Stories by David Biello

One year later, there are more questions than answers about the impact of the oil spill from BP's Macondo well on wildlife and ecosystems

Remote imaging of the failed blowout preventer, stress testing various containment devices as well as other high-tech tasks helped contain the Deepwater Horizon disaster

China pauses its plans to build the most new nuclear reactors in the world in the wake of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan--but will not halt them

Leaks, burst cooling pipes, faulty controls, misplaced fuel rods and engineers' warnings about design flaws have done little to slow down approvals for continued operation of the nation's aging nuclear plants

The next generation of reactors in the U.S., up for review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are meant to provide cooling even in the absence of power

Exposed fuel pools and low-pressure readings at the Fukushima Daiichi plant suggest growing hazard levels there, raising serious concerns about the course of the crisis

Threats of explosions and dangerously high radiation doses are just some of the risks facing workers trying to avert complete meltdowns at multiple reactors in Japan

Hydrogen and steam explosions pose ongoing risks at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, where three such events have already occurred in the past five days

The U.S. Department of Energy aims to make electricity from the sun cheaper than that from burning coal or natural gas

How can a small federal agency help reinvent how the U.S. produces and uses energy?

Japan's devastating earthquake caused cooling problems at one of the nation's nuclear reactors, and authorities scrambled to prevent a meltdown

Inventing the future of energy may be key to improving U.S. national security, economic prosperity and health

Without the flourishing of science in Muslim lands in the past, the modern world might not have algorithms or algebra

ARPA-e funds potential breakthrough work to make energy-dense batteries that enable long distance travel

New thermal plant uses a greenhouse to make solar steam cheap

With promises to curb CO₂ emissions by 2020, China will need more than blackouts to get there

Is manipulating Earth's environment to combat climate change a good idea--and where, exactly, did the idea come from?

Climate change caused by rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing more extreme rainfall and snowfall--and floods

Four new reactors are under construction in the U.S.--on time and on budget--today

The extinction of bird species in New Zealand--and elsewhere--may be making it more difficult for plants to propagate