Ants: Under-Appreciated Recyclers
A trip to Manhattan is hardly complete without patronizing a food cart. Every day, residents and tourists bustle through the streets eating pretzels and hot dogs. Breakfast is also often consumed in the streets, with workers juggling takeout coffee with their bagels. This activity results in one of the world’s busiest kitchen floors – food crumbs continuously accumulate on the city’s sidewalks and green spaces.
Can Organic Crops Be Competitive?
More and more people want to buy organic produce for a number of reasons. There are valid concerns about pesticides, chemical fertilizers, GMO crops, and even the nutritional content in conventional agriculture. Organic farming offers an environmentally sustainable alternative to chemically intensive agriculture. On the other hand, there is a pervasive perception that organic farming simply cannot produce enough food to satisfy the world’s growing appetite.
Strontium And Drinking Water
Thanks to the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, every five years the Environmental Protection Agency identifies new contaminants in our drinking water supply and determines if they should be regulated. This year, of the handful of contaminants assessed, the EPA made a preliminary determination to regulate strontium.
A Waste-Fueled Bus
The Bath Bus Company in Great Britain recently introduced into its fleet a bus powered by human and food waste. The 40-seater Bio-Bus runs on gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste. This fuel is both renewable and sustainable and the new bus helps to improve urban air quality because it produces fewer emissions than traditional diesel engines.
The Murky Hudson
Visitors to New York’s Hudson River often comment on how “dirty” or murky its water appears. This murkiness is often taken as a sign of poor water quality. Why does the river look so muddy? And what does it mean?
The Circular Economy
In the traditional linear economy, products are made from raw materials and ultimately everything – the byproduct waste and the products themselves – ends up in the scrap heap. In contrast, an emerging concept is the circular economy in which products are made from recycled materials and end up being recycled themselves.
Turning Farms Into Deserts
By now, we all know too much salt is bad for our health. But did you know excess salt also threatens global food security? According to a new report by the United Nations, 20% of irrigated farmland worldwide suffers from escalating salt levels. Losses in crop productivity are estimated to cost 27 billion dollars annually.
Sustainable New Year’s Resolutions
With the holiday season behind us, it’s a great time to reflect on the past twelve months and set new goals for the coming year. Sure, there are tried and true New Year’s resolutions – join a gym, read the classics – but what about a resolution to be kinder to the Earth?
Toilet-to-Tap: It’s A Good Thing
California, which is the number one food and agricultural producer in the United States, is in the third year of one of the state’s worst droughts in a century. This has led to an increase in wildfires, losses in agriculture, and water restrictions and shortages. Some small communities even run the risk of running out of water.
A Solar Bike Path
Solar panels are an increasingly common sight on rooftops and also in standalone ground arrays. But people are starting to embrace the idea of incorporating solar power into other elements of existing infrastructure.
Climate Change And Airplanes
Climate change could have a major impact on future air travel. According to a new study published in the American Meteorological Society Journal, researchers suggest warmer global temperatures will make it harder for airplanes to take off. This could either limit how much luggage or how many people can board an airplane in the future.
Nanoscale Batteries
Electric vehicles and renewable energy are widely thought to be essential in combating climate change. Both desperately need better and cheaper batteries if they are to achieve truly widespread use.
Big Plans For Better Batteries
The government has established goals for the next decade to produce a quarter of the country’s electricity from solar and wind power and to have a million all-electric vehicles on the road. If these goals are to be met, we will need cheaper batteries with higher energy density and faster charging time.
A Tale Of Syrup And Seeds
For decades, maple syrup producers have looked to the weather to gauge sap yields. But new research reveals a more valuable prediction tool: the number of seed helicopters that rained down from sugar maple trees in the fall.
Geoengineering: Not A Quick Fix
Geoengineering – the deliberate, large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climate system – is the subject of continuing speculation by researchers from many disciplines. The notion is that if our efforts to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions are too little or too late, we may have to try to change the climate deliberately.
Using Less Water
According a new report from the US Geological Survey, water use across the country has reached its lowest level in 45 years. This reflects positive trends in conservation achieved by improved water-use technologies and water management.
A Boom In Energy Storage
Wind and solar power are growing by leaps and bounds. Both are playing an increasingly large role in the electricity grid. But as their roles increase, so does a troublesome vulnerability: utilities cannot control when the sun shines or the wind blows. So how can we become dependent on wind and solar power?
An App Called i-Tree
There are computerized applications for just about everything – from tracking our finances to planting a vegetable garden. So it should come as no surprise that there are even apps that aid in the conservation, management, and understanding of urban forests.
Dangerous Air Near Oil And Gas Sites
