News

Earth Elements Exhausted By 2017

Ramped-up production of flat-panel displays means the material to make them will be 'extinct' by 2017.

Earth's Biosphere Booming

Scientists Surprised to Find Earth's Biosphere Booming

500 Million plastic bags a year

A Waterloo teenager has found a way to make plastic bags degrade faster -- in three months, he thinks.

Rapid ocean acidification

Currently, it is estimated that the ocean is uptaking nearly one-third of all human-produced CO2, which is slowly lowering its overall pH.

Laser Triggers Lightning

European researchers using a high-power laser deliberately triggered electrical activity in two passing thunderstorms.

Climate change to impact Beer

The price of beer in and around Australia is going to be under increasing upward pressure.

Weather Engineering in China

How the Chinese plan to modify the weather in Beijing during the Olympics, using supercomputers and artillery.

Large Hadron Collider Sparks Doomsday Lawsuit

The builders of the world's biggest particle collider are being sued in federal court over fears that the experiment might create black holes or never-before-seen strains of matter.

Earth 2050: Population Unknowable?

How many people will inhabit the planet before population growth levels off? The figure most commonly used is 9 billion by 2050, up from 6.7 billion today. There were only 1 billion humans in 1830.

Drugs in Drinking Water

Investigation on the vast array of pharmaceuticals present in US drinking water.

NASA Running Out of Plutonium

The U.S. hasn't produced plutonium since 1988, instead preferring to purchase it from Russia.

Alaskan Village Sues Over Global Warming

A small Alaskan village has sued two dozen oil, power, and coal companies, blaming them for contributing to global warming.

Lamp lit by Gravity Wins Greener Award

A lamp powered by gravity has won the second prize at the Greener Gadgets Conference in NYC.

Biofuels make greenhouse gases worse, scientists say

Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse-gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these "green" fuels are taken into account, two studies published have concluded.

Environmentalists Coming Around to Nuclear Power?

Patrick Moore, a founder of Greenpeace, now says he was wrong about opposing nuclear power 30 years ago. In the article he addresses common myths about nuclear power, and puts forth the position that nuclear power is the only feasible, affordable power source that can solve today's growing environmental and energy policy issues.