Sustainability
Temperatures--Not Acid--Could Cook Coral to Death
A warming ocean is encouraging the growth of coral in the far Southern Hemisphere, overriding any effects of "acidification"
Stories by David Biello
Sustainability
A Proposal to Introduce Elephants to Australia: Really?
Why not bring elephants to Australia? That's the proposal made by biologist David Bowman of the University of Tasmania in a comment published February 2 in Nature .
Sustainability
Can Cleaner Cooking and Solar Power Help Solve Energy Poverty in Africa? [Slide Show]
South Africa still struggles to ensure that all citizens enjoy modern energy services, just one example of how the U.N.'s International Year of Sustainable Energy for All aims to bring modern energy resources to the billions who lack it...
Sustainability
Climate Change Has Helped Bring Down Cultures
Humanity has weathered many a climate change, from the ice age of 80,000 years ago to the droughts of the late 19th century that helped kill between 30 and 50 million people around the world via famine...
Sustainability
Has Petroleum Production Peaked, Ending the Era of Easy Oil?
A new analysis concludes that easily extracted oil peaked in 2005, suggesting that dirtier fossil fuels will be burned and energy prices will rise
Biotech
Genetically Engineered Stomach Microbe Converts Seaweed into Ethanol
A genetically modified strain of common gut bacteria may lead to a new technology for making biofuels that does not compete with food crops for arable acreage
Sustainability
Rainforest in Transition: Is the Amazon Transforming before Our Eyes?
A review suggests that the Amazon rainforest may be changing, courtesy of human impacts on the region's weather
Sustainability
Scientists Tweak Photosynthesis in Pursuit of a Better Biofuel
By altering how plants turn sunlight into chemical energy, scientists hope to produce biofuels that make economic sense
Sustainability
How to Buy Time in the Fight against Climate Change: Mobilize to Stop Soot and Methane
A short list of relatively simple actions taken to reduce greenhouse gases other than CO2 could help put the brakes on global warming--if implemented globally
Sustainability
Craig Venter Explains How Pond Scum Will Save the World
The man who first sequenced the human genome and designed the first synthetic cell explains why simple algae—and some genetic engineering—may hold the key to our future
Environment
How Going with the Flow Helped Microbes Eat BP's Oil Spill
Microbes kept the oil and gas spewing from the Macondo well from becoming even more of a disaster, preventing the Deepwater Horizon blowout from deeply befouling the Gulf coast.
The Sciences
What's in a Femtosecond of Laser Light? A Map of Electron Energy
Illuminate a piece of metal, such as copper or silver, and the electrons get excited. These excitable particles in turn alter the electromagnetic fields that give rise to many of the properties technologists exploit, such as copper's excellent performance as a conductor of electricity.Efforts to observe electrons have become easier in recent years, thanks to advances with incredibly short laser pulses, despite the foundational principles of quantum mechanics that hold sway at this scale...
Electronics
Do You Know What Happens to Your Cellphone When You're Done with It?
DURBAN, South Africa—I rented a cellphone during my sojourn here to cover the recent climate change negotiations. A local number enabled me to keep in touch with home and office but also, perhaps more importantly, to make appointments on the fly with ever harried international negotiators...
Sustainability
Could Public Health Benefits Make Combating Climate Change Free?
Climate change threatens human health. Therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emissions may help our medical well-being, too
Sustainability
What Really Happened in Durban-and Will It Be Enough to Combat Climate Change?
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"—Dickens's phrase might serve to sum up the reactions to what is now officially called the "Durban Platform for Enhanced Action" on climate change...
Climate Talks Consensus: All Countries Should Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions--In Future
In a frantic late night rush, a plan to come up with a plan for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of all countries passed muster at the U.N.'s annual climate negotiations
Sustainability
Climate Talks Prove Growing Need for Carbon Capture and Storage Globally
Without technology to capture CO2 and store it safely and permanently, climate change cannot be constrained
Sustainability
Carbon Onset: CO2 Debt of Climate Conferences Grows and Grows and Grows
DURBAN, South Africa—When roughly 25,000 people descend on a city to talk climate change, you can expect at least two things: mountains of waste and copious emissions of the greenhouse gases that they've come to talk about so seriously...
Sustainability
Climate Negotiations Fail to Keep Pace with Science
The latest research shows that climate talks must lead to more aggressive action to avoid the catastrophic effects of global warming
Sustainability
Bio-Jet Fuel Struggles to Balance Profit with Sustainability
Alternatives for aviation industry and the military pose issues related to land use, clearing peatland, fertilizer use, costs and more emissions
