Solutions & Sustainability
Simple “nudges” to remind people to show up for court could help keep thousands out of jail.
Life in the supremely vast cosmos is incredibly rare. We need a new vision for our living planet and for ourselves.
“The more I unleash myself from the tethers of domestication, the happier I feel.”
Smarter building materials can control indoor temperatures without external power.
The technology could yield “made-to-order resistance genes” to protect crops against pathogens and pests.
Pain relievers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen are made with chemicals derived from oil. Scientists have shown how to make them from trees.
The National Ignition Facility just repeated, and improved upon, their earlier demonstration of nuclear fusion. Now, the true race begins.
Lab-grown meat may work better as a complement to animal agriculture rather than a replacement of it.
We’re separating the facts about EVs from the fiction.
Rich data on the global state of our feathered friends presents plenty of bad news — but also some bright spots.
There may be more energy in methane hydrates than in all the world’s oil, coal, and gas combined. It could be the perfect “bridge fuel” to a clean energy future.
We will have a better shot at improving our lives once we come to understand, know, and love the people we will one day become.
If we took the values and principles of cooperation to the next level, we could effectively tackle many crises.
Walking is rarer in the U.S. compared to similar nations. It is also deadlier: Nearly 7,500 pedestrians were killed in 2021.
Old coal mines can be converted into “gravity batteries” by retrofitting them with equipment that raises and lowers giant piles of sand.
Wind farms seem less productive when scientists incorporate more realistic atmospheric models into their output predictions.
Dig a 70-mile tunnel under the Bering Strait, and you get this amazing InterContinental Railway, which will reshape the world.
The jail environment teaches the animals that approaching humans results in a boring and annoying experience.
Civil engineer Martin Lebek has a brilliant plan to redress the world’s phosphorus imbalance.
Quelle horreur! Paris isn’t just a 15-minute city; it’s a five-minute city.
3D-printing robots are being used to build a 100-home housing development in the US state of Texas.
An innovation’s value is found between the technophile’s promises and the Luddite’s doomsday scenarios.
It’s sustainable, nutritious and delicious. Scientists need to ramp up efforts to meet this urgent need.
Simple physics makes hauling vast ice chunks thousands of miles fiendishly difficult — but not impossible.
Smoke taint from wildfires is gross, even to wine amateurs.
Innovative thinking has done away with problems that long dogged the electric devices — and both scientists and environmentalists are excited about the possibilities.
Entrenched business wisdom says that community-led economic systems are pure fantasy. Douglas Rushkoff disagrees.