Science News

By Richard Lovett

By 2080, global warming could result in one-fifth of the world's lizard species becoming extinct, a global study has found.

Even under the most optimistic scenarios for curbing carbon dioxide emissions, the analysis by an international team shows that one-fifth of the globe's lizard populations, corresponding to 6 percent of all lizard species, may go extinct by 2050.

"We've committed ourselves to that," says Barry Sinervo, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who led the study. [More]

Quantum entanglement, a phenomenon by which two or more particles share correlated properties through some instantaneous link, is tricky business. The quantum-mechanical bond entangling two particles is so delicate, it can be broken by any number of outside perturbations. Try entangling three particles , and the system becomes just that much more vulnerable to interference. [More]

By Chris Baltimore and Steve Gorman

HOUSTON/PORT FOURCHON, Louisiana (Reuters) - A small containment dome won't begin trapping oil from BP's leaking oil well until at least next week instead of later on Thursday, a spokesman for BP Plc said, a fresh setback in efforts to contain what could become the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Earth's first life-form, floating in the proverbial froth of the primordial seas that eventually gave rise to trees, bees and humans, is not just a popular Darwinian conceit but also an essential biological premise that many researchers rely on as part of the foundation of their work. [More]

Unlike the traditional power grid, a "smart" grid is designed to accommodate a two-way flow of both electricity and data. This creates great promise, including lower energy prices, increased use of renewable resources and, it is hoped, fewer brownouts and blackouts . But a smart grid also poses several potential security problems--networked meter data, power companies' computers and those of customers could all be vulnerable to tampering. [More]