Science & Environment

Sludge-Fertilizer Giant Leaves Texas Town Amid ‘Forever Chemicals’ Crisis

Sludge-Fertilizer Giant Leaves Texas Town Amid ‘Forever Chemicals’ Crisis

The City of Fort Worth, Texas, is ending its contract with Synagro, the Goldman Sachs-backed provider of fertilizer made from sewage sludge, over concerns that “forever chemicals” in the fertilizer are contaminating local farmland and groundwater. Fort Worth this month also sued several manufacturers of the chemicals, also called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, alleging that they contaminated the …

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How to watch the partial solar eclipse

How to watch the partial solar eclipse

Maddie Molloy BBC Climate & Science Getty Images Get your protective eclipse glasses ready – weather permitting you’ll be able to see the Moon take a ‘bite’ out of the Sun on Saturday morning. The partial solar eclipse will be visible across the UK. People will have the chance to see the Moon cover about 30 to 50% of the …

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March 2025 Partial Solar Eclipse: Where and How to Watch

March 2025 Partial Solar Eclipse: Where and How to Watch

Another eclipse is upon us. On Saturday, the moon will cast its shadow on Earth’s surface, a phenomenon that people in parts of the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Russia and Africa will get to experience as a partial solar eclipse. It is only partially as impressive as the total solar eclipse that cut across the United States last …

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How to Plan a Garden With Climate Change in Mind

How to Plan a Garden With Climate Change in Mind

The silent season is drawing to a close. All winter, there was little birdsong to lift my heart. The occasional caw of a crow, the chickadee-dee-dee of a chickadee, the big song of the little Carolina wren that now stays on our Pennsylvania farm all winter. But no courtship call of great horned owls, no wood thrush or Baltimore oriole. …

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RFK Jr. Turns to a Discredited Vaccine Researcher for Autism Study

RFK Jr. Turns to a Discredited Vaccine Researcher for Autism Study

A steadfast figure in the anti-vaccine movement who has helped shape Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s thinking on a possible link to autism has joined his department to work on a study examining the long-debunked theory, according to people familiar with the matter. The new analyst, David Geier, has published numerous articles in the medical literature attempting to tie …

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New York County Clerk Blocks Texas Court Filing Against Doctor Over Abortion Pills

New York County Clerk Blocks Texas Court Filing Against Doctor Over Abortion Pills

A New York county clerk on Thursday blocked Texas from filing a legal action against a New York doctor for prescribing and sending abortion pills to a Texas woman. The unprecedented move catapults the interstate abortion wars to a new level, setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle between states that ban abortion and states that support abortion rights. …

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E.P.A. Offers a Way to Avoid Clean-Air Rules: Send an Email

E.P.A. Offers a Way to Avoid Clean-Air Rules: Send an Email

Last year, the Biden administration required coal- and oil-burning power plants to greatly reduce emissions of toxic chemicals including mercury, which can harm babies’ brains and cause heart disease in adults. Now, the Trump administration is offering companies an extraordinary out: Send an email, and they might be given permission by President Trump to bypass the new restrictions, as well …

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A Shark’s Sounds Are Recorded for What Is Believed to Be the First Time

A Shark’s Sounds Are Recorded for What Is Believed to Be the First Time

Dolphins whistle. Whales sing. Fish croak, chirp, grunt, hum and growl. But in the chatter of the sea, one voice has been missing — until now. Sharks have long been seen as the silent killers of the water. But scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand recently recorded a rig shark, or Mustelus lenticulatus, making a sharp clicking …

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