Climate Crisis
Can seaweed save the planet?
A Maine startup is growing vast quantities of seaweed and then burying them at the bottom of the ocean to sequester carbon for carbon offsets.
How tech helped beat back locust swarms in East Africa
Billions of locusts descended on East Africa in 2020, where new technology helped stop their spread.
Autonomous trash-eating boats clean up water pollution
New designs in autonomous boats, and a trash wheel that intercepts drifting trash, act as on-the-water trash-eating machines.
The world's whitest paint can cool your house — and the Earth
The whitest white paint reflects up to 98.1% of sunlight, which could make it useful for cooling homes in place of energy-hogging air conditioners.
Can weather modification save us from megadroughts?
Scientists predict that the western U.S. is entering the most severe "megadrought" on record. One weather modification solution is cloud seeding.
Should we genetically engineer carbon-hungry trees?
Genetically modified trees that are designed to grow faster and store more carbon could help reverse climate change.
Elon Musk offers $100 million for direct carbon capture tech
A new Xprize competition funded by Elon Musk offers $100 million in prizes for scalable direct carbon capture technology.
New findings could help wine survive climate change
Climate change is altering wine making as we know it. Researchers at UC Davis have identified what makes some grapes more resistant to water stress.
Making it rain with “cloud seeding”
China is using cloud seeding to create rain where and when it’s needed. Will it try to use geoengineering to combat climate change next?
CRISPR could help save coral reefs from bleaching
Using CRISPR, scientists have identified a gene that could determine whether coral reefs are highly susceptible to bleaching or not.