New Atlas

Environment Audio available

Huge ancient ice wall across the Bering Strait may have triggered Ice Age

Michael Irving December 20, 2018

Most climate change events can be linked to specific causes, but the cause of the last major shift, which occurred about a million years ago, has remained a mystery. By taking samples from the ocean floor of the Bering Sea, a new study may have uncovered the mechanism behind this outlier event.

A new study suggests the last ice age was caused by an ice wall across the ...

Environment Audio available

White House quietly releases a comprehensive climate assessment report – and it's not good news

Michael Irving November 25, 2018

The Fourth National Climate Assessment report has been published. Based on decades of environmental research by scientists from 13 federal agencies, the report outlines the findings of ongoing climate studies, their impact and what we should be doing about it.

The Fourth National Climate Assessment report has been published, and the results are worrying

Environment Audio available

New straw is reusable, "chewable" and spin-dryable

Michael Irving November 15, 2018

The drinking straw seems pretty simple and unassuming, but it’s contributing to one of the most pressing environmental problems today. To help cut back on that, a start-up in Singapore is getting ready to launch the Chew, a reusable straw with a “chewable” rubber tip and a spin-dry mechanism.

The Chew straw is a reusable straw with a silicone "chewable" tip

Environment

The seafloor is dissolving, thanks to human activity

Michael Irving November 6, 2018

As the seas get warmer and more acidic, all kinds of havoc is wrought, and now a new study has identified yet another symptom. Researchers at Princeton and McGill Universities have found that the seafloor is beginning to dissolve as a result of human activity.

A new study has found that human activity is dissolving the seafloor

Environment Audio available

New study finds oceans are warming up much faster than previously thought

Michael Irving November 5, 2018

The oceans are heating up at an alarming rate, and it turns out that the problem may be worse than we initially thought. A new study has used a more accurate technique to measure the rate of ocean warming, and found that it could be 60 percent higher than the current worst-case scenario suggests.

A new study has found that the rate of ocean warming as a result of climate ...

Environment

NASA study uncovers three factors responsible for Earth's irregular spin

Michael Irving September 20, 2018

The Earth’s spin naturally drifts on its axis over time, and that’s generally chalked up to the way mass is distributed and redistributed across the planet’s surface. Now, NASA scientists studying data gathered across the entire 20th century have identified three broad processes that play a part.

A NASA study has found three main factors contributed to a shift in the Earth's axis ...

Environment Audio available

Carlsberg crafts new six-pack holders to cut plastic waste

Michael Irving September 10, 2018

The Ocean Cleanup barge is currently on its way to tackle the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but it never hurts to find ways to reduce plastic before it gets into the sea. In that vein, Danish beermaker Carlsberg has announced the Snap Pack, a simple alternative to plastic six-pack rings.

Danish beermaker Carlsberg's six-packs will now be glued together as the Snap Pack

Digital Cameras

Stark and stunning images from the 2018 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition

Michael Irving August 24, 2018

The winners of the 2018 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year have been crowned. Designed to celebrate the natural beauty of Australia and surrounding regions, the competition includes some stunning shots of animals and stark reminders of the impact humans are having on the world.

Animal portrait runner-up: Luminous, Bluebottle (Physalia utriculus), by Matty Smith – an eerie image of a ...

Robotics Audio available

Autonomous underwater robot hunts and harvests massively invasive lionfish

David Szondy August 24, 2018

Students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are helping to combat a major environmental threat by designing an autonomous underwater robot that can hunt for invasive lionfish without the need for a human operator.

Lionfish are a destructive invasive species on many parts of the Caribbean and west Atlantic coasts

Environment

QUT deploys high-tech "message in a bottle" to fight floods and pollution in river systems

Matt Kennedy July 23, 2018

It may look like a discarded piece of plumbing or a message in a bottle bobbing about aimlessly in the river, but Queensland University of Technology's humble "Drifter" hides some serious kit with a lifesaving mission for flood-prone regions.

A Drifter device, about to be deployed in a Brisbane river