Environment

Environment

Fossil fuels appear to release far more methane than we thought

Ice cores reveal less methane than expected. This suggests today’s fossil fuel industry is responsible for nearly all of the methane emissions from natural sources today.

Science & Society

CO₂ emissions have nosedived as COVID-19 keeps people home

The COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel that can pollute the air. By April, travel-related daily emissions of greenhouse gases was back to 2006 levels.

Environment

Pesticides can have long-term impact on bumblebee learning

Pesticide-laced nectar and pollen can permanently harm the brains of baby bumblebees.

Materials Science

This ‘living’ concrete slurps up a greenhouse gas

Microbes help harden a mix of sand and gelatin into a living concrete that could interact with people and the environment in great new ways.

Physics

Explainer: Rainbows, fogbows and their eerie cousins

Light shining through a water droplet can make more than just a rainbow. A range of other colorful arcs also can develop.

Health & Medicine

How to find the next pandemic virus before it finds us

Wild animals carry viruses that can sicken people. Monitoring those viral hosts that pose the greatest risk might help prevent a new pandemic.

Climate

How to curb the climate heating by contrails

Contrails are narrow clouds left behind in the sky by jets. They add to climate change. But a new study suggests a way to curb their contribution.

Tech

Here’s one way to harvest water right out of the air

Need water but you have no access to rain, lakes or groundwater? Materials known as metal-organic frameworks could be used to slurp that water from the air, new data show.

Plants

Let’s learn about trees

These long-lived woody plants provide shade for people, homes for animals — and help protect the planet against climate change.

Environment

Legos could last a disturbingly long time in the ocean

By looking at toys washed up on beaches, scientists have estimated how long it takes hard plastics to break down in the oceans. And it’s a long time.

Environment

Laundry tweaks can help clothes last longer and pollute less

Clothes washed in cooler water and for less time shed less dye and fewer fibers, a new study finds. That’s better for clothes — and the environment.

Environment

Greener than burial? Turning human bodies into worm food

Composting human bodies yielded good results — and good soil — in one small study. It could become an alternative to burial or cremation in one state.