Earth

A new study has found that the potassium salts (bicarbonate and citrate) plentiful in fruit and vegetables, play an important part in improving bone health. For the first time, the results also showed that these potassium salts reduce bone resorption, the process by which bone is broken down, therefore increasing their strength.

The study, published in the journal Osteoporosis International, also revealed that high intake of potassium salts significantly reduces the excretion of calcium and acid in urine.

The acceleration in global sea level from the 20th century to the last two decades has been significantly larger than scientists previously thought, according to a new Harvard study.

The days of assuming natural resources can be swapped in and out to solve shortages - corn for oil, soy for beef - may be over. An international group of scientists demonstrate that many key resources have peaked in productivity, pointing to the sobering conclusion that "renewable" is not synonymous with "unlimited."

The Western Treatment Plant in Werribee, Victoria, largely powers itself using biogas – a by-product of sewage treatment. Jason Patrick Ross/Shutterstock

A global "gold rush" has led to a significant increase of deforestation in the tropical forests of South America.

This is according to new research publish today which has highlighted the growing environmental impact of gold mining in some of the most biologically diverse regions in the tropics.

Researchers from the University of Puerto Rico have shown that between 2001 and 2013, around 1680 km2 of tropical forest was lost in South America as a result of gold mining, which increased from around 377 km2 to 1303km2 since the global economic crisis in 2007.

Making cement is a centuries-old art that has yet to be perfected, according to researchers at Rice University who believe it can be still more efficient.Former Rice graduate student Lu Chen and materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari calculated that fine-tuning the process by which round lumps of calcium silicate called clinkers are turned into cement can save a lot of energy.

Water is different in the 21st Century and we need changes in water drinking standards, according to a new review. Water is safer than ever, but they believe the public will be concerned about water quality due to media attention focusing on California's drought conditions, the technology of fracking, and the nationwide aging infrastructure of rusty, degrading pipes.

Participants in a sleep study who had asthma had an increased risk for developing obstructive sleep apnea, with this association stronger with having had asthma longer, according to a new study.

In adults, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly and increasingly prevalent, and is associated with adversely affecting health and a higher risk of death. Although a few studies have suggested an asthma-OSA association, it has been unknown whether asthma is a causal risk factor for OSA, according to background information in the article.

NASA's Terra satellite passed Tropical Cyclone Bansi on January 13 when it was about 170 nautical miles (195 miles/314 km) north of the Island of Mauritius and a major hurricane in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Dinosaurs flourished in Europe right up until the asteroid impact that wiped them out 66 million years ago, a new study shows.

The theory that an asteroid rapidly killed off the dinosaurs is widely recognized, but until recently dinosaur fossils from the latest Cretaceous--the final stanza of dinosaur evolution--were known almost exclusively from North America. This has raised questions about whether the sudden decline of dinosaurs in the American and Canadian west was merely a local story.

Over the few last years, various genetically modified crops with health benefits have been developed in which genes, mostly originating from other organisms, have been added. Notable examples include rice enriched with pro-vitamin A (also known as 'Golden Rice') and folate-enriched rice, developed at Ghent University.

We seem to have a bias toward larger things. No hoaxsters ever claim to have seen a Littlefoot running around the woods of Tennessee. And because species are in a range of sizes, comparisons of marine species can be hit-and-miss.

A new paper paints a grim picture for the future of China's water supply - because the Chinese have chosen to believe in "virtual water".

In a recent study, University of Montana and Montana Climate Office researcher Jared Oyler found that the western U.S. has warmed, just not as much as claimed.

The results show that sensor changes have significantly biased temperature observations from the Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) station network.More than 700 SNOTEL sites monitor temperature and snowpack across the mountainous western U.S. SNOTEL provides critical data for water supply forecasts. Researchers often use SNOTEL data to study mountain climate trends and impacts to mountain hydrology and ecology.

Exactly what plants do honey bees visit on their daily forages for food? At least in rural Madison County, Ohio, scientists know. A research team led by Dr. Reed Johnson from The Ohio State University has found that the answer lies in pollen DNA. They've collected pollen from a trapping device beneath beehives and developed a new method utilizing DNA meta-barcoding to uncover the plants from which the pollen originated.