The striped bass population in San Francisco Bay has been plummeting since the 1970s and now scientists know why: fish moms are passing down damaging pollutants in the water to their young, according to a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...
Magicians have been testing and exploiting the limits of cognition and attention for hundreds of years. Neuroscientists are just beginning to catch up
Should you be worried about that mobile plastered to your ear?
Saturn's small, snow and ice–covered moon, Enceladus, only 310 miles (500 kilometers) across, has made a big impact on astronomers. On a series of close flybys in 2004, the Cassini spacecraft revealed a great deal of unexpected activity bursting forth from this frozen world, which travels with 33 other named satellites in Saturn's domain over 740 million miles from Earth...
By measuring radiation from lightning strikes, researchers are putting together a system to quickly predict the locations of flash floods. Steve Mirsky reports
Piracy on the high seas is making a comeback this year, particularly off the coast of the African nation Somalia, where raiders are using increasingly more powerful and sophisticated technologies to attack ships and hold their crew and cargo for ransom...
What exactly makes a fish organic? Apparently, one that feeds on a nonorganic diet.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) advisory panel says that producers should be allowed to slap organic labels on farmed fish even if their diets include wild fish and other feed that isn’t organic itself—definitions that environmentalists say depart from the criteria for other certified organic animal food products...
Traditional Chinese medicine could eliminate the big striped cats. David Biello reports
The Bush Administration's push for "midnight regulations" in the last moments of office continues.
In the next 24 hours, the Bush is expected to relax requirements for federal environmental officials to sign off on building projects that pose a threat to species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)...
Also: updates on HIV's origins, Neandertal fishing and transgenic guidelines
Quantum particles continue to behave in ways traditional particles do not
The international commission charged with saving the once abundant bluefin tuna of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea is meeting this week in Morocco to discuss ways to reverse the decline of the dwindling fish...
A new standard would certify that old cell phones, iPods and other toxic-laden electronics are recycled responsibly, but needs government backup
You may recall that President George W. Bush pledged to do something about climate change when campaigning for the presidency back in 2000—but reneged on that promise once in office...
Some veterinarians treat animals much more exotic than the family pet. Jeffrey Boehm, executive director of the Marine Mammal Center, talks about the challenges of caring for sick sea mammals...
Wrinkled landscapes and spouting jets on Saturn's sixth-largest moon hint at underground waters
Wrinkled landscapes and spouting jets on Saturn's sixth-largest moon hint at underground waters
When this world has you down, try looking at it from another one
If you were a nine-foot tall animal covered in dense fur – say, Bigfoot – you would probably seek cooler climes if temps began inching up.
Editor's Note: Marine geophysicist Robin Bell is leading an expedition to Antarctica to explore a mysterious mountain range beneath the ice sheet. Following is the first of her updates on the effort as part of Scientific American.com 's In-depth Report on "The Future of the Poles." CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (11/16/08)--Things have improved since the days of ship and dog sleds, but it still is not easy to get to the center of Antarctica...
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