• Researchers use electricity to generate alternative fuel

    Scientists show that we can use electricity to power our cars — even if these cars are not electric vehicles; the researchers demonstrated a method for converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuel isobutanol using electricity

  • Water scarcity in California's Bay-Delta necessitates “hard decisions”

    Simultaneously attaining a reliable water supply for California and protecting and rehabilitating its Bay-Delta ecosystem cannot be realized until better planning can identify how trade-offs between these two goals will be managed when water is limited

  • Developing crop for livestock in dry climates

    Scientists at the University of Liverpool are working with international partners to develop new forage crop for the hot and dry climate of regions such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia

  • 1930s technology to become 21st century tool against CO2 emissions

    Human activity releases 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year; a new approach to dealing with the problem has a back-to-the-future glint, leveraging technology that the petroleum industry has used since the 1930s to remove carbon dioxide and other impurities from natural gas

  • Earth's crust is slowly being destroyed

    New research shows that the Earth’s crust is now undergoing high rates of destruction; the research shows the sharp decrease in the growth of the continental crust indicates a dramatic change in the way the Earth has generated and preserved this crust in the last 4.5 billion years

  • The Transboundary Agreement is not just about the cost of gas and the environment

    The Transboundary Agreement, which the United States and Mexico reached on 20 February, regulates oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico; before the agreement is ratified, there is a need to address serious security issues related to building more oil rigs in the Gulf – for example, the fact that the Mexican government cannot control its powerful criminal organizations, and that it will be easy for terrorists in a small boat to overrun one of these deepwater rigs

  • Electricity from trees

    Plants have long been known as the lungs of the earth, but a new finding has found they may also play a role in electrifying the atmosphere; scientists found the positive and negative ion concentrations in the air were twice as high in heavily wooded areas than in open grassy areas, such as parks

  • Confirmed: oil from Deepwater Horizon disaster entered food chain

    For months, crude oil gushed into the water at a rate of approximately 53,000 barrels per day; new study confirms that not only did oil affect the ecosystem in the Gulf during the blowout, but it was still entering the food web after the well was capped

  • Asteroid to miss Earth next year, but not by much

    When it whizzes past Earth in 2013, a newly discovered asteroid is going to miss our planet — but not by much; the 50-meter space rock is expected to come closer than many satellites, highlighting the growing need to keep watch on hazards from above

  • Good news: metal-reducing bacteria interacts with plutonium oxide

    Studies show that under oxygen-free conditions, plutonium(IV) hydrous oxide, the most common subsurface form of plutonium, does not become very soluble; this information will help in developing effective approaches for isolating and removing the contaminants before they can impact humans and the environment

  • Iron is key to reversing climate change

    Scientists and politicians are trying to devise ways to reduce CO2 emissions — but when it comes to getting rid of the CO2 that is already there, nature itself plays an important role: carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and safely trapped on the ocean floor through a natural reaction that fixes the molecule to organic carbon on the surface of large bodies of water

  • Millions of Americans at risk of flooding as sea levels rise

    Nearly four million Americans, residing in a combined area larger than the state of Maryland, find themselves at risk of severe flooding as sea levels rise in the coming century, new research suggests; in terms of population, Florida is the most vulnerable, closely followed by Louisiana, California, New York, and New Jersey

  • iPads allow judges to sign warrants anywhere

    Getting local judges to sign last minute warrants just got a lot easier with iPads

  • Molecule may aid nuclear waste clean-up

    Scientists have produced a previously unseen uranium molecule in a move that could improve clean-up of nuclear waste

  • High manganese levels making air breathing dangerous in some areas

    In residential neighborhoods near manufacturing industries, a breath of air may be more hazardous than refreshing; research finds manganese concentrations higher in residential neighborhoods than industrial sites, levels vary by region