Stories by David Biello

IPCC Errors Prompt a Review on Climate Science Data

BPA a "chemical of concern"--EPA makes it official

First U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson warned in September 2009 that reform of chemical regulations was coming and that bisphenol A, or BPA—a building block of many plastics—was among those that might be due for enhanced scrutiny...

What the Frack? Natural Gas from Subterranean Shale Promises U.S. Energy Independence--With Environmental Costs [Slide Show]

Natural gas cracked out of shale deposits may mean the U.S. has a stable supply for a century--but at what cost to the environment and human health?

Is there any way to stop a subway bombing?

Killing commuters with bombs has to be one of the most cowardly (and dastardly) forms of terrorism. And that's exactly what happened in Moscow earlier today, as suicide bombers from Chechnya detonated themselves as trains pulled into the Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations...

Climate Change Imperils the State of the Planet--Will the World Act?

Efforts to combat climate change continue to grow. But are they big enough? Or fast enough?

Can Climate Models Predict Global Warming's Direct Effects in Your City?

The U.S. government is launching a $50-million effort to enable supercomputer-powered climate models to deliver regional impacts

Volcanoes killed with global warming, 200 million years ago

When Pangaea finally broke up, some 200 million years ago, the result was a lot of heat. Specifically, volcanism, as enormous flows of basalt burst to the surface, ultimately covering more than nine million square kilometers...

Can Smiley Faces (and a 14-Step Program to Stop Overconsumption) Save the Global Climate?

When rational appeals fall short, environmentalists enlist social and economic incentives--and even neuroscience--to get the public in on national efforts to combat climate change

IPCC Errors Prompt Review by International Science Academies

Is there a better way to compile and review climate science?

Sunshine is free, so can photovoltaics be cheap?

Here's how to make a solar cell from silicon: take one solid block of doped silicon, saw it into thin wafers, layer said semiconductors beneath a panel of transparent glass, connect them to a metal electrode that can channel away the electrons knocked loose by incoming photons and turn it into a photovoltaic device...

Smokestash Industry: ARPA-E Seeks Breakthroughs in Carbon Capture Technology

Humans can capture and release CO2 efficiently, so why can't power plants?

Can solid-oxide fuel cells like the Bloom box remake the energy landscape?

The fuel cell has a long history. Various types of fuel cells have been part of the NASA space program, and the basic science of how fuel cells work—an energy carrier comes in, creates a flow of charge in the anode, which migrates to the cathode creating a current, and separated by some form of electrolyte—has been known for more than a century...

A need for new nukes? "Modular reactors" for energy attract interest

The entire budget of the U.S. Department of Energy branch that covers today's energy mix—from cleaning up energy generation's environmental aftermath to energy efficiency programs and renewable energy development—is $10 billion...

Shift happens: Will artificial photosynthesis power the world?

One drinking-water bottle could provide enough energy for an entire household in the developing world if Dan Nocera has his way. A chemist from M.I.T.

Is ARPA-E Enough to Keep the U.S. on the Cutting-Edge of a Clean Energy Revolution?

ARPA-E, the U.S.'s energy transformation agency, is doling out funds for greener power, but is it too conservative?

A Common Herbicide Turns Some Male Frogs into Females

One of the mostly widely used weed killers, atrazine, may be disrupting male frogs' sexual development--even reversing it

Biofuel from Bacteria

E. coli turned into cellulose-chomping biodiesel refineries

Higher Watermarks

Ice-age sea-level rise brings up questions about glacier melting

Can greener gadgets save us from e-waste?

One laptop per child seems a simple slogan, chock full of benefit. What could go wrong when you put the power of the Internet and solar cells into the hands of children in the developing world?...

Where Will the U.S. Get Its Electricity in 2034?

Renewables and natural gas may dominate the generation of electricity during the next three decades