Feature Article

Biofuels have failed to live up to their early environmental promise, but fuels made from plant waste and weeds may turn this around.

Animals reared in natural, outdoor conditions without nasty modern drugs yield healthier meat, right? Not necessarily. Wondwossen Gebreyes and colleagues at Ohio State University in Columbus tested US pigs for antibodies - telltale signs of infection - to pathogens that can also affect humans. They found traces of Salmonella in 39 per cent of pigs raised in standard indoor pens and routinely given antibiotics, but in 54 per cent of organic pigs raised outdoors without the drugs (Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, vol 5, p 199).

It's just over a month since the US government designated the polar bear as an endangered species. Now the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) stands accused of giving oil companies a "blank cheque to harass polar bears".

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Over-fishing and changes in climate could leave marine animals struggling on a "junk food" diet of low-calorie prey, putting dwindling populations under even more pressure. That is the conclusion of a team lead by Henrik

AFTER $10 billion spent, countless papers and a large helping of controversy, are we any closer to knowing whether Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert offers a secure resting place for America's nuclear legacy?

A debate is raging in North America over the safety of bisphenol A

When Ernest Shackleton and his men marched towards the South Pole in December 1908, they came across something entirely unexpected. After scaling the vast Beardmore glacier on the edge of the polar plateau, they found seams of coal amid the snow and ice. They also found impressions of leaves in sandstone boulders nearby and even fossilised wood from a coniferous tree.

Ten years ago, running your car on biofuels meant covertly topping up your tank with chip fat. Now petrol is routinely mixed with ethanol made from corn, and diesel with squeezed rape, oil palm and soya. The current generation of biofuels was rushed onto the market in response to escalating concern in Europe about climate change, and in the US about energy security. But almost before the biofuels industry has got going, it has run into major problems. It has swiftly become a victim of its own success, gobbling up land and water in a way that has frightened the world.

Authors of a report (April 19) on post-tsunami shelter and settlement strategy of the Tamil Nadu government respond to a rejoinder by C V Sankar (May 17), officer on special duty for relief and rehabilitation.