Environment

While battery-electric ferry boats may be more eco-friendly and require less maintenance than their diesel-burning counterparts, they're still not perfect. That's why scientists are now looking into powering small ferries using nothing but compressed air.

A 3,775-year-old log discovery has lent credence to the idea of burying wood to sequester the carbon it contains. Known as a wood vault, the concept helps keep CO2 out of the atmosphere while allowing the soil to be used for crops and other purposes.

Thor and the Hulk may be more closely related than we thought. Thunderstorms are known to produce gamma rays in the atmosphere, but a new study has found that not only do they happen way more often than we realized, but they’re much weirder.

A new type of carbon-neutral concrete has been commercially used for the first time, in a skyscraper being built in Manhattan. The binder utilized in the concrete is made of granite instead of traditional greenhouse-gas-emitting limestone cement.

A technique originally developed to combat acid rain has the potential to pull an enormous amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – while helping to deacidify oceans, restore rivers and boost biodiversity and fish populations.

In case you haven't heard, the methane in cow burps is a major source of greenhouse gases. There may be a new way of addressing that problem, however, as a recent study shows that feeding cows clay reduces their methane emissions by over 30%.

The Ocean Cleanup (TOC) project has announced the timeline and cost it would take to get the Great Pacific Garbage Patch cleaned up once and for all, using existing technology – 10 years and 7.5 billion US dollars. And it could be even cheaper.

Scientists have recently warned that polar ice cap melt due to climate change might just be one of our concerns as megatsunami waves can give 330-ft-plus (100-m-plus) rise to the ocean in a matter of minutes.

Proposed methods of removing toxic ‘forever chemicals’ from water have either only trapped the chemicals or broken them down. A new study has demonstrated a method that does both effectively. And it's quick and cheap.

Although wind turbines generate electricity via an eco-friendly process, their blades end up in landfills once they wear out. That could change, however, thanks to a resin that would allow old blades to be broken down and recycled into new ones.

Scientists have developed a new method for removing toxic “forever chemicals” from wastewater. 3D-printed ceramic lattices can remove up to 75% of PFAS from polluted water in three hours – and the structures get better at their job as they’re reused.

"We can feed black soldier flies straight, dirty trash," says a team that's working to turn insects into landfill-clearing biomanufacturing machines that turn regular, dangerous or contaminated garbage into a range of high-value products.

Scientists in Japan have developed a new method for breaking down toxic “forever chemicals” quickly and at room temperature. The technique broke down 100% of certain types of these pollutants overnight, recovering some useful components for reuse.

Earth saw its hottest day on record this week – twice. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service data, Sunday claimed the top spot for highest global average temperature since the records began in 1940, only to be broken again on Monday.

Artificial-turf sports fields may be more durable than those covered in grass, but they also get very hot during warm weather. Scientists have devised a method of cooling them – and the cities they're in – using rainwater stored beneath the turf.