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

Nuclear power might not be dead in California

California is considering a $1.4 billion plan to delay the retirement of Diablo Canyon, its last nuclear power plant.

Kristin Houser

Planet Earth

A large solar storm could knock out the power grid and the internet

Typical amounts of solar particles hitting the earth’s magnetosphere can be beautiful, but too much could be catastrophic.

David Wallace

Clean Energy

Gates-backed company is using robots to build mega solar farms

With new capital from a Bill Gates-backed VC firm, Terabase wants to automate solar farm construction.

B. David Zarley

Clean Energy

Next US energy boom could be wind power in the Gulf of Mexico

Wind power on land has seen remarkable growth in the U.S. over the last 15 years, including in Texas. Is offshore wind next?

Hugh Daigle and Michael E. Webber

Animals

Great white sharks occasionally hunt in pairs

Think sharks are always solitary? New research sheds light on social behavior of these mysterious predators.

Yannis Papastamatiou

Animals

AI has mapped all of the world’s known ant species

Using over a million data points and a machine learning algorithm, a team of researchers has mapped all of the ant species currently known.

B. David Zarley

Climate Crisis

Cheap carbon capture tech could filter out CO2 in smokestacks

A new carbon capture technology made from the cheap material melamine could help keep emissions out of the atmosphere.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

5 ways to cope with increasingly intense heatwaves

Heatwaves in Japan and Italy reached record-breaking temperatures in June. How can humans cope with these dangerous conditions?

Kate Whiting

Sustainability

Bill Gates-backed startup is building sustainable ACs

Blue Frontier is developing a new kind of air conditioner that requires 50-90% less electricity than the units we use today.

Kristin Houser

Clean Energy

Swiss team sets new world record for solar power

Swiss researchers have developed two perovskite-on-silicon solar cells that are more efficient than previously thought possible.

Kristin Houser

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