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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Time to go ahead with Nevada nuclear dump?
After $10 billion spent, countless papers and a large helping of controversy, are we any closer to knowing whether Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert offers a secure resting place for America's nuclear legacy?
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When crocodiles roamed the Arctic
The poles were once covered by lakes and forests instead of ice. Anil Ananthaswamy finds out what the world was like in the last great warming.
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The blame-China syndrome
China's rocketing economy makes it look like a environmental villain, but take population into account and the picture is very different. (Editorial)
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New technologies promise biofuel 'plan B'
Biofuels have failed to live up to their early environmental promise, but fuels made from plant waste and weeds may turn this around.
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Organic pigs breed more bad bugs
Animals reared in natural, outdoor conditions without nasty modern drugs yield healthier meat, right? Not necessarily. Wondwossen Gebreyes and colleagues at Ohio State University in Columbus tested US pigs for antibodies - telltale signs of infection - to pathogens that can also affect humans. They found traces of Salmonella in 39 per cent of pigs raised in standard indoor pens and routinely given antibiotics, but in 54 per cent of organic pigs raised outdoors without the drugs (Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, vol 5, p 199).
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Oil companies given right to 'harass' polar bears
It's just over a month since the US government designated the polar bear as an endangered species. Now the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) stands accused of giving oil companies a "blank cheque to harass polar bears".
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Competition puts homeopathy on trial
Want to win
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'Junk food' diet may threaten marine populations
Over-fishing and changes in climate could leave marine animals struggling on a "junk food" diet of low-calorie prey, putting dwindling populations under even more pressure. That is the conclusion of a team lead by Henrik
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Time to go ahead with Nevada nuclear dump?
AFTER $10 billion spent, countless papers and a large helping of controversy, are we any closer to knowing whether Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert offers a secure resting place for America's nuclear legacy?
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When crocodiles roamed the Arctic
When Ernest Shackleton and his men marched towards the South Pole in December 1908, they came across something entirely unexpected. After scaling the vast Beardmore glacier on the edge of the polar plateau, they found seams of coal amid the snow and ice. They also found impressions of leaves in sandstone boulders nearby and even fossilised wood from a coniferous tree.