Extreme heat has plagued countries across the world in recent weeks. Wildfires have devastated parts of Spain and Portugal, where an estimated 1,100 people have died from the heat; and the U.K logged a new record temperature of 104.5 degrees. These incidents have exposed that those places are under-equipped when ... read more

While humans evolved over a period of approximately 6 million years, breakthroughs in modern medicine as we know it today got going only in the 19th and 20th centuries. So how did humans successfully survive through millions of years of diseases and illnesses without modern drugs and treatments? This was ... read more

As parts of the world are boiling under record heat, and as the Biden administration’s ambitious climate plans fizzle out, the White House has rolled out a new website to help communities prepare themselves for hotter, deadlier temperatures. According to the site, heat.gov, more than 39 million people in the ... read more

The U.S. coal industry chalked up a couple of rare wins this summer. First, the Supreme Court issued a ruling limiting the government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Then President Joe Biden’s climate plan stalled in Congress again. But while some specific threats to the industry ... read more

For the rose-bellied lizard of Mexico and Southern Texas, not all body parts are created equal. In some male lizards, the left testis has evolved to fill with melanin, so it becomes darker than the other. That allows it to absorb more heat from the sun and give the critter ... read more

The world runs on vegetable oil. It’s the third-most-consumed food globally after rice and wheat. It’s in your morning croissant and your oat milk, your salad dressing, your afternoon snack bar, and your midnight cookie. Our obsession with vegetable oil is so big that we use more land—around 20% to ... read more

The first case of polio in the U.S. since 2013 was announced by New York State health officials on July 21, 2022. The U.S. resident had not been vaccinated. In the mid-20th century, polio was a common cause of paralysis in children before safe and effective vaccines were invented. Thanks ... read more

From a distance, the Sion looks like an ordinary black car. But when you walk closer to the new electric car from the Germany-based startup Sono Motors, you might notice solar cells covering the doors, hood, roof, and the rest of the surface—456 solar half-cells, to be exact. When ... read more

Ian Bremmer is president and founder of Eurasia Group, the world’s leading global research and consulting firm, and GZero Media, a company dedicated to providing intelligent and engaging coverage of international affairs. Bremmer is also a frequent guest on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the BBC, Bloomberg, and many other television ... read more

Between 2000 and 2018, the number of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) manufactured was multiplied by 80. In 2018, 66% of them were used in electric vehicles (EVs). The planned development of electric mobility will increase demand for batteries, with the International Energy Agency estimating that between 2019 and 2030, battery demand ... read more

Fifty years ago, U.S. scientists launched a satellite that dramatically changed how we see the world. It captured images of Earth’s surface in minute detail, showing how wildfires burned landscapes, how farms erased forests, and many other ways humans were changing the face of the planet. The Yellow River in ... read more

Water-saving showerheads have a bad reputation, despite the fact that good design can keep the water pressure high even as less comes out. (“If you’re like me, you can’t wash your beautiful hair properly,” former President Trump said in one rant two years ago before loosening water efficiency standards; the ... read more

When the rechargeable battery wears out inside a typical electric toothbrush, it can’t be replaced—which means the entire, otherwise functional toothbrush ends up in a landfill (or, if someone is particularly responsible, an e-waste recycling facility). But a new modular electric toothbrush, designed with sustainability in mind, can be repaired, ... read more

Monarch butterflies, the iconic and beloved butterfly that’s most recognized by children when they first learn of the species’ existence, have now been listed as endangered by the world’s foremost scientific authority in such classifications. The designation has, sadly, been a long time coming, as monarch butterflies have for decades ... read more

A little less than three years after Amazon announced that was ordering 100,000 custom electric delivery vans from the startup Rivian, hundreds of the EVs are starting to roll out in cities from Nashville to Seattle. By the end of the year, the company expects to have thousands of the ... read more