City Stories
A key challenge in this new Human Age is to lessen the ecological footprint of the world’s cities, even as their populations expand. The Anthropocene tells the stories about resilient urban coastal infrastructure, low carbon transportation systems, and nature-inspired architectural designs.
Water-Harvesting and Arid-Adapted Agrobiodiversity
A revival of rainwater harvesting is occurring around the world, as desert communities restore traditional systems known as rain gardens, ak-chin agriculture, floodwater farming, gavias, karez, qanats and fogarras.
The key to sustainable cities may lie in increasingly sophisticated digital twins
Researchers offer the first rigorous analysis “In silico" equivalents of urban areas as a powerful tool for sustainable development
The growing field of fungus in low carbon, sustainable building materials
Two new studies show how a lightweight construction material and a fire-retardant, both made from fungi, could be safe, sustainable alternatives to the chemicals, foams, and plastics in our homes.
These Buildings Generate More Energy Than They Use
Norway ushers in an era of energy-positive architecture
Transparent wood product could give windows an insulation boost
Using cellulose nanofibers from wood pulp, a team have made a clear gel that can be sandwiched between existing window panes.
Cities have a green infrastructure blind spot
Carbon footprint standards exist for buildings, but not for the landscaping that surrounds them.
Everything people think they know about the best time to charge electric cars is wrong
Current electric car owners tend to charge their cars at night. If that trend continues, it could create a big stress on the grid.
Discarded electronics could become a huge source of gold in the United States. Here’s how.
In a first, researchers assessed the kinds of electronics that will be discarded in the future and the materials they contain to see how a national e-waste recycling strategy might pan out.
Conservation gardening is a new—and surprisingly effective—way to stem loss of rare plants
A new study in Germany suggests conservation gardening could halve the number of plant species under threat in some parts of the country.
Habitat with Humanity
Making creative accommodations for the urban wild
