
More Dangerous Than Nuclear Power: The Floods Caused by Aging Dams
David Biello is a contributing editor at Scientific American.

More Dangerous Than Nuclear Power: The Floods Caused by Aging Dams

Stop Mining for Oil (and Coal), Start Drilling for Heat

Where Will Our Energy Come from in 2030?

Newly Discovered Microscopic Worm Thrives in Gold Mines a Kilometer Underground
High temperature, low oxygen and permanent darkness are no problem for a previously unknown species of nematode

The Rise of a New Science Superpower?

Climate Change Linked to Social Collapses in Greenland Since 800 B.C.
A record written in algal fat reaffirms the role of climate change in determining the fate of Greenland's Vikings and other inhabitants

Will 10 Billion People Use Up the Planet's Resources?

Can Tornado Prediction Be Improved?
Advances in computer modeling and other technologies still cannot overcome the fundamental complexity of thunderstorm and subsequent tornado formation

Why Electric Cars Will Fail...and Have Already Triumphed

Details of Japan Earthquake Explain Its Extraordinary Strength and Unexpectedness
The first scientific analyses of the deadly event confirm its power and suggest what might happen next

Do Bright Lights Mean a Big (Economic) City?

Coming to a Cornfield Near You: Genetically Induced Drought-Resistance
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is preparing to approve a new strain of corn that has been engineered to thrive in drought

Plants versus Photovoltaics: Which Are Better to Capture Solar Energy?
Determining the relative efficiency of photosynthesis and photovoltaics is not a simple problem

Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas Pollutes Water Wells
A new study indicates that fracturing the Marcellus Shale for natural gas is contaminating private drinking water wells

Cereal Killer: Climate Change Stunts Growth of Global Crop Yields
A crop-yield analysis reveals that warming temperatures have already diminished the rate of production growth for major cereal crop harvests during the past three decades

BPA Linked to Wheezing in Babies

Security Experts: Prepare for Possible Bin Laden Reprisal
What is the increased threat in the wake of the elimination of the leader of al Qaeda and how can it be defended against?

Climate Change Will Bring More Extreme Precipitation and Floods

"Let's Go for It": Q&A with Head of ARPA-e, the U.S. High-Risk Energy Research Agency
The leader of the government's push into alternative energy talks about fuel-making microbes, the next industrial revolution and how soon his high-risk projects will reach the market

The Newest Nuclear Plants Sprout in the U.S. South
As always, safety is a balancing act

7 Radical Energy Solutions
The failure rate may be 90 percent, but if any of these exotic technologies succeeds, it could significantly improve energy security and efficiency

One Year After BP Oil Spill, At Least 1.1 Million Barrels Still Missing
Where in the Gulf of Mexico is the oil from the Macondo well blowout?

Earth and environment science projects favored by entrants in Google Science Fair

Gulf Seafood Officially Safe, but Questions and Oil Linger
Testing of shrimp, crabs and fish, among other seafood harvested in the Gulf of Mexico, continues