Is it possible for an oil company to help fight climate change?
A year ago, Royal Dutch Shell, now the largest oil company in the world, acquired NewMotion, a company with thousands of electric car charging points throughout Europe. A month later, Shell started installing fast chargers at some of its largest gas Read More...
Scientists have found a brilliant way to repurpose plastic bottles
A team of scientists has developed a cheap method for converting the most common type of plastic waste into a highly useful aerogel. The newfound material has a wide array of uses, from working as a protective insulator for firefighter coats to acting as an absorbent for cleaning up oil spills. Now Read More...
These beautiful energy-efficient homes were built in a factory
A company in Quebec has introduced a factory-built house to the market that runs entirely on solar power. Even though the house takes only five days to assemble, the look and feel of the home is that of a chic, modern living space. What’s more, the home costs no more than $147 per square meter Read More...
General Motors is adding electric bikes to their line of products
As part of its goal to reduce and eventually eliminate carbon emissions, General Motors will start selling its own electric bikes as soon as 2019. The car company is introducing two models, one foldable and one compact, which are designed for urban commuting. The electric assist on the bike will Read More...
Buildings could soon be constructed using concrete solar panels
One ton of CO2 is generated by making one ton of cement, which is made from limestone and a few other things heated to an extremely high temperature. But what if concrete could generate its own energy? It seems we’re getting very close to that reality after the world’s largest cement maker Read More...
5 tips for staying healthy and active this holiday season
The more things you can do to boost your immune system, the less likely you will be run down by a pesky virus or stomach bug this holiday season. Follow these five tips to improve your immunity and keep you protected from unwanted Read More...
Bionic leaf is 10 times better at photosynthesis than real plants
Plants take in carbon dioxide, water, and sunshine to create a sugary fuel. Now researchers have done the same, but even Read More...
In Norway, an ambitious new standard for green building is catching on
In Drøbak, Norway, there’s a little school that’s one of the most unique — and possibly the greenest — in the world. On top, solar panels face the sun at a 33-degree angle, and beneath, energy wells tap geothermal Read More...
This researcher rode 5,000 miles with Uber to understand the gig economy
If you’re a frequent passenger of Lyft or Uber, there’s a good chance you’ve met your fair share of drivers. But probably not as many as Alex Rosenblat, an ethnographer and researcher at Data & Society, a nonprofit in New York that studies the social and cultural issues created by new Read More...
Finding the heart
How do we heal the heart? As a historian of religion, I often return to the Gnostic Gospels, an astonishing cache of more than fifty sacred texts, discovered in Egypt, in 1945. Many of them speak to this question: How do we gain the courage to overcome grief and despair? In one story, Jesus’s Read More...