13-02-19 While many people recognize that clean water and air are signs of a healthy ecosystem, most do not realize that a critical part of the environment is right beneath their feet, according to a Penn State hydrologist. The ground plays an important role...

13-02-18 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, which established regulations for the discharge of pollutants to waterways and supported the building of sewage treatment plants. Despite these advances, sewage remains a major source of pharm...

13-01-30 In a first-of-its-kind feat of science and engineering, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research team has successfully drilled through 800 meters (2,600 feet) of Antarctic ice to reach a subglacial（冰川下的） lake and retrieve water and...

13-01-18 Six consecutive days of spring rain had created a raging river running by Nancy Brown's farm. As she tried to herd her cows to higher ground, she slipped and hit her head on a fallen tree trunk. The fall knocked her out for a moment or two. When she...

13-01-18 Once upon a time a certain tradesman was leading a caravan（大篷车） to another country to sell his goods. Along the way they came to the edge of a severe hot-sand desert. They asked about, and found that during the daytime the sun heats up the fine...

13-01-05 Many industrial plants depend on water vapor condensing on metal plates: In power plants, the resulting water is then returned to a boiler to be vaporized again; in desalination（脱盐） plants, it yields a supply of clean water. The efficiency of su...

12-12-24 A new study co-authored by the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates that clay minerals, rocks that usually form when water is present for long periods of time, cover a larger portion of Mars than previously thought. In fact, Assistant Professor...

12-12-11 Vertebrates' transition to living on land, instead of only in water, represented a major event in the history of life. Now, researchers reporting in the December issue of the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell provide new evidence that the develo...

12-12-05 Every April I am beset（困扰） by the same concern-that spring might not occur this year. The landscape looks forsaken（孤独凄凉的） , with hills, sky and forest forming a single graymeld, like the wash an artist paints on a canvas before the master...

12-12-03 A passenger told an air hostess that he needed a cup of water to take his medicine when the plane just took off. She told him that she would bring him the water in ten minutes. Thirty minutes later, when the passenger's ring for service sounded, the...