Back in the day of the first mammals, horses started out the size of house cats, weighing about three and a half kilos and standing only a few inches tall. Then they got even littler, a direct result of the warm temperatures that characterised the Eocene era. Only when Earth cooled down a bit did the beasts get big, according to a new study - the first evidence that temperature directly affects body size. Interesting results when you think about rising global temperatures. Are Earth's animals about to undergo a New Shrinkening?

A study co-authoured by a CSIRO scientist has just been published that examines warming in the Tasman Sea, finding that major oceanic currents like the Eastern Australian Current (EAC) are moving towards the poles, generating heat warming at a rate two to three times the global oceanic average. This has implications not only for the ecology of south-east Australia, but warming globally.

Last year, as climate change deniers were up in arms over the so-called "Climategate" controversy involving alleged manipulation of climate data, one sceptical scientist proposed taking a fresh look. Richard Muller, a physicist at the University of California-Berkeley and a self-described climate skeptic, undertook to review the temperature data underlying most global warming studies. Now his team has wrapped up their work, and it apparently solidifies the other studies' findings.

When most people think of simulating a volcano, they think of baking soda, vinegar, and third grade science fair projects. A team of British researchers are thinking more along the lines of a giant balloon the size of a soccer stadium and a 12-mile garden hose that can pipe chemicals into the stratosphere to slow global warming. And they're planning to test their hypothesis soon, sending a scaled down version of their sky-hose-balloon-thing skyward in the next few months.