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

When AC and cool showers aren't enough, this app finds the shady streets to walk

Cool Walks, a new app from a public agency in Barcelona, is unique in that it allows users to choose the shadiest path to their destination.

Teresa Carey

Disaster Response

Goats are helping California battle wildfires

By having goats eat the dry vegetation that fuels wildfires, Californians can prevent the blazes from spreading into populated areas.

Kristin Houser

Engineering

Oxford study: Move copper mining to dormant volcanoes

A more sustainable approach to copper mining may be digging wells under dormant volcanoes to suck out the metal-containing fluids below them.

Kristin Houser

Animals

Should a herd of captive elephants be released into the wild?

Animal conservationists plan to attempt the largest elephant rewilding ever, flying an entire herd from a U.K. zoo to Kenya to be released.

Kristin Houser

Sustainability

Returning old clothes to the earth can help cotton grow again

An Australian cotton industry trade group aims to return used cotton cloth to the soil to help new cotton grow.

Teresa Carey

Climate Crisis

To find leaking methane, ready the satellites

Researchers are using methane-hunting satellites to sniff out the potent greenhouse gas, helping to reduce methane emissions.

Teresa Carey

Ecosystems

Scientists map the DNA from that strange pink snow

A group of European researchers have hiked the Alps to look into the phenomenon of pink snow. They have now sequenced the DNA from the algae that is the hallmark of the rosey color.

Teresa Carey

Clean Energy

Goodbye AC: This new roofing material keeps houses cool

A scientist has invented “cooling paper” — a material that reflects the sun's rays off rooftops and even absorbs heat from homes and buildings. And it is made from recyclable paper.

Teresa Carey

Planet Earth

E. coli turns plastic waste into vanillin

Scientists have engineered E. coli bacteria to convert plastic waste into vanillin, an in-demand compound used in vanilla flavoring and more.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

Green sand beaches could erase carbon emissions

By spreading green sand all over a Caribbean beach, Project Vesta hopes to pull tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and lock it away for eons.

Teresa Carey

Sections

Video

Freethink

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