International

"The workers at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant — known as the Fukushima 50 — expect some of them will die within weeks or months, the mother of one has reportedly said."

"Ants and termites have a significant positive impact on crop yields in dryland agriculture, according to a paper published in the journal 'Nature Communications' by scientists at CSIRO and the University of Sydney."

"Aircraft condensation trails criss-crossing the sky may be warming the planet on a normal day more than the carbon dioxide emitted by all planes since the Wright Brothers' first flight in 1903, a study said on Tuesday."

"The UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday radiation in a village outside the evacuation zone around a stricken Japanese nuclear plant was above safe levels, urging that Japan reassess the situation."

"Giving new meaning to toasted wheat, a team of agricultural researchers has spent the past three years and almost a million dollars installing electric heaters over wheat fields in the desert of Maricopa, Ariz."

TEPCO and the Japanese government's constant assurances that the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima is under control have started to unravel. Releases of radioactive material continue. Mounting radiation at the site threatens to curtail efforts to prevent more radiation releases.

"Big earthquakes over the last 30 years have not triggered global chains of massive seismic activity, U.S. scientists reported on Monday. But major quakes do trigger other big ones close by and smaller ones far away, researchers said."

"There's nothing new about studying animal sounds; ...  But Bryan Pijanowski is now asking his colleagues to take a huge step back and, metaphorically speaking, listen not just to the trees, but to the forest."

"Vegetation change underway in northern forests as a result of climate change creates feedback loop that prompts more warming, scientists say."

"The U.N. atomic energy chief called a Vienna summit to tackle mounting concerns about nuclear safety, saying on Monday the international community needed a coordinated response in the wake of Japan's crisis."