Sustainability
- Environment
Air pollution takes a toll on solar energy
Dust and other tiny air pollutants can reduce solar energy output by as much as 25 percent in parts of the world.
- Materials Science
Perovskites power up the solar industry
Perovskites are the latest hot materials in solar energy production.
- Environment
‘Fossil’ groundwater is not immune to modern-day pollution
Ancient groundwater that is thousands of years old is still susceptible to modern pollution, new research suggests.
- Chemistry
New tech harvests drinking water from (relatively) dry air using only sunlight
A prototype device harvests moisture from dry air and separates it into drinkable water using only sunlight.
- Chemistry
New, greener catalysts are built for speed
Researchers are designing catalysts to move chemical reactions without using precious metals, or at least using less of them.
- Environment
New desalination tech could help quench global thirst
Designed with better, more energy-efficient materials, next-generation desalination plants may offer a way to meet the world’s growing need for freshwater.
- Oceans
50 years ago, humans could pick the oceans clean
Scientists have long recognized that we might overfish the oceans. Despite quotas, some species are paying the price of human appetite.
- Earth
Ocean’s plastics offer a floating fortress to a mess of microbes
Microbes take up residence on ocean plastics, potentially causing changes in ocean environments.
- Agriculture
Just adding pollinators could boost small-farm yields
Adding pollinators could start closing gap in yields for small farms.
- Earth
Humankind’s water use greater than thought
Humans’ global water footprint increases when accounting for water losses from water management practices.
- Oceans
Rising temperatures complicate efforts to manage cod fishery
Higher water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine could play a role in Atlantic cod crashes.
- Life
Alison Jolly’s last book chronicles efforts to save lemurs
In ‘Thank You, Madagascar,’ primatologist Alison Jolly, who spent decades studying lemurs, provides an insider’s account of the struggles that conservationists face.
