Top Stories

Team Aims to Improve Safety of Fertilizers Made From Wastewater Sludge

Fertilizers manufactured from the sludgy leftovers of wastewater treatment processes can contain traces of potentially hazardous organic chemicals, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins University researchers.

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Iceland’s Volcano Eruptions May Last Decades, Researchers Find

Iceland’s ongoing volcanic eruptions may continue on and off for years to decades, threatening the country’s most densely populated region and vital infrastructure, researchers predict from local earthquake and geochemical data. 

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Record Rainfall Floods Midwest

Over a foot of rain fell on parts of South Dakota and Iowa in late June 2024, sending water over the banks of rivers.

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Promising Initial Results in Biochar Field Trials

Trials have shown that adding relatively small amounts of biochar to soil can significantly increase the amount of nutrients essential for crop growth, boosting crop yield.

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UKCEH's Contribution to Developing Biodiversity Indicators

Ambitious targets were set by the Environment Act 2021 of halting the decline in species populations by 2030 and to increase populations by at least 10% on 2030 levels by 2042.

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Wildfires Increasingly Threaten Oil and Gas Drill Sites, Compounding Potential Health Risks, Study Says

More than 100,000 oil and gas wells across the western U.S. are in areas burned by wildfires in recent decades, a new study has found, and some 3 million people live next to wells that in the future could be in the path of fires worsened by climate change.

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New Tipping Point Discovered Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet

Warm water that seeps underneath can melt ice in way not yet included in models.

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New Tomato, Potato Family Tree Shows that Fruit Color and Size Evolved Together

Fruits of Solanum plants, a group in the nightshade family, are incredibly diverse, ranging from sizable red tomatoes and purple eggplants to the poisonous green berries on potato plants.

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Unexpected Diversity of Light-Sensing Proteins Goes Beyond Vision in Frogs

Frogs have maintained a surprising diversity of light-sensing proteins over evolutionary time, according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher.

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Surprising Vortex Behind New Solar Cell and Lighting Materials

Metal-halide perovskites have quickly advanced in the last decade since their discovery as a semiconductor that outshines silicon in its conversion of light into electric current. 

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