EarthScape

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits Drinking alcohol primes certain areas of our brain to learn and remember better, says a new study from the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research at The University of Texas…

Colombia’s ban on mining in highland ecosystems could be a double-edged sword — it may attract illegal miners to the delicate areas where established mining companies cannot operate. The example of Canada’s Greystar — which last month withdrew permit requests for its gold and silver project over environmental concerns — has crystallized Colombia’s dilemma of…

The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean near the coast of South America, is home to several unique indigenous bird species. One of them, Catharacta Antarctica, also known as the Southern Skua or the Falklands Skua, is in serious decline. Over the past five years, their population has gone down…

University of Utah geophysicists made the first large-scale picture of the electrical conductivity of the gigantic underground plume of hot and partly molten rock that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano. The image suggests the plume is even bigger than it appears in earlier images made with earthquake waves. The Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera located…

Berlin, Germany—The future of nuclear power was bleak, even before the Fukushima disaster, said energy expert Mycle Schneider Wednesday at a press conference in Berlin, where he previewed an upcoming Worldwatch report on the outlook of nuclear power.

An abundant source of U.S. natural gas widely seen as a cleaner alternative to oil and coal is in reality the fossil fuel that creates the most greenhouse gas emissions, a study concludes. The paper led by Cornell University ecology professor Robert Howarth raised howls of protest from the gas industry, which said the document…

By studying fossilized mollusks from some 3.5 million years ago, UCLA geoscientists and colleagues have been able to construct an ancient climate record that holds clues about the long-term effects of Earth’s current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a key contributor to global climate change. Two novel geochemical techniques used to determine the temperature at…

Blueberries are incredible plants. They can grow wild practically anywhere in the northeastern United States and Canada, and are quite tasty. Blueberry bushes can cover vast stretches of meadows and become the dominant plant. Amazingly, they thrive after forest fires, even after they burn themselves. To go along with the plant’s hardiness and the berries’…

Most years, Spaniards encounter just one giant squid as long as a city bus along their northern shores—a fisherman might haul one up from the depths accidentally, or beachgoers might stumble across a carcass stranded on a beach. So it was surprising in 2001 when five squid littered the beaches over a 2-month period and…

Two of the most well-known penguin species in Antarctica — chinstraps and Adelies — are under pressure because a warmer climate has cut deeply into their main food source, shrimp-like creatures called krill. Fewer of the juvenile penguins survive what scientists call their “transition to independence” because there isn’t enough krill to go around, according…