World’s first ‘biosolar leaf’ to tackle pollution on London campus
Reducing the amount of heat-trapping emissions we are putting into the atmosphere is imperative in order to reverse climate change. But scientists and campaigners have warned repeatedly that governments are dangerously falling behind in meeting the rate of carbon emission reductions needed to Read More...
You have to see these photos of ancient trees bathing in starlight
In one giant sequoia’s lifetime multiple generations of humans will be born and die. These enormous trees, native to California, can live for thousands of years. Though that time frame is considerable, writes photographer Beth Moon in her book, Ancient Skies, Ancient Trees, “compared to the Read More...
Scientists develop self-charging pacemaker that uses heartbeats to power itself
Pacemakers have a problem – and that’s not something you want to hear about a medical device which literally helps a person’s heart beat at a normal pace. The problem, simply put, is that they are powered by bulky batteries, which have to be surgically replaced at regular intervals due to Read More...
Surprisingly enough, central banks are leading calls for climate action
As groups of Extinction Rebellion protestors glued themselves to public transit and closed down large swathes of central London last week in a series of demonstrations that continued Thursday, a very different group was gathering just a couple hours’ train journey away in Paris. They, too, Read More...
This foundation is on a mission to plant 100 million trees by 2022
The largest non-profit dedicated to planting trees announced a special goal during America’s oldest environmental celebration: Arbor Day. The non-profit, which goes by the name Arbor Day Foundation, made it known to the world that it wants to plant 100 million trees by 2022. As the foundation Read More...
A silkworm-based coating could soon replace the toxic chemicals in our clothes
More than 150 chemicals are now regularly used to enhance the characteristics of the clothes we wear each day. Some of these chemicals are demonstrated carcinogens, or capable of reproduction, nervous, and endocrine system dysregulation. Others are allergenic or irritating. And even when we wash Read More...
How community solar is pushing New York towards 100% renewables
Even if many New Yorkers would like to power their homes with solar energy, they wouldn’t be able to—unless they own a building and put solar panels on the roof themselves. But as the city pushes for 100 renewables, providing the opportunity for everyday New Yorkers to get involved in solar Read More...
Startups are helping the city of Flint turn the tide after the water crisis
Whenever the city of Flint, Michigan, finds itself in the headlines, it’s rarely for anything good. The city has long suffered from divestment and exodus, and the water crisis five years ago didn’t help fix the national image of Flint being a site of intractable poverty. But all of this fails Read More...
Tiny teeth-cleaning robots could soon calm your fears of the dentist
A visit to the dentist typically involves time-consuming and sometimes unsettling scraping with mechanical tools to remove plaque from teeth. Plaque deposits are usually the product of biofilms – little communities of micro-organisms, bacterial and otherwise, that gather together and coat on your Read More...
A South Korea school is enrolling illiterate grandmas to save it from closing
South Korea’s birthrate has been plummeting in recent decades, falling to less than one child per woman last year, one of the lowest in the world. The hardest hit areas are rural counties, where babies have become an increasingly rare sight as young couples migrate en masse to big cities for Read More...