Despite China’s improved energy efficiency, rapid growth is still leading to...
China is pledging to cut the carbon intensity of its economy nearly in half by the end of the decade by becoming more energy efficient. Though this may sound promising, it doesn’t mean China will...
View ArticleOur unique 'microbial aura' travels with us wherever we go
Every individual has a unique “microbial aura” that we spread constantly wherever we go, according to research published recently in the journal Science."Your bacterial community [is] a composite of...
View ArticleBig companies are pulling the plug on their projects in Alberta's tar sands
Uncertainly over the Keystone XL pipeline and a slump in oil prices are prompting several big companies to halt plans to extract oil from the Alberta tar sands.The latest company to pull out of the tar...
View ArticleHow a century-old rule is keeping the American legal profession from...
Automation is reshaping all sorts of white-collar jobs that we once thought were safe. And for many lawyers, the question is: are we next?Though it's possible that technology would seriously diminish...
View ArticleThe invasive emerald ash borer has killed millions of trees, but researchers...
A swampy forest in the floodplain of the Merrimack River is one of the first places in New Hampshire where the dreaded emerald ash borer was discovered. These days, Molly Heuss of the New Hampshire...
View ArticleWith climate change, Boston's future could be filled with gondolas
It's tough to imagine a canal system in Back Bay when you watch a cement truck roll past you. But that's exactly what you should do. Imagine your feet dangling over the water, tourists floating by...
View ArticleThe battle between gas and electric cars isn't new
In the late 1800s, the Studebaker company was the world's largest manufacturer of wagons and buggies. When the company began making automobiles, they chose to power their engines with electricity, not...
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Meet the new horse-headed, 35-foot-long, beaked Deinocheirus mirificus
Scientists recently revealed new details of a giant dinosaur that once inhabited what is now southern Mongolia's Gobi desert.One researcher called it "wild beyond imagination." Another called it...
View ArticleScientists find the largest US methane 'hotspot'— from space
Scientists at NASA and the University of Michigan have used satellite data to find a huge spike in emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas, methane, over the Four Corners region of the United...
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The only Afghan to ever fly in space almost didn't make it back to Earth
It was 1988, and the Soviet Union was preparing to end its disastrous war in Afghanistan. But Soviet officials still wanted to leave the country with a bit of positive spin."[They were] trying to...
View ArticleEnvironmental detectives are using DNA to track invasive species
From aquatic species to agricultural weeds to the Ebola virus, the US is dealing with the difficult environmental, economic and emotional effects of coping with invasive species. Now, new environmental...
View ArticleJapan vows to continue its whaling program, despite an international ruling...
Despite the global moratorium on commercial whaling that began in 1986, Japan continues to kill thousands of whales under the guise of “research.”“Japan claims it’s necessary research, important for...
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In the fight against green slime on Lake Erie, farmers try to clean up their act
Fishing boats line the docks near a small processing plant in Kingsville, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Erie. But the stacks of brightly colored plastic crates to hold the day's usual catch of...
View ArticleAn island of toxic trash plagues the Maldives
Approximately one million tourists each year visit the Maldives, a tiny island nation south of India, for its sunny, warm weather and stunning natural beauty. But all those visitors, along with the...
View ArticleA German village keeps the lights on with windmills and pig manure
In its successful quest to become energy independent, the German village of Feldheim had an ace up its sleeve: poop.Feldheim is a rural village in former East Germany, not far from Berlin. It only has...
View ArticleOkay, kids: 'L' is for licorice — and also for lead
It’s almost Halloween, and millions of kids will be out trick-or-treating. Anxious parents may worry that their kids will get cavities or eat too much sugar, but right now there’s another more potent...
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These kids watched their science project disappear in the Antares rocket...
Sometimes you shoot for the stars and you land ... well, nowhere.The unmanned Antares supply rocket exploded shortly after lift-off in Virginia on Tuesday. Its journey to the International Space...
View ArticleWatch out for an invasion of 'ZomBees' this Halloween
Picture this: An alien creature lays its eggs inside your body. You begin to feel terrible pain — so much pain that you can’t function or think. You writhe on the floor in agony. Finally — mercifully —...
View ArticleCompanies are finding ways to turn industry-generated CO2 into a profitable...
On October 21, The Skyonic Corporation hit the ON switch at a cement plant in San Antonio, Texas. Within a year, it expects to capture about 75,000 tons of CO2 from the plant and turn it into...
View ArticleDust from mountaintop mining promotes the growth of cancer cells, a new study...
A new study published in the Environmental Science and Technology Journal is the first to link conditions created by a particular kind of mining with biological changes in human lung cells of people...
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