Luckily for most of the U.S., the likelihood this eruption would happen is pretty low: about one in 100,000 any given year. If it did happen, it would be pretty devastating, though. “Thinking about a Yellowstone super eruption is like imagining a large asteroid hitting the Earth,” says Jacob Lowenstern, a research geologist with the USGS and Scientist-in-Charge of […]
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Nature films and science documentaries usually portray Antarctica to be nothing but the most cold, isolated, almost anti-social continent on earth — at least if you’re not a penguin — but life at McMurdo Station disproves that. The 2011-2012 Antarctic southern summer season is now alive and kicking (after numerous delays), and “Mac Town” (as the residents of McMurdo call […]
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Massive icebergs more than 18km long give Giant boost for south polar waters by feeding vital nutrients into the Southern Ocean and helping to increase its carbon storage capacity. LONDON, January, 2016 – British scientists have identified the monsters that fertilize the Southern Ocean and help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Giant icebergs drifting northwards could be responsible for storing up […]
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CAPE LEGOUPIL, ANTARCTICA: From the ground in this extreme northern part of Antarctica, spectacularly white and blinding ice seems to extend forever. What can’t be seen is the battle raging thousands of feet below to re-shape Earth. Water is eating away at the Antarctic ice, melting it where it hits the oceans. As the ice sheets slowly thaw, water pours […]
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Durham University, leading a team of international researchers believe they have discovered the largest known canyon on Earth. Utilizing precise satellite data and ground-penetrating radar, they have calculated it to be over 62 miles long and over half a mile deep at some points. More precise measurements will be necessary to confirm these findings, although that will be a difficult […]
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More than 850 million people around the world—one in nearly seven—don’t have enough to eat. Although current global food production is sufficient to feed everyone, the number eating less than the minimum the human body needs—an average 2,100 calories a day for adults—now grows by more than ten million a year, mostly in the poorest nations. Countries with unstable food […]
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Eating fruits and vegetables contaminated with pesticide residue may lower men’s sperm counts, a new study has found. Researchers at Harvard University surveyed 155 men who had sought fertility treatment about their eating habits. They found that subjects who ate more soft, thin-skinned fruits and vegetables such as apples, grapes, and potatoes—foods that tend to contain high levels of pesticide […]
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It’s “ a fascinating irony of the pro-life movement,” said David Frum. Abortion rates are plummeting in the U.S., largely because of prolifers’ efforts. But at the same time, out-of-wedlock births are soaring—and among the poor and the lower middle class, are actually becoming the norm. There were 730,000 abortions in 2011, according to the latest official tally—the smallest number […]
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Scientists in the US who have been checking on the health of the Arctic over the last year are worried by what they’ve learned: it’s warmer, has less ice, and some of its animals and fish are facing new stresses. And in a surprise finding , which they cannot yet explain, the scientists discovered that green vegetation over much of […]
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Joining the U.S. would be a net loss for Canada— even if it made us Canadians richer, said Conrad Black. It’s not that the idea of a merger, currently touted by journalist Diane Francis in her book Merger of the Century, makes me “tremble with patriotic loathing”—after all, I once suggested that joining the U.S. would be preferable for English […]
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