Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 31, 2009

Same Species Found at Both Ends of Earth

Scientists have determined that at least 235 species live in both polar seas despite the 8,000 miles (13,000 km) between the ends of the Earth. How some of the creatures wound up at the top and bottom of the planet is a mystery. Distance and habitat divisions — such as...

Jan 31, 2009

Most Wars Occur in Biodiversity Hotspots

More than 80 percent of the world's major armed conflicts from 1950-2000 occurred in regions identified as the most biologically diverse and threatened places on Earth. Scientists compared major conflict zones with the Earth's 34 biodiversity hotspots identified by Conservation International (CI). The hotspots are considered top conservation priorities because...

Jan 31, 2009

Odd Life Found in Great Lakes

Scientists have found some odd life forms in Lake Huron. Peculiar geological formations are supporting floating plumes and purple mats of microbes dwelling in enclaves of the Great Lake, researchers report. The odd biology is more akin to what is found in some of Earth's most extreme environments. The mats...

Jan 31, 2009

Plastic Bag Recycling Up Across U.S.

Driven by greater consumer access to recycling programs and new markets for recycled materials, plastic bag and film recycling increased across the U.S. in 2007, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The latest National Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Bags and Film Report by Moore Recycling Associates, Inc. estimated 830,180,000 pounds...

Jan 31, 2009

Complexity of Spit Revealed

Saliva tells a lot about a person these days, ranging from ancestry to criminal connections. But drool still holds many mysteries, including what the heck lives in it and why each of us has our own salivary signature. A new study tries to clean this up a bit, revealing that...

Jan 31, 2009

Extreme Green: Reusable Toilet Wipes

The New York Times reported yesterday that the softness sought in toilet paper by Americans is wiping out forests. After all, paper doesn't grow on trees. Oh wait, it does. and that's the problem. While toilet tissue can be made from recycled paper, U.S. customers demand soft and comfortable, said...

Dec 31, 2008

Breakthroughs That Will Change Everything

Will humans go extinct? Or will we instead evolve into divergent species? Can we stop killing each other? Perhaps old-fashioned wisdom will return and save the day. These are just some of the compelling thoughts generated when the forward-thinking Edge Foundation recently asked scientists, authors, futurists, journalists and other offbeat...

Dec 31, 2008

Bush to Create Large Ocean Sanctuaries

On Tuesday, President George W. Bush will create three ocean sanctuaries with a total area bigger than California. The national monuments, as they will be called, will be protected from mining and virtually all fishing. One of the marine monuments includes the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on Earth at...

Dec 31, 2008

Life As We Know It Nearly Created in Lab

One of life's greatest mysteries is how it began. Scientists have pinned it down to roughly this: Some chemical reactions occurred about 4 billion years ago — perhaps in a primordial tidal soup or maybe with help of volcanoes or possibly at the bottom of the sea or between the...

Dec 31, 2008

Can Obama Save the Planet?

The wintry wind that blew through Washington D.C. Tuesday brought change, ushering in what many see as a new era of respect for science that researchers and government officials around the world hope will result in a significant new effort to combat climate change. Whether the task is worthy will...

Dec 31, 2008

White House Wants Your Green Ideas

The White House announcement today of a new Middle Class Task Force had a science sub-text that suggests campaign promises of a greener economy remain a focus of the new administration. The task force, run by Vice President Joe Biden, is charged with figuring out how to improve the economic...

Nov 30, 2010

Mysterious Microbes Found Deep in Earth's Crust

Microbes have been discovered living in the deepest layer of the ocean's crust, in a neighborhood so remote it's almost never been sampled. And although the microbe community uncovered was more like Wyoming than New York City the bacteria were few and far between the research revealed life goes on...

Nov 30, 2010

Mono Lake: Home of Arsenic-Eating Bacteria

NASA announced today that they have discovered bacteria that can survive on arsenic, even incorporating the normally poisonous substance into its DNA. The bacteria were found in California's Mono Lake. Mono Lake is located in eastern California, along the western edge of the Great Basin, one of North America's four...

Nov 30, 2010

Mount Merapi Mudflows Chase Indonesian Villagers Away

Just because a volcano has stopped erupting doesn't mean it isn't still dangerous. Roughly 341 people have died since Mount Merapi began erupting in central Indonesia on Oct. 26. As of Dec. 3, Indonesia had downgraded the alert level for the volcano, the BBC reports (other Indonesian volcanoes are still...

Nov 30, 2010

Alps' River-Carved Gorges Held Out Against Glaciers, Study Finds

The jaw-dropping gorges of the Swiss Alps were created by a one-two punch of grinding glaciers and slicing rivers, a new study suggests. For years, geologists have argued about the processes that formed steep inner gorges in the broad glacial valleys of the Swiss Alps. The U-shaped valleys were created...