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Stories
What type of nature is best for your head?
That natural settings are better for mental health than heavily developed spaces is a tenet of modern environmentalism and urban design. There’s much to unpack in that statement, though: are nature-rich settings especially rejuvenating? Or will any old green space do?
What Food Should Go Nude?
As consumers, we should worry less about the Styrofoam and plastic wrap encasing the ground beef—and take a pass on the shrink-wrapped broccoli.
Green cooling tech is based on the idea of salt melting ice
By combining a salt and a solvent—both cheap and abundant—engineers developed a new refrigeration system that uses less energy and emits no greenhouse gases
Psychologists have developed a “vaccine” against climate-change denial
A brief, up-front description of the arguments used by climate-change deniers makes people less susceptible to believing them.
Organic fertilizer may be loading our soil with microplastics
A study reveals that organic fertilizer is an unexpected vehicle for microplastic pollution--and therefore a new target for cleaning up our act.
Jet fuel from paper industry waste could make airplanes cleaner
Why burn lignin when you could use it to fly an airplane? Research shows lignin-based jet fuel performs better with lower emissions than petro-fuels
Nordic countries offer important lessons for clean-energy transition
City and state leaders in the US who want to push a clean energy agenda would do well to learn from five Nordic countries.
Pine Cones Inspire Energy-Saving Shades
Pine cones have inspired a new way to reduce the energy used by buildings. By mimicking the way these woody fruits open in response to humidity, Swiss engineers have made shades that can open and close without using any electricity.
A crop-by-crop comparison of urban vs conventional farms yields turns up some surprising results
A first-of-its-kind meta-analysis of urban farms in 53 countries suggests that city plots can produce up to 4 times more food than conventional ones.
Bioenergy has its limits for cutting emissions
A new life-cycle analysis finds the best way to distribute biomass resources for various uses—liquid fuels, heat, and electricity—in order to slash the most emissions.
