, biologists...

Sep 30, 2008

Dinosaur Graveyard Yields Fossil Bounty

A dinosaur graveyard full of fossils has been discovered in a former river bed in Utah, presenting an opportunity for a decade's worth of Jurassic research by paleontologists, it was announced this week. Scientists and technicians with the Utah Thornbury Dinosaur Expedition unearthed an abundance of sauropod (an herbivorous long-necked...