Summaries | Headlines

Warm Winter Predicted For United States (October 11, 2007) -- This winter is predicted to be warmer than the 30-year norm. For the country as a whole, NOAA's heating degree day forecast for December through February projects a 2.8 percent warmer winter than the ... > full story

Increase In Ethanol Production From Corn Could Significantly Harm Water Quality (October 11, 2007) -- If projected increases in the use of corn for ethanol production occur, the harm to water quality could be considerable, and water supply problems at the regional and local levels could also arise, ... > full story

Pollution Cuts Life Expectancy, Threatens Child Development In Europe (October 11, 2007) -- The latest in a series of assessments of the pan-European environment published by the EEA over the past 15 years, the report assesses environmental progress in 53 countries -- an area with a total ... > full story

Students Prepare For Annual Solar House Contest (October 11, 2007) -- For any passive solar home, the challenge is keeping the heat. The Solar7 team built a south-facing light wall made of 1-foot-thick square tiles. Each looks like a sandwich: Two opaque plastic ... > full story

European Lead In Reading Past Climates From Ice Cores (October 11, 2007) -- Climate change is a reality today, but how can we find out about the future dangers it poses? What we really need is a full record of the Earth's climate for several hundred thousand years, complete ... > full story

Community Gardens, Alternative Food Networks Can Lead To Healthier Eating (October 11, 2007) -- In the light of growing concerns about the separation of producers and consumers in our food system and the power of big supermarkets, new research provides valuable insights into the motivations and ... > full story

'Green' Leather Is In This Season (October 10, 2007) -- Scientists have modified the leather tanning process making it far more eco-friendly. They have reduced the amount chemicals released by 82 percent and made an energy saving of nearly 40 percent. No ... > full story

Generating 'Oohs' And 'Aahs': Vocal Joystick Uses Voice To Surf The Internet (October 10, 2007) -- A new tool lets people with disabilities control a computer cursor without lifting a finger. Early tests suggest that an experienced user of Vocal Joystick would have as much control as someone using ... > full story

Genetically Engineered Corn Could Harm Aquatic Ecosystems (October 10, 2007) -- A widely planted variety of genetically engineered corn has the potential to harm aquatic ecosystems. Pollen and other plant parts containing toxins from genetically engineered Bt corn are washing ... > full story

Expert On Surface Chemical Reactions Wins 2007 Nobel Prize In Chemistry (October 10, 2007) -- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Gerhard Ertl of Germany's Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for his studies of chemical processes ... > full story

Laser Joining Of Solar Cells (October 10, 2007) -- A single solar cell produces a relatively low output -- it's a case of strength in numbers. Tiny strips of metal are used to link cells together. If the laser soldering temperature is too high, the ... > full story

Steep Sloped Roofs Lasted Through Katrina Better Than Low Sloped Roofs (October 10, 2007) -- A study of roofing damage incurred by Gulf Coast structures following Hurricane Katrina has found that buildings with steep sloped roofs held up better against the high-wind storm damage than ... > full story

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Solstice -- The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the sun in relation to the celestial equator. The summer solstice is the day of the year with the longest daylight period and ... > full article

Mid-Atlantic United States flood of 2006 -- The Eastern United States flooding of June 2006 is a significant flooding event in much of Mid-Atlantic region of the eastern United States. The flooding was very widespread, affecting numerous ... > full article

Japanese beetle -- The Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) is a beetle about 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) long and 1 cm (0.4 inches) wide (smaller in Canada), with shiny copper-colored elytra and a shiny green top of the thorax ... > full article

Gypsy moth -- The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is a moth of European origin. Gypsy moth larvae prefer hardwoods, but may feed on several hundred different species of trees and shrubs. In the East the gypsy moth ... > full article

Tree -- A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. Though there is no set definition regarding minimum size, the term generally applies to plants at least 6 m (20 ft) high at maturity and, ... > full article

Agriculture -- Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired products by the cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). The practice of ... > full article

Plant -- Plants are a major group of living things including familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, ferns, and mosses. About 350,000 species of plants, defined as seed plants, bryophytes, ferns and ... > full article

Fungus -- A fungus (plural fungi) is a eukaryotic organism that digests its food externally and absorbs the nutrient molecules into its cells. Fungi are very important economically: yeasts are responsible for ... > full article

Photosynthesis -- Photosynthesis, generally, is the synthesis of sugar from light, carbon dioxide and water, with oxygen as a waste product. It is arguably the most important biochemical pathway known; nearly all life ... > full article

Carbon dioxide -- Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. It is often referred to by its formula CO2. It is present in the Earth's atmosphere at a low concentration and acts ... > full article

Earth's atmosphere -- Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen 0.97% argon and carbon dioxide 0.04% trace ... > full article

Solar radiation -- Solar radiation is radiant energy emitted by the sun, particularly electromagnetic energy. About half of the radiation is in the visible short-wave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The other ... > full article

Ultraviolet -- Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength shorter than that of the visible region, but longer than that of soft X-rays. The Sun emits ultraviolet radiation in the UVA, ... > full article

Solar wind -- A solar wind is a stream of charged particles (i.e., a plasma) which are ejected from the upper atmosphere of a star. When originating from stars other than the Earth's Sun, it is sometimes called a ... > full article

Greenhouse gas -- Greenhouse gases are components of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from human activities such as ... > full article

Greenhouse effect -- The greenhouse effect is the process in which the emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere warms a planet's surface. The name comes from an analogy with the warming of air inside a greenhouse ... > full article

Methane -- Methane is a significant and plentiful fuel which is the principal component of natural gas. Burning one molecule of methane in the presence of oxygen releases one molecule of CO₂ (carbon ... > full article

Nitrous oxide -- Nitrous oxide, also known as dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide, is a chemical compound with chemical formula N2O. It is commonly known as laughing gas due to the exhilarating effects of ... > full article

Sulfur hexafluoride -- Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a gas whose molecules consist of one sulfur atom and six fluorine atoms. It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic, and non-flammable, and is soluble in water and some other ... > full article

Haloalkane -- The haloalkanes (also known as Halogenoalkanes) are a group of chemical compounds, consisting of alkanes, such as methane or ethane, with one or more halogens linked, such as chlorine or fluorine, ... > full article