Energy

an overhead shot of land split in three. the left side is dry and dusty. the middle has some vegetation, and the right side has a lot.

Desertification is destroying fertile land. Here’s how we’re fighting it.

a female presenting person in a lab coat holding a solar cell

New “tandem” solar cell breaks world record

A new tandem solar cell containing layers of silicon and perovskite has demonstrated an unprecedented efficiency of 33.7%.

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

These 4 charts show the unstoppable growth of solar

Solar is growing fast enough to displace fossil fuels from the entire global economy before 2050, but infrastructure needs to keep up.

Andrew Blakers

Climate Crisis

Saving the ozone layer avoided 2.5 degrees of global warming

A new study shows that banning CFCs in the 80s also protected the depleting ozone layer and reduced the rate of global warming.

Teresa Carey

Agriculture

These farmers want to salt the earth — and grow crops in it

As salt encroaches on productive agricultural land, a handful of startups are finding ways to make crops grow in seawater with genetic modification and transforming solar saltwork.

Teresa Carey

Oceans

Robot penguins are exploring mysterious ocean currents

In an effort to study mysterious ocean eddies, an oceanographer teamed up with a bionics company to build an AUV inspired by penguins.

Kristin Houser

Biology

The bold plan to bring back the American chestnut

Researchers plant a small experimental orchard of hundreds of transgenic American chestnut trees near the coast of Maine, to restore the species.

Teresa Carey

Biology

Scientists are vacuuming DNA from the air to study biodiversity

Researchers have proven that the atmosphere contains measurable amounts of eDNA, and they can vacuum it from the sky.

Teresa Carey

Animals

Farmers in England begin massive DIY “rewilding” effort

Farmers in East Anglia are organizing what may be England’s largest rewilding project.

Teresa Carey

Startups

A startup is stuffing teddy bears with recycled cigarette butts

Indian startup CODE Effort has developed a process for recycling cigarette butts, the world’s most littered objects.

Kristin Houser

Oceans

Emergency sea otters needed to save California’s kelp forests

A conservationist suggests relocating sea otters to Northern California to eat the sea urchins destroying the coast’s vital kelp forests.

Kristin Houser

Genetics

Tree DNA convicts a poacher for the first time in federal court

Tree DNA from a stump found after the 2018 Maple Fire was used to convit a poacher, for the first time in federal court.

Teresa Carey

Virology

Ancient frozen viruses hold clues to life and climate

Using new techniques, researchers at Ohio State have identified ancient viruses we’ve never seen before.

B. David Zarley

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