Field: Climate Crisis

Making plants grow on the Moon could be instrumental in helping gardens to grow greener on Earth in the face of climate change.

A tech startup in San Francisco is going to change how the world sees the weather.

Solar is growing fast enough to displace fossil fuels from the entire global economy before 2050, but infrastructure needs to keep up.

Israel’s Brenmiller Energy has opened what is believed to be the first thermal energy storage gigafactory in the world.

There were 16.5 million electric vehicles on the world’s roads in 2020 - this is expected to rise to 300 million by 2030.

Nature-based solutions can be radical — think covering a highway with a park — but offer meaningful ways to address pollution.

The Drake Passage is one of the most turbulent ocean regions on Earth, but exploring it could help scientists understand how carbon sinks.

Tufts University has unveiled a new technique for producing lab-grown fat that could improve the taste and texture of cultured meat.

Engineered nanoparticles could make ocean fertilization a viable weapon in the battle against climate change.

A colorful passive cooling film could help keep homes and cars cool without environmentally destructive air conditioning.

A new material for direct air capture systems turns trapped carbon into baking soda when introduced to seawater.

A newly discovered “zombie virus” was still able to infect hosts more than 48,500 years after it was trapped in Siberian permafrost.

Made from a variety of recycled and repurposed materials, the tire may be perfectly suited for electric vehicles.

Living Carbon is ready to begin planting thousands of GMO trees engineered to pull 27% more carbon from the air.

Thanks to “electrochromism,” a newly developed material can switch between absorbing and reflecting heat from the sun.

New research out of Harvard shows how we could potentially cool the Earth by creating a massive sun shield out of moon dust.

Direct air capture technology is starting to take off, with ever-larger CO2 removal facilities opening across the globe.

Researchers found that extreme temperatures actually have a much larger effect on human activity than the previous estimations.

With ever-improving efficiencies, and rising sales in multiple countries, heat pumps are only getting harder for their detractors to dismiss.

AI technology could transform how growers protect their harvests, by detecting plant diseases very early on.

Tokyo’s municipal government has announced plans to build a high-tech, sustainable city on reclaimed land in its bay area.

UK-based company Biohm uses natural vegetative material like food waste and mushrooms to ‘grow’ insulation panels.

The state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is a great opportunity — but only if it goes far enough.

A new type of room temperature sodium-sulfur (RT Na-S) battery could help solve the renewable energy storage problem.

Rolls-Royce and easyJet have demonstrated for the first time that a modern plane engine can be safely powered by hydrogen fuel.

Each floating garbage bin is capable of capturing 90,000 plastic bags every year for less than $1 a day, just by being in the water.

Notre Dame researchers have used quantum computing to design a transparent window coating that reflects heat into the atmosphere.

Rechargeable cement batteries could allow for whole sections of multi-storey buildings to be made of functional concrete.

A new instrument aboard the International Space Station has been used to identify more than 50 “super-emitters” of methane.

Some governments might try to “geoengineer” the planet by spraying substances into the upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from Earth.

Which is more efficient: running the air conditioning all day long, or turning it off during the day when you’re not there to enjoy it?

The US is developing a plan to study solar geoengineering, a controversial approach to combatting the effects of climate change.

Wind catchers — an ancient technique to beat the heat — could help us once more in our quest for emissions-free cooling.

MIT’s new “passive cooling” system could break the spiral of more air conditioning.

A new, thinner version of the world’s whitest paint could slash the need for climate-harming air conditioning in cars, airplanes, and more.

Flag carrier Air Canada has announced plans to have electric-hybrid planes on regional and commuter routes by 2028.

By storing renewable energy as heat in brick “batteries,” Rondo Energy believes they can decarbonize heavy industry.

Norwegian startup World Wide Wind wants to build offshore wind turbines based on a completely different design from traditional models.

A technology that stores energy underground could make enhanced geothermal systems more cost competitive.

Researchers have created a solar-powered device that can pull water from the air to create hydrogen.

Ensuring food security over the coming century will be a major challenge. A new study suggests that breadfruit may be the answer.

Seawater contains millions of tons of uranium, but it’s too expensive to extract. A new material may change that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The survival of an ancient grove of trees in Yosemite may be a powerful case study for controlled burns.

“I mean, it tastes just like beer, and I like beer.”

A new solar panel design can efficiently convert light into electricity, while still allowing almost 80% of incoming light to pass straight through.

Most U.S. adults aren’t ready to put insects on their plates but are much more willing to consume meat from livestock that are fed bugs.

The massive Anholt Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea is now home to 3D-printed reefs in a bid to boost biodiversity.

