Physics
Here’s how we might generate electricity from rain
Water drops produce electricity when dripped through a small tube. That power might be harnessed as renewable energy in rainy places.
Environment
More Stories in Environment
- Environment
Fires in the Amazon forest may melt sea ice in Antarctica
Satellite data reveal a link between the amount of black carbon in the atmosphere and rates of Antarctic sea ice loss in recent years.
- Climate
A lush, green Arabian Desert may have once linked Africa and Asia
Mineral formations in caves reveal recurring periods of humidity in the Arabian Desert over the last 8 million years.
- Earth
The ozone layer shields life on Earth. We’ll soon lose a key way to monitor its health
Imminent loss of NASA's Aura and Canada's SCISAT will severely diminish scientists’ ability to monitor ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere.
- Earth
Wildfires and farm fertilizer use are fueling ozone pollution
Fires and agricultural soils can rival cars and factories in emitting chemicals that lead to ozone, making it hard to meet air quality standards.
- Climate
Some trees are coping with extreme heat surprisingly well
Rising temperatures could reduce trees' ability to photosynthesize. Scientists are trying to figure out just how close we are to that point.
- Animals
How a puffin patrol in Iceland is saving the iconic seabirds
Light pollution disorients young puffins. The Puffling Patrol helps them find their way to the sea.
- Climate
Yes, you can blame climate change for the LA wildfires
Weather data show how humankind’s burning of fossil fuels made the hot, dry, windy weather more likely, setting the stage for the Los Angeles wildfires.
- Earth
Another danger looms after the LA fires: Devastating debris flows
As wildfires burn the landscape, they prime slopes for debris flows: powerful torrents of rock, mud and water that sweep downhill with deadly momentum.
- Climate
Unearthed ice may be the Arctic’s oldest buried glacier remnant
Thanks to climate change, thawing permafrost in the Canadian Arctic has revealed the buried remnant of a glacier that’s 770,000 years old.
