By Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica Potential funding cuts for NOAA and its research partners threaten irreparable harm not only to climate research but to American safety, competitiveness, and national security. Over the past two months, the Trump administration has taken steps to eliminate regulations addressing climate change, pull back funding for …
Lawmakers propose revolutionary use for old oil wells — here’s what it could mean for the energy sector
By Kritiksha Sharma, The Cool Down The proposal would tackle two big problems. Photo Credit: iStock A new bill in New Mexico is flipping the script on a long-standing major environmental challenge — and transforming it into an opportunity for clean energy development. House Bill 361, introduced by Rep. Andrea …
Trump Official Says It’s Okay to Destroy Endangered Species Because We Can Just Clone Them
Futurism “The Endangered Species List has become like the Hotel California: once a species enters, they never leave.” A Trump official is coming after the real menace plaguing America: those gosh-darn freeloaders moping around the endangered species list. On Monday, interior secretary Doug Burgum suggested that the list, which is maintained …
Dire wolves might sound cool, but they do nothing to fix our biodiversity problem
By Brian Kateman, Fast Company Through gene editing, scientists at Colossal Biosciences are reviving long-extinct animals. But is it really for the sake of conservation, or just human curiosity? [Photos: Colossal Biosciences, Shelby Tauber for The Washington Post/Getty Images] Earlier this week, Time published an explosive story about an American company that reportedly revived …
Bacteria might eat the next chair you buy
By Diana Budds, Fast Company Heller produces high-end plastic furniture for the likes of Frank Gehry and the Vignellis. Now it’s making sure those pieces don’t last forever. [Image: courtesy Heller] When plastic entered the design world in the 20th century, it was hailed as a wonder material—something strong, durable, …
Scientists make discovery that could transform Florida’s coastline: ‘We will continue to support projects’
By Andrew Haffner, The Cool Down This discovery could mean a lot for Florida, which has nearly 75% of its population residing in coastal counties. Photo Credit: iStock A new study published in the scientific journal Communications Earth & Environment has outlined an increasingly vital way that coral reef restoration could protect Florida’s storm-battered …
Ancient beaches testify to long-ago ocean on Mars
Phys.Org A hypothetical picture of Mars 3.6 billion years ago, when an ocean may have covered nearly half the planet. The blue areas show the depth of the ocean filled to the shoreline level of the ancient, now-gone sea, dubbed Deuteronilus. The orange star represents the landing site of the …
Scientists in Hawaii are training ‘hungry’ marine fungi to eat ocean plastics
By Jen Marsden, Euro News Copyright Syrena Whitner/University of Hawaii Researchers are training ‘mighty’ marine fungi to quickly eat polyurethane, one of our most common plastics. In a world that relies on plastic, the time it takes to break down is a major problem. But scientists at the University of …
This Startup Aims to Restore the Ocean’s Power to Store Carbon
By Scarlett Buckley, Sustainable Brands The startup’s ‘AI-optimized CDR’ approach is designed to re-create the optimal conditions for phytoplankton to play their part in oceanic carbon sequestration, with a goal to sequester 1Gt of CO? annually by 2030. The ocean is the most efficient carbon dioxide-removal (CDR) and -storage system we have, absorbing around 30 …
How Biomimicry Continues to Optimize Air Travel
Sustainable Brands A ‘sharkskin’ coating is the latest nature-inspired innovation helping reduce aircraft fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, by reducing frictional resistance. Industry efforts to improve the sustainability of air travel include everything from fuel-saving behavioral interventions for pilots and rethinking emissions-adding frequent-flyer programs to innovations around sustainable aviation fuels and carbon-labeled travel. But biomimicry, the study of natural design …