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Hacking Nature
For decades, humans have modeled technology on observations of the natural world. But new discoveries about nature—and tools for manipulating it—have opened up novel approaches potentially more powerful than mere imitation to solving Human Age problems.
Why environmentally friendly behavior can reduce support for environmentally friendly policy
When individuals take action to reduce their personal carbon footprint, this creates the perception of progress being made and "crowds out" support for public policy to fight climate change, a new analysis suggests.
The Circular Economy Made Real
In more and more pockets of the industrial landscape, the byproducts of one process are becoming the raw materials for another, trash is getting a useful second life, and waste is becoming a thing of the past.
We need a quantum leap in farm technology…stat
In order to limit global warming to 2°C in 2100, non-carbon dioxide agricultural emissions will have to be cut by one billion tons every year by 2030.
Rewilding feral horses to reinvigorate grasslands
Wild horses are often viewed as alien, invasive creatures who don’t belong—but might they instead be seen as modern-day analogues of now-vanished species?
A cheaper way to pull carbon dioxide from the air, turn it into crystals
Researchers have chanced upon a seemingly efficient way to directly capture carbon dioxide from air so it can then be locked away.
With invasives on the menu, an endangered bird thrives
When invasive, baseball-sized snails appeared in the Florida Everglades, many people worried that endangered snail kites — adapted to eating smaller, native snails — would starve. Instead they’ve feasted.
How to catch pandemics before they happen?
Researchers propose a decentralized screening system that could keep an eye out for zoonotic outbreaks.
The Anthropocene: Paul Crutzen’s Epochal Legacy
He came to science late in his life, helped to preserve the Earth’s protective ozone, and fundamentally changed our views of nature and ourselves
Simple Method to Produce Clean Hydrogen Fuel From Seawater
Researchers have used solar power and special nickel-based electrodes to directly split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. The advance could lead to an economical, sustainable way to produce clean hydrogen fuel
