Environment

Meet ART: The Amphibious Robotic Turtle With Limbs That Morph Into Flippers

A team at Yale University took inspiration from turtles and tortoises to develop an innovative amphibious robot that can walk on land and swim — and could potentially help researchers monitor ocean ecosystems. Called ART, or Amphibious Robotic Turtle, it’s a shape-shifting robot with legs that can morph into flippers once introduced to water, a […]

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The Tegel Projekt: Berlin to Transform Abandoned Airport Into Eco-Friendly Metropolis

Environment / 3 min. read

Berlin, Germany, is transforming a disused airport into an über-modern, green metropolis. After the Tegel international airport saw its final plane take off in 2020, the 1,235-acre site sat unoccupied, and air traffic transferred over to the newer and nearby Berlin Brandenburg Airport. But the space wouldn’t be abandoned for long. By 2021, plans for

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How Mexico’s Locals Are Trying to Save Its Historic “Mexican Caviar”

Culture, Environment / 3 min. read

Eggs have been a healthy breakfast staple for thousands of years. Even the Aztec emperor Montezuma is said to have eaten them with his morning summer meals, according to the BBC — though his weren’t from a chicken, but an insect, the Axayácatl fly. Ahuautle, also known as “Mexican caviar,” was considered a food of

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Nonprofit Makes Whirlpools to Remove Microplastics From Water Supply

Environment, Tech / 3 min. read

Scientists estimate there are at least 14 million metric tons of microplastics on the ocean floor, but these pollutants are everywhere — from the snow on Mount Everest to the bodies of honeybees. Due to their minuscule size, microplastics can also easily infiltrate the human body, and traces have been found in breast milk, blood,

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Young woman cleaning microplastics from sand on the beach - Focus on hand

Scientists Develop Affordable Device That Can Convert a Light Breeze Into Electricity

Environment, Tech / 2 min. read

Using the wind as a means of harnessing energy is not a newfound concept — turbines have been cropping up for decades now, and wind generates nearly 10% of U.S. electricity. But scientists at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University have developed an innovative new technology that can harness energy from the gentlest of breezes. At just

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Professor Yang Yaowen stands wearing a white coat in a lab and points to a small wind harvesting device that can turn a gentle breeze into electricity

Award-Winning Photographer Laurent Ballesta Showcases Diverse Sea Life Under Antarctic Ice: Photos

Environment / 3 min. read

Laurent Ballesta has been exploring and documenting the underwater world for decades. Born and based in France, he’s the author of 13 books, a marine biologist, and a filmmaker, to name just a few of his titles. This week, he took home the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year portfolio prize for a

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French biologist Laurent Ballesta poses on February 16, 2015 in Carnon, southern France, in front of his underwater pictures.

Formerly Toxic Wasteland Transforms Into a National Park After Decades-Long Effort

Environment / 3 min. read

When the National Park Service (NPS) acquired the Krejci Dump in 1985, it was a toxic wasteland — filled with rusty metal and contaminated with chemicals. Today, after a decades-long effort, it is part of Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park and home to flourishing wildflowers, salamanders, toads, bald eagles, and more. On 45 acres of

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a field of yellow flowers by a placid lake in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

This Tiny German Town Is Entirely off the (Energy) Grid

Culture, Environment / 3 min. read

Germany adopted its Energiewende (energy transition) approach, based on the Energiekonzept (“energy concept”) policy published in 2010, to increase its use of renewable energies and end reliance on nuclear power altogether. Despite the government’s acknowledgement that it would be a costly endeavor, it was highly supported by Germans — and it’s been successful. The town of

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Beautiful summer landscape with cow and wind turbine

How Beavers Are on the Frontlines of Fighting Wildfires

Environment / 2 min. read

There are some unexpected heroes among the brave firefighters who protect civilians, animals, and plants from wildfires. Wildfires have a pattern of sweeping across North America during the hot summer months between June and August, and 2022 has seen a 112% increase in the average number of acres burned by wildfires in the last 10

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Looking up after eating a branch of a willow tree, a large beaver, after sunset, soaks near the shoreline of the Bear Creek which feeds into the South Platte River just outside Denver, Colorado.

Constellations, Planets, and Other Celestial Events: Your Guide to the October 2022 Night Sky

Culture, Environment / 4 min. read

With the fall equinox newly behind us, and as the evenings begin to grow longer, it’s an especially exciting time to turn your gaze toward the heavens. We’ve compiled a list of constellations, planets, and other celestial events to keep an eye out for in the October 2022 night sky, preferably while you’re wrapped up

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