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Total number of posts: 23916
New tech could give coal a scrubbing until renewables are ready
No matter how you feel about coal, you can’t deny that it is very dirty stuff. Nor can you argue that our electrified society is anywhere near ready to run without it. Until renewables scale up and become storable—available after sunset and between breezes, in other words—coal Read More...
Solar energy pioneer Monica Oliphant on charting her own path in science
It was 1973 and Monica Oliphant, a recently widowed mother of two, was washing the dishes one night when she first heard about the potential for solar energy. “[It was] at the time of the Arab oil crisis, and I heard on the radio someone saying, if we had solar energy, we wouldn’t have Read More...
Ocean currents: Reliable clean energy beneath sea level
Oceans move slowly—on average 1-1.5 m/s. However, water is over 800 times denser than air, meaning that even slow ocean currents are comparable to strong winds. And winds are unpredictable whereas as oceans move constant in both direction and speed. A new Japanese design for a marine turbine is Read More...
A cheap soap to help poor Africans prevent catching malaria
Malaria is still the greatest killer in the world. According to a 2014 report by the World Health Organization, 90 percent of the almost 600,000 people who died from malaria in 2013 lived in Africa. Most were children. Many of their families cannot afford conventional mosquito repellants and Read More...
Whole Foods and startups see potential in ‘ugly foods’
Produce is supposed to be perfect. Giant watermelons ripen on the field but won’t make it to market—too big to fit in the fridge. The same fate befalls curvy cucumbers or apples and tomatoes that exceed the width of a burger bun. Recently European supermarkets have adopted the ugly foods Read More...
The British frontrunner of feminism may get her statue at last
One painful reminder of the wrongs of history is presented by the statues in the squares of cities around the globe. Judging by thousands and thousands of statues across the world, humans are a species made up almost entirely of males. Of the 11 memorials in Parliament Square, London, for instance, Read More...
The best foods for a healthy gut
More and more research shows the critical importance of a healthy gut as the first line of defense of the immune system. But how do you keep a healthy intestinal tract? Although there are many supplements on the market that promise digestive support, the gut responds better to real, whole foods Read More...
This nano material sucks water from thin air
A new nano-coating that can pull water out of the air might allow us to harvest water where there seems to be none, like the moisture farms in Star Wars. The coating is based on naturally occurring moisture-gathering mechanisms, such as the spines of a cactus and the bumpy shell of a desert beetle. Read More...
How to practice mindfulness throughout your workday
You probably know the feeling all too well: You arrive at the office with a clear plan for the day and then, in what feels like just a moment, you find yourself on your way back home. Nine or 10 hours have passed but you’ve accomplished only a few of your priorities. And, most likely, you can’t Read More...
Walkers with Google cameras to map 2,500 miles of ancient trails
If “the Google effect”on Britain is anything like “the Wild effect” in the US, there will soon be unprecedented numbers of people walking the national trails that traverse some of the most beautiful countryside in England and Wales. Wild was the name of a book in 2012 and, two years later, Read More...