Environment

Atmospheric dust can both cool and warm our planet. A new study shows that this dust could be masking the true impact of greenhouse gasses on climate change, and that a shift in the dust quantity could lead to a warming spike.

Plastics are made to last, which is great while they’re being used but not so great after they’re discarded. Chemists have now developed a new kind of plastic that has all the durability of regular plastic, but biodegrades within months or even days.

The green economy desperately needs huge quantities of battery metals, and they're sitting right there on the deep ocean floor. Here's a device designed to harvest them with the minimum possible impact to one of the world's last untouched ecosystems.

Striking new research suggests the lifespan of honey bees kept in controlled laboratory conditions is 50% shorter than what was seen in the 1970s. The researchers hypothesize genetic changes in bees may be responsible for the shorter lifespans.

The seafloor is rich in valuable metals, but gathering them is disruptive to the environment. An international project has now tested a system called Apollo 2, which can vacuum up metal nodules without kicking up sediment.

Around 66 million years ago a huge asteroid slammed into Earth and wiped out most life. Two new studies have identified evidence that the impact triggered global tsunamis almost a mile high and mega-earthquakes that rumbled for months afterwards.

Engineers at the University of Washington have designed a reactor that can completely destroy PFAS forever chemicals. The technology could help treat chemicals at manufacturing sites before they can leak out into the natural environment.

The world's second-largest cryptocurrency is poised on the brink of a transformational overhaul. Within hours, "the merge" will happen, and the Ethereum network will eliminate 99.95% of its monstrous ~78 terawatt-hours per year energy consumption.

Engineers at UIC have developed a device that can efficiently convert captured carbon dioxide into ethylene, a plastic precursor material. When run using renewable energy, the technique could make for net negative emissions in plastic production.

A new study is the first to investigate the links between air pollution and a baby’s gut microbiome. The research found exposure to air pollution in the first six months of life is associated with a microbiome composition linked to inflammatory disease.

After the summer so many of us have just sweltered through, we need better ways to cool buildings. Researchers have now spruced up the humble window with hydrogel-glass, which can selectively block heat from the Sun without blocking its light.

Tiny fragments of plastic are now strewn across the entire globe and are beginning to show up in different parts of the human body. But what are the health risks associated with ingesting and inhaling this now omnipresent synthetic material?