The Loop Current, a fueler of monster storms, is looking a lot like it did in 2005, the year of hurricane Katrina.

Flying low above the sea, “seagliders” from Boston-based company REGENT may be cruising Hawaii by 2025.

The world is overcoming the problem of renewable energy storage with batteries made of water, sand, and more.

Walmart has announced a deal to buy a fleet of delivery EVs from Canoo, with a pilot beginning in weeks.

University of Oregon researchers have discovered that simple acts like drawing shades during peak sun and opening windows at night may help save lives during heatwaves.

A raft of “space bubbles” could be used to reverse global warming, according to an MIT group's solar geoengineering proposal.

Entomologist Naoki Yamanaka has an idea for how to handle mosquitoes: What if we just stop them from growing up?

US cities are covering the capped sites of former landfills with solar panels, turning the “brownfields” into “brightfields.”

This marks a historic moment in humanity’s relationship to the planet.

In “micro-urban heat islands,” communities can experience heat wave conditions well before officials declare a heat emergency.

Nimbus is now taking pre-orders for its compact electric vehicle, which splits the difference between scooter and car.

Which countries and rivers emit the most plastic to the ocean? What does this mean for solutions to tackle plastic pollution?

The grand challenge for humanity is to ensure that groundbreaking technologies have a clear purpose for our planet.

Deep ocean currents could be an economically viable source of clean energy, based on a recently wrapped demo in Japan.

Floating panels don’t require costly real estate and those on reservoirs used for hydropower are particularly cost effective.

Algae, fried insects, and exotic lab-grown meat could all be on the menu.

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology say they have developed the world’s most efficient way of urban mining gold

Solar panels and battery storage can generate renewable power when solar energy is at its peak during the day and then release it as needed.

Deep beneath Finland, a “tomb” for nuclear waste is set to be a test for geological disposal facilities.

The U.S. Department of Energy has predicted that renewable energy will be the fastest-growing U.S. energy source through 2050.

If the world's first floating city is a success, other coastal metropolises could use it as a blueprint for adapting to rising sea levels.

A German company will switch on a floating solar power plant, a rapidly-installed, renewable technology that could help phase out oil.

A new method for designing and 3D printing custom artificial coral reefs could make them more accurate stand-ins for the natural kind.

The global tiger population is finally increasing after more than a century of gradual decline, a new study from WWF reveals.

GM has announced plans to bring the Corvette roaring into the electric vehicle market.

French commune Rambouillet is serving as a testing ground for the soft glow of bioluminescent bacteria on the street.

Researchers have resurrected an ancient version of the enzyme Rubisco in the hope of supercharging photosynthesis in today’s plants.

The pledge is an advance market commitment — an economic strategy that's been used to increase vaccine coverage across the planet.

The cutting-edge NACHOS satellite will aid in our fight against climate change and potentially save hundreds of people from gruesome deaths.

Inside vast warehouses, millions of fruits sit and slowly ripen. To help packers know when fruit has got to go, a biotech startup is turning to small sensors.

A lidar instrument on the ISS has been used to create a near-global 3D map of the Earth’s biomass for conservation and climate research.

A new discovery could kickstart efforts to engineer methane-harvesting bacteria, fight greenhouse emissions, and “mine” the air.

Over 75% of the world’s maple syrup production is in Quebec. But with climate change threatening their seasons, West Coast producers are looking to tap in.

Wind turbine blades are notoriously difficult to recycle, but researchers and industry players hope a new material design may change that.

Many industrial chemicals have a large carbon footprint. But scientists have engineered bacteria that ferments carbon dioxide from the air to make industrial chemicals

Kuwait wants to build 25,000 new houses on the site of a former tire graveyard. Here's how they're going to do it.

The Ukraine crisis has highlighted Europe's dependence on Russia for fossil fuels. Is more nuclear energy the solution?

Sound recordings remind us that these beings are invaluable, and that humans have a duty to preserve them.

California’s aging power infrastructure has contributed to catastrophic wildfires and multiday outages. Solar canals can help.

By analyzing the energy within raindrops, researchers found that they could squeeze water from the clouds by electrically supercharging them - another step to control the weather.

The U.S. has thousands of reservoirs that could be paired for pumped hydro storage without the need for rivers.

Can we combine our two best ways to remove CO2 from the air?

Chilean climate experts will attempt to DIY their own glaciers in 2022, in hopes of supplying fresh water through the dry summer months.

A new technology for reducing methane emissions in the atmosphere relies on zeolite, a cheap, abundant clay found in cat litter.