One of the buzziest technologies in modern science may be running right under your feet. Fiber optic cables bring you the internet as data-rich pulses of light, but they also detect signals from the surrounding environment: Researchers can analyze the light that’s scattered when a volcanic eruption or tsunami jostles...
American Samoa says no to deep-sea mining. The Trump administration might do it anyway.
In early August, in the village of Utulei on the eastern shore of Tatuila, the largest of seven islands that make up American Samoa, more than two dozen local residents gathered in an auditorium. They were there to learn about a proposal to allow deep-sea mining across more than 18...
Puerto Ricans are devising the food system of tomorrow
The rats scurried into the shed. Flinching at the sound of a horde of tiny claws scratching at the ground, Migdalia Mass Llorens kept vigil over her sleeping family huddled together under a single blanket. The 35-year-old mother of three couldn’t bring herself to join her kids in peaceful slumber....
How much carbon can we safely store underground? Much less than previously thought.
Drawing down carbon from the air and stashing it in underground rock formations has been framed as an essential way to slow and reverse global warming. But new research published Wednesday in the journal Nature finds there are far fewer suitable places to do this than previously thought. After screening...
Josh Hawley’s ‘huge win’ will be a big loss for clean energy — and ratepayers
It’s only been a few weeks since the Trump administration and lawmakers like Missouri Senator Josh Hawley succeeded in derailing the Grain Belt Express, a high-voltage transmission line that would have brought clean energy to much of the upper Midwest. It’s not clear whether the project will go forward, but...
How drones and AI are changing the way we fight wildfires
Earlier this summer, the Banana Lake Fire erupted near Plains, Montana, engulfing over 850 acres in flames within a day. The “total suppression” response from firefighting officials included deploying at least 17 engines, two helicopters, and three bulldozers, as well as highly trained fire crews. But another newer piece of...
Can offshore wind survive the Trump administration?
The first person to hoist a sail predates recorded history; humans have been harnessing the wind for thousands of years. Nevertheless, when the first windmill was first used to produce electricity 1887, it was immediately rejected as the work of the devil. Scottish professor James Blyth installed the turbine in...
Trump administration gives coal plants and chemical facilities a pass
For Donna Thomas, smokestacks are a typical sight from her home in Fort Bend County, Texas. Since she was a child, she has seen the coal and natural gas-powered W.A. Parish Generating Station puff clouds of haze during the day and light up brightly at night. The facility — which...
US EV sales are booming — for now
In March, President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared on the lawn of the White House to show off a line of electric vehicles, transforming, for a moment, the commander in chief into the car salesman in chief. Five months later, Musk and Trump are no longer on friendly terms, the red...
Workers are facing dangerous heat — even inside fast-food restaurants
Not long ago, Guillermina ran into a coworker at her doctor’s office. The two women work together at a McDonald’s near San Jose, California. When Guillermina asked what her coworker was doing at the doctor, she responded that she’d been feeling ill, adding, “You know how hot it gets in...