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

Clean Energy

Water from abandoned coal mines can make zero-carbon energy

A wine-bottling company in Britian is tapping into the large heat source from the mine water in the tunnels below their warehouses.

Teresa Carey

Climate Crisis

Study shows how trees and shade can cool the urban heat island

A new study measures precisely which shade is the best at cooling cities and where we need it most.

Teresa Carey

Robotics

This beach-cleaning robot is a Roomba for sand

An all-electric, beach-cleaning robot called BeBot can sift through sand to extract pieces of debris too small for traditional systems.

Kristin Houser

Engineering

How scientists turn food scraps into strong building materials

Researchers are using discarded food scraps to create a concrete substitute. It reduces food waste, and the material is edible and sweet.

Teresa Carey

Clean Energy

Will power plants move into the cloud?

A Colorado community has become a test subject for a new approach to the power grid, called a "virtual power plant" — 27 networked smart homes, with one key feature: a common brain that, in times of crisis, can autonomously optimize energy across the neighborhood.

Teresa Carey

Climate Crisis

“Mirrored” fabric may be de rigueur for a warming world

Inspired by the rising temperatures of climate change, researchers have developed mirrored cooling fabric.

B. David Zarley

Biology

The world’s first lab-grown coral could help save the ocean reefs

Researchers have figured out how to keep sea anemone and coral cells alive in the lab. This new type of coral garden could help research from evolutionary biology to human health.

Teresa Carey

Biology

A bison bridge could bring herds over the Mississippi

The proposed Bison Bridge would be the world's longest wildlife bridge, providing safe passage for the animals over the Mississippi River.

Teresa Carey

Ecosystems

Hemp plants pull toxic “forever chemicals” from soil

To rid an indigenous tribe’s land of toxic forever chemicals, scientists are having hemp plants pull the contaminants straight from the soil.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

Watching the moon’s “wobble” may help prevent flooding on Earth

A new NASA study predicts record flooding in the 2030s due to a combination of rising sea levels and a “wobble” in the moon’s orbit around Earth.

Kristin Houser

Sections

Video

Freethink

We focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.