Environmental Sciences
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The most intense sunlight on Earth can be found in the Atacama Desert
Forget Arizona or Florida — sun worshippers ought to head to the Atacama Desert in South America. It’s there that…
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Magnetic ‘rusty’ nanoparticles pull estrogen out of water
A new “smart rust” could one day help pull pollutants out of waterways, leaving cleaner water behind. Researchers adorned tiny…
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Some leaves in tropical forests may be getting too hot for photosynthesis
Like people, leaves have their limits when it comes to heat. Scientists first reported in 1864 that the leaves of…
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How thunderstorms can spawn damaging ‘downbursts’
In July, a fierce thunderstorm raged through Washington, D.C., damaging homes, felling trees, producing blinding rain and leaving thousands without…
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When discussing flora and fauna, don’t forget ‘funga’
Fungi. They grow between toes, on bread and in the shower. But the organisms also produce food and medicine and…
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In noisy environs, pied tamarins are using smell more often to communicate
Native to the Brazilian Amazon, pied tamarins have always used vocal calls to communicate. But noise pollution from car traffic…
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Róisín Commane sleuths out greenhouse gas leaks to fight climate change
New York has a greenhouse gas accounting problem. The state broadly tracks its sources of air pollution, from energy production…
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Pumping cold water into rivers could act as ‘air conditioning’ for fish
PITTSBURGH — Salmon may now have their own version of human air conditioning. This past summer, hundreds of fish…
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Fake fog, ‘re-skinning’ and ‘sea-weeding’ could help coral reefs survive
Erinn Muller should have reason to despair. The marine biologist studies coral health in Florida, a state whose reefs have…
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Grassland and shrubland fires destroy more U.S. homes than forest fires
Forest fires can devastate vast swaths of land, but in the United States, another category of conflagrations takes the title…
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