Avoiding the hothouse and the icehouse

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By controlling emissions of fossil fuels we may be able to greatly delay the start of the next ice age, new research from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen concludes. The results have been published in the scientific magazine, Geophysical Research Letters.

Study says 'middle class' coral reef fish feel the economic squeeze

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The economy isn't just squeezing the middle class on land, it's also affecting fish.

According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organizations, researchers discovered a surprising correlation between "middle class" communities in Eastern Africa and low fish levels. Curiously, areas with both low and high socio-economic levels had comparatively higher fish levels.

Mama whales teach babies where to eat

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SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah biologists discovered that young "right whales" learn from their mothers where to eat, raising concern about their ability to find new places to feed if Earth's changing climate disrupts their traditional dining areas.

"A primary concern is, what are whales going to do with global warming, which may change the location and abundance of their prey?" asks Vicky Rowntree, research associate professor of biology and a coauthor of the new study. "Can they adapt if they learn from their mother where to feed – or will they die?"

'Green' plastics could help reduce carbon footprint

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – More than 20 million tons of plastic are placed in U.S. landfills each year. Results from a new University of Missouri study suggest that some of the largely petroleum-based plastic may soon be replaced by a nonpolluting, renewable plastic made from plants. Reducing the carbon footprint and the dependence on foreign oil, this new 'green' alternative may also provide an additional cash crop for farmers.

Two-step chemical process turns raw biomass into biofuel

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MADISON — Taking a chemical approach, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into a promising biofuel. The process, which is described in the Wednesday, Feb. 11 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, is unprecedented in its use of untreated, inedible biomass as the starting material.

March-April 2009 GSA Bulletin media highlights

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Boulder, CO, USA - March-April GSA BULLETIN studies include new findings on Mars; flood-driven sedimentation effects on a Kauai coral reef; New Mexico fossil soils and Earth's ancient atmosphere; the rocks of Mount Everest, including the famous Yellow Band carbonate; evidence that sand grains from the ancestral Appalachian belt now make up the scenic cliffs of Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion National Parks on the Colorado Plateau; and metamorphic rocks along the deepest river gorge in the world.

NIH report finds costs of digestive diseases has grown to more than $141 billion a year

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Scientists uncover a dramatic rise in sea level and its broad ramifications

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Scientists have found proof in Bermuda that the planet's sea level was once more than 21 meters (70 feet) higher about 400,000 years ago than it is now. Their findings were published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews Wednesday, Feb. 4.

Carbon acts like rustoleum around hydrothermal vents

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The cycling of iron throughout the oceans has been an area of intense research for the last two decades. Oceanographers have spent a lot of time studying what has been affectionately labeled the Geritol effect ever since discovering that the lack of iron is a reason why phytoplankton grow lackadaisically in some of the most nutrient-rich surface waters. Just like humans, sometimes the ocean needs a dose of iron to function more effectively.

Iron on its route to the sea-floor: A new path

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Iron dust, the rarest nutrient for most marine life, can be washed down by rivers or blown out to sea or--a surprising new study finds--float up from the sea floor in the material spewed from hydrothermal vents.

The discovery, published online Feb. 8, 2009, in a paper in the journal Nature Geoscience, connects life at the surface to events occurring at extreme depths and pressures. The two worlds were long assumed to have little interaction.