Environment
Environmental science may be the most important area of study in the 21st century. Refractor is dedicated in its focus on keeping you up to date with honest and accurate coverage of the latest in this field.
Top News
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For nearly a century, a strange band of 5,200 holes carved into a hillside has defied explanation. Stretching for nearly a mile along the edge of the Pisco Valley, Monte Serpe – "serpent mountain" – may have finally revealed its secrets to scientists. -
High on sheer cliffs in China, ancient coffins are wedged into rock faces hundreds of feet above the ground. These dramatic burials, now re-examined using ancient DNA, point to a broader practice where disparate cultures all had their own "sky graves." -
A new video takes you inside Dyson's impressive vertical farming operation, which is home to 1,225,000 strawberry plants and shows you how the company is applying its manufacturing knowledge to producing homegrown food for British consumers.
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Latest News
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February 25, 2026 | Abhimanyu GhoshalAmong the many problems posed by the rapid proliferation of data centers is the strain on local water supplies. Google says it's building a better data center that won't require water to keep its servers and computing equipment cool. -
February 24, 2026 | Michael FrancoOil spills in oceans can spell disaster for ecosystems, but options for mitigating them are limited and can come with their own environmental challenges. A new "fire tornado" from Texas A&M University might soon be able to come to the rescue. -
January 31, 2026 | Maryna HolovnovaNowadays, wood is rapidly becoming a valuable material in the renewable tech industry, replacing many harmful materials. Recent research shows that wood-derived compounds can serve as an alternative to the toxic chemicals used in paper receipts. -
January 30, 2026 | David SzondyOkay, CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) might have uncovered the Higgs boson and helped redefine our concept of physical reality, but what has it done for us lately? How about a side hustle heating several thousand homes in the neighborhood? -
January 23, 2026 | Shirl LeighOmega-3 fatty acids sourced from wild-caught fish stocks are valued for their studied health benefits, but this has resulted in a reduction in fish stocks. A Scottish firm is working on a solution, in the form of omega-3s made from whisky waste. -
January 22, 2026 | Chelsea HaneyThe first ever study to document a direct relationship between earthquake activity at the bottom of the ocean and phytoplankton growth at the surface changes the way scientists in the future will model ecosystems. -
January 21, 2026 | Ben CoxworthIt's a sad fact that antibiotics are constantly entering the environment through the wastewater stream. There could soon be a cheap new way of removing those antibiotics from the water, however, using plentiful pine bark. -
January 08, 2026 | Bronwyn ThompsonTwo billion years before we made history and split the atom, the Earth had already accomplished it and was running its own nuclear reactors. And they operated for hundreds of thousands of years, as the first signs of multicellular life emerged. -
January 07, 2026 | Michael FrancoIn northwestern Greenland, researchers working on the GreenDrill project have cored through a 500-meter-thick ice dome. They found something startling: the dome completely disappeared 7,000 years ago. And it might do it again. -
January 03, 2026 | Bronwyn ThompsonIn 1995, divers first noticed a group of bizarre sandy "crop circles" on the seabed near southwest Japan. But it took decades for scientists to identify the marine artists behind them – and why they were building such geometrically precise structures. -
December 29, 2025 | Malcolm AzaniaExtremophilic Tidestromia oblongifolia alters its own photosynthesis to thrive in heat that would kill most plants. By reorganizing its cells and reshaping its chloroplasts to keep producing energy, is it the future of GMO crops in climate chaos? -
December 28, 2025 | Malcolm AzaniaHuman-woven "beaver dams" do more than store water. They help waterways recover from climate alteration, lower water temperatures, enhance flood plain connections prevent wildfire spread, and generate increased biodiversity. -
December 24, 2025 | Bronwyn ThompsonIf you're chionoandrophobic, we recommend looking away now. Standing 62 ft tall, 46 ft long and 36 ft wide, 2025's largest snowman has been erected in China. The smiling icy monster required 124,000 cubic feet of snow, and has become an instant hit. -
December 23, 2025 | Michael FrancoSince 2011, scientists have been puzzled about the force resulting from a gigantic earthquake and tsunami that destroyed, among other things, Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant. Now, a Guinness World Record drilling expedition has solved the puzzle. -
December 18, 2025 | Ben CoxworthThe tons of discarded mussel shells generated by the seafood industry may be organic, but they're still very slow to biodegrade in landfills. They may soon find new life, however, sandblasting jeans in the textile industry.
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