Pollution Studies

Pollution Studies

Illustration of silhouetted people on scaffolding assembling a large globe with a crane hook against a textured pink background.
New biotech tools could clean up everything from construction to agriculture.
Book cover with the title "The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own" by Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, featuring illustrated silhouettes of people and a nod to Alice Hamilton’s pioneering work in public health.
In this excerpt from "The Formula for Better Health," Tom Frieden explores how Alice Hamilton transformed public health in her fight against lead poisoning.
Silhouetted quiver trees under a starry night sky, with the Milky Way forming a bright arc above the horizon—perfect for fans of stunning 2025 night sky images.
Across planet Earth, dark and pristine night skies are an increasingly rare resource. These photos showcase the best of what we still have.
Map showing regions in Europe and North Africa. Two parts labeled 'a' and 'b' highlight areas with IQ deficit contours. Several crosses are marked on the map.
The Roman Empire at one point emitted roughly 3,600 tons of lead dust per year, causing “widespread cognitive decline.”
Person examining a petri dish with tweezers, holding small colored objects, against a dark background.
They’re in our brains, hearts, and blood — but what are they doing to us?
Parker Solar Probe
It would get rid of our hazardous, radioactive, and pollutive waste for good, but physics tells us it's a losing strategy for elimination.
An image of a starry sky with numerous lines, depicting the concept of space pollution.
In 1957, humanity launched our first satellite; today's number is nearly 10,000, with 500,000+ more planned. Space is no longer pristine.
A large group of white clouds in the sky.
Five new places scientists have uncovered plastics.
A picture of a serene forest with tall trees and a peaceful pond.
The ominous cloud of acid rain hasn't vanished but rather drifted toward the developing world.
Two moths on a wooden surface in anthropogenic earth.
Without even realizing it, we’ve actually become pretty god-like in our powers.
nasa earth at night
With LEDs bringing brighter nighttime lighting than ever before, and thousands of new satellites polluting the skies, astronomy needs help.
A series of images showing different types of micrometeorites recovered in the transantarctic mountains
Finding alien technology on the seafloor would be truly incredible. This extraordinary claim, however, is debunked by the actual evidence.
A group of silver balls resembling mercury surrounding a statue of a man influenced by Maya culture.
Today, many Maya sites are polluted with toxic levels of mercury. The contamination likely originated from cinnabar paints and art.
yeast cell colony humans
Left to their own devices, yeast cells will consume all available resources and poison themselves to death. Is humanity smarter than that?
Based on product labeling claims, scientists hypothesized that green cleaners were less toxic. They were wrong.
Scuba divers often appear to be swimming through a calm and muffled universe. This couldn't be farther from the truth.
‘Fast Optical Bursts’ will confound ground-based astronomy. As of 2021, planet Earth is currently experiencing the least pristine night sky in recorded history. Prior to the development of artificial lighting, […]
It would be the ultimate method for solving our pollution or hazardous/radioactive waste problems, but we’ll never do it. Here’s why. Imagine our planet as it was for the first 4.55 […]