Daily Science
Our team of science writers pore through stacks of the latest climate and sustainability science and bring you a hand-picked selection of the most compelling research from around the world, a compendium found nowhere else.
Colorful paints could slash heating and cooling energy use
By reflecting infrared heat, these new paints could could keep buildings cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter without using energy.
As glaciers vanish, what should we do with the land that’s revealed?
Enough untouched terrain to cover all of Finland could be uncovered as glaciers retreat, scientists found. Much of it is unprotected.
An understudied emotion packs a surprisingly large climate action punch
Of five emotions (anger, sadness, guilt, fear, and hope), researchers found that climate anger has the strongest links to climate activism
Could weathered rock be the magic dust that vaults us towards our climate goals?
Building on previous research, a new study estimates how much carbon farmers could lock away by spreading crushed rock on croplands. Their numbers are enormous.
Borrowing a page from plants, engineers create solar leaves that produce electricity and clean water
Low-cost, widely available materials cool solar panels without using energy to boost electricity output and produce liters of water at the same time
Priming plants with the hormone, ethylene, produces bigger, more stress-resistant crops
When applied to seeds, ethylene resulted in taller, leafier crops without the usual trade off in stress tolerance.
Engineers put new spin on capturing carbon from the oceans
Membranes are used today to remove carbon dioxide from power plant exhaust; could they be put to use in the ocean?
A trillion trees could cool the planet. But where to get them? There’s a massive disconnect.
Scientists audited the capacity of U.S. nurseries to grow enough seedlings for ecologically-minded tree planting campaigns. The results were not pretty.
Melatonin, a sleep aid, is a surprising treatment for food waste
By increasing produce’s tolerance to cold, melatonin staves off the damage done by the long, chilly journey from farm to fork.
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.