Author: Seth Borenstein
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Science Says: Lightning is zapping fewer Americans, not more
WASHINGTON — Lightning — once one of nature’s biggest killers —is claiming far fewer lives in the United States, mostly because we’ve learned to get out of the way. In the 1940s, when there were fewer people, lightning killedmore than 300 people annually. So far this year, 13 people have died after being struck, on pace…
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More than spectacle: Eclipses create science and so can you
WASHINGTON — The sun is about to spill some of its secrets, maybe even reveal a few hidden truths of the cosmos. And you can get in on the act next week if you are in the right place for the best solar eclipse in the U.S. in nearly a century. Astronomers are going full…
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U.S. scientists contradict Trump’s climate claims
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump touts new oil pipelines and pledges to revive the nation’s struggling coal mines, federal scientists are warning that burning fossil fuels is already driving a steep increase in the United States of heat waves, droughts and floods. It is the latest example of collisions between Trump’s environmental policies and…
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Large study links key pesticide to weakened honeybee hives
WASHINGTON — A common and much-criticized pesticide dramatically weakens already vulnerable honeybee hives, according to a new massive field study in three European countries. For more than a decade, the populations of honeybees and other key pollinators have been on the decline, and scientists have been trying to figure out what’s behind the drop, mostly…
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Too hot to handle: Study shows Earth’s killer heat worsens
WASHINGTON — Killer heat is getting worse, a new study shows. Deadly heat waves like the one now broiling the American West are bigger killers than previously thought and they are going to grow more frequent, according to a new comprehensive study of fatal heat conditions. Still, those stretches may be less lethal in the…
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NASA telescope finds 10 more planets that could have life
WASHINGTON — NASA’s planet-hunting telescope has found 10 new planets outside our solar system that are likely the right size and temperature to potentially have life on them, broadly hinting that we are probably not alone. After four years of searching, the Kepler telescope has detected a total of 49 planets in the Goldilocks zone.…
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Science Says: Weather forecasts improve, under the radar
WASHINGTON — Make fun of the weatherman if you want but modern forecasts have quietly, by degrees, become much better. Meteorologists are now as good with their five-day forecasts as they were with their three-day forecasts in 2005. Both government and private weather forecasting companies are approaching the point where they get tomorrow’s high temperature…
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What if U.S. quits the Paris climate agreement? Doesn’t look good for Earth
WASHINGTON — Earth is likely to reach more dangerous levels of warming even sooner if the U.S. retreats from its pledge to cut carbon dioxide pollution, scientists said. That’s because America contributes so much to rising temperatures. President Trump, who once proclaimed global warming a Chinese hoax, said in a tweet Saturday that he would…
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Shhh. Hear the rustle of grass? Not so much now in U.S. parks
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save WASHINGTON — The call of the wild is getting harder to hear. Peaceful, natural sounds— bird songs, rushing rivers and rustling grass — are sometimes being drowned out by noise from people in many of…
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Another nearby planet found that may be just right for life
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save WASHINGTON — Astronomers have found yet another planet that seems to have just the right Goldilocks combination for life: Not so hot and not so cold. It’s not so far away, either. This new, big,…