Bio-oil made from plant waste could help limit carbon emissions from orphaned oil and gas wells. But would it help or hinder farmers’ bottom line?
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Ice Diatoms Glide at Record-Low Temperatures
New observations reveal how microscopic organisms move through polar ice and illustrate how they may have evolved to thrive in extreme environments.
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Planets Might Form When Dust “Wobbles” in Just the Right Way
A liquid metal experiment has shown how magnetic rotational instability might allow dust to pool together in disks around young stars to form new worlds.
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Old Forests in the Tropics Are Getting Younger and Losing Carbon
New research quantifying the global impact of forest age transitions found that 140 million tons of aboveground carbon are lost per year because of old-growth forests being replaced by younger stands.
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Scientists May Have Finally Detected a Solid Inner Core on Mars
Seismic clues from NASA’s InSight mission suggest that Mars hides a solid inner core, and raise new questions about why the planet’s magnetic field disappeared.
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Spiky Sand Features Can Reveal the Timing of Ancient Earthquakes
Icicle-shaped features known as sand dikes form during ground shaking. New work reveals how these features can be used to date long-ago earthquakes.
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New USGS Map Offers an Interactive Look at the Rocks Beneath Our Feet
The Cooperative National Geologic Map is an interactive tool that builds on both cutting-edge technology and decades of mapping by geoscientists.
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Shallow Injection Imperfectly Filters Florida Wastewater
Injection of wastewater into shallow wells is meant to filter nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus out of the wastewater. But a new study suggests that nutrients aren’t entirely eliminated—and may be polluting coastal waters.
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Move Over, Beavers. Dinosaurs Might Also Have Been Nature’s Engineers
Late Cretaceous dinosaurs may have cut back vegetation, creating large floodplains. When the asteroid hit, those floodplains became forests, a new study argues.
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Major Droughts Coincided with Classic Maya Collapse
Understanding how individual cities responded to climate stress will help create holistic pictures of how these societies functioned.