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Environmental Policy
Flashy desalination technology is more costly and cumbersome than many other solutions.
Based on product labeling claims, scientists hypothesized that green cleaners were less toxic. They were wrong.
Pando is a stand of aspen in Utah that is 14,000 years old and weighs 12 million pounds. Humans threaten to end its long reign.
You might think it's impossible to run out of wind, but Europe's "wind drought" proves otherwise. And it's only going to get worse.
Synthetic biology has the power to cure and kill. Have we learned from our past mistakes?
Progress got derailed somewhere between indoor plumbing and the flying car. Why?
About the project The goal of driving more progress across the world—scientifically, politically, economically, socially, etc—is one shared by many. And yet, debates about the best way to maximize progress […]
On the morning of June 30, 1908, an explosion of more than 10 megatons occurred above the sparsely populated Siberian Taiga. What caused the so-called Tunguska event?
When Cameroon's Lakes Monoun and Nyos exploded, they released clouds of carbon dioxide that suffocated everything in its wake.
We're still using 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid a year, but burials are becoming far less common.
Americans on average consumed about 58 pounds of beef and veal in 2019 – compared with a global average of 14 pounds.
"You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it."
A second Enlightenment would have a far bigger task: Saving civilization itself.
Scuba divers often appear to be swimming through a calm and muffled universe. This couldn't be farther from the truth.
The airships have a range of 4,000 nautical miles, can fly for five days, and can cruise as high as 20,000 feet at 80 mph. They take to the skies over Spain in 2026.
A "bio-battery" made from genetically engineered bacteria could store excess renewable energy and release it as needed.
Fire-retardant gels and slimes combine the best attributes of water and foam.
Any alien civilization that grows to span an entire planet would spark the same effects that we have. So, what do we do about it?
Scientists have discovered enzymes from several plastic-eating bacteria. So, why are our oceans still full of plastic pollution?
This marks a historic moment in humanity’s relationship to the planet.
Wind energy is one of the cleanest, greenest sources of power. But could it have the sneaky side-effect of changing the weather?
Best in class: Denmark and Uruguay. Worst in class: Papua New Guinea, Venezuela, and Russia.
At least 33 cities are sinking by more than 1 cm a year.
Only 1% of corn grown is the U.S. is the type that people eat.
The site will be the first working example of a geological disposal facility.
Science has come a long way since Mary Shelley penned "Frankenstein." But we still grapple with the same questions.
Capturing energy from clubbers could help power homes and buildings.
Research shows that octopuses are sentient, emotional creatures.
A community in Austin, Texas is using geothermal energy to keep homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Most cities reeked of death, defecation, and industrial waste. Still, focusing only on stench means turning a blind eye (or nose) to the many other smells that helped shape human history.