Choking China: The struggle to clear Beijing's air
As pollution levels return to normal in China's capital after a record-breaking month of smog, what can be done to banish the smog?
New Scientist
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Don't hang up: cellphones don't cause tumours (probably)
It cost $30 million, but the World Health Organization's study of tumours and cellphone use still doesn't provide definitive answers.
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Lost lizards validate grim extinction predictions
Many models of climate-driven extinctions are criticised for being theoretical, but new hard data lends them weight.
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Why deep-water oil spills do their damage deep down
As little as 2 per cent of the oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico may be accounted for by surface slicks, a study of a controlled spill suggests.
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Hurricanes cleaned up lead-laden New Orleans
Could the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had a silver lining? The sediment washed into New Orleans by the floods accompanying the storms may have blanketed over heavily polluted, lead-laden soil in the city, leading to a decrease in lead levels in the bloodstreams of children across the city.
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What the climate bill means for the US way of life
The American Power Act would at last set limits on US greenhouse gas emissions
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Oil industry failed to heed blowout warnings
The warnings were there a decade ago. Yet little has been done to address the risk of systems failure in deep-sea drilling operations,
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Weed resistance could mean herbicide is futile
More weeds are evolving resistance to glyphosate
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Lost lizards validate grim extinction predictions
Predictions that climate change alone could lead to the extinction of more than one-fifth of plant and animal species before the end of the century have often come under fire, and not just from climate-change deniers. Some biologists are sceptical because the predictions are largely based on theoretical models.
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Melting icebergs boost sea-level rise
Ice cubes don't increase the water level in your cup as they melt, so why are melting icebergs raising the oceans?.
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Designing leaves for a warmer, crowded world
The genetic controls of leaf shape could allow us to boost crop yields, meet the challenge of feeding the world and adapt to climate change.