Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 31, 2008

Researchers Map Corn Plant's Genome

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Scientists at universities and corporations are about to get a major leg up in their tireless — and profitable — effort to reinvent the corn plant. A group of researchers led by Washington University in St. Louis have mapped out the corn plant's massive genome, and...

Dec 31, 2007

Underwater Explorers

Working below the Surface (Image credit: S. Dollar/OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP); Univ. of Hawaii)Divers transport a benthic chamber used to measure productivity and respiration. What Lies Beneath (Image credit: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP))Divers use a suction sampler to collect animals living in the sand under the sea. Weather...

Dec 31, 2007

Scientists: Earth Barely Supports Life

AUSTIN, Texas—If Earth had been slightly smaller and less massive, life might never have gained a foothold. They key to life on Earth as we know it, scientists figure, is plate tectonics — the forces that move continents and build mountains. And the more massive a world is, the thinner...

Dec 31, 2007

The Nature of Nature

Natural is an unnatural term, entirely manmade. Nothing about it is natural anymore. Nature today connotes perfect, wholesome, balanced, and right as rain. Natural cures, therefore, must be better than unnatural medicines created by flawed humans. This unquestioned positive nature of nature has created a multi-billion dollar industry of natural...

Dec 31, 2007

Massive Self-Destructive Palm Found on Madagascar

Botanists are marveling at the discovery of a towering palm tree on Madagascar that essentially flowers itself to death. The palm has a huge trunk that reaches a whopping 59 feet (18 meters) in height and is topped by fan leaves 16 feet (5 meters) in diameter. The tree is...

Dec 31, 2007

New Antifreeze Improves Ice Cream

A few sharp ice crystals ruin ice cream's silky texture, as all connoisseurs know. An edible, tasteless antifreeze may soon come to the rescue. The non-toxic antifreeze, made from a gelatin protein, could be added to any frozen food to prevent unappetizing ice crystals from forming, without otherwise affecting the...

Dec 31, 2007

Seagull Blood Used to Detect Oil Spills

Blood tests can tell a doctor a lot about a patient's health. Now, seagull blood might help scientists monitor the health of ecosystems ravaged by oil spills. A new study shows that pollutants from oil spills can be sampled from the blood of yellow-legged seagulls long after clean-up efforts conclude....

Dec 31, 2007

Buried Volcano Discovered in Antarctica

A volcano beneath Antarctica’s icy surface has been detected for the first time. Under the frozen continent's western-most ice sheet, the volcano erupted about 2,300 years ago yet remains active, according to a study published Sunday in an online issue of the journal Nature Geosciences. We believe this was the...

Dec 31, 2007

Earth Gets Soft in the Middle

Earth’s middle layer may be squishier than previously thought. A new study suggests the intense heat and pressure deep in the Earth makes sound waves travel more slowly through parts of the lower mantle than had been previously estimated, suggesting that part of this layer of the inner Earth is...

Dec 31, 2007

Humans Force Earth into New Geologic Epoch

Humans have altered Earth so much that scientists say a new epoch in the planet's geologic history has begun. Say goodbye to the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch and hello to the Anthropocene. Among the major changes heralding this two-century-old man-made epoch: Vastly altered sediment erosion and deposition patterns.Major disturbances to the...

Nov 30, 2009

The Most Surprising Results of Global Warming

At the United Nations meeting on climate change next week, scientists will be discussing some of the potentially devastating effects of global warming, such as rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth's changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird...

Nov 30, 2009

The Reality of 'Climategate'

At a Danish climate summit this week, one subject will certainly be raised: The theft of thousands of private e-mails and files recently hacked from computers at East Anglia university, a leading climate research center. The e-mails, which were made public and appear to show scientific misconduct, have fueled a...

Nov 30, 2009

Gravestones Hold Secrets to Earth's Climate Past

Gravestones may hold secrets of how the Earth's atmosphere has changed over the centuries, and scientists are now asking for the public's help to read these stones. Little by little, atmospheric gases dissolved in raindrops cause the marble in gravestones to erode. As such, headstones can serve as diaries of...

Nov 30, 2009

Time-Lapse Photos Show Dramatic Erosion of Alaska Coast

SAN FRANCISCO — Time-lapse photography of crumbling Alaskan coastlines is helping scientists understand the triple whammy of forces eroding the local landscape: declining sea ice, warming ocean waters and more poundings by waves. The erosion rates from these forces are greater than anything seen along the world's coastlines, with the...

Nov 30, 2009

Robotic Planes Capture Detailed Images of Remote Antarctic

SAN FRANCISCO — Unmanned planes flying over one of the most forbidding regions of Antarctica have captured the first close-up images of the area, where the cold, dense seawater that drives the ocean's circulation is formed. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are proving a boon to scientists who study the...