On December 5, inside a sprawling national lab in the Bay Area called the National Ignition Facility, scientists aimed 192 lasers at a tiny, peppercorn-size pellet and achieved a milestone in nuclear fusion research: For the first time, they were able to produce more energy than the laser energy that ... read more

When we think about ways to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, our minds may first go to trees—either planting new ones or protecting the oldest and largest forests. But trees aren’t the only living things that sequester carbon, and scientists are learning more about another one of nature’s largest creatures ... read more

As fall temperatures cool across the U.S., many schools will struggle to ventilate classrooms while also keeping students and teachers comfortable and healthy. Children and teachers spend more than six hours a day in classrooms during the school year, often in buildings that are decades old and have inadequate heating, ... read more

If you walk down Union Street in Rochester, New York, a road lined with new apartment buildings, trees, and a bike lane, you wouldn’t know that it used to be a highway. “It feels like an organically built neighborhood,” says Erik Frisch, deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development for ... read more

Last October, when Volvo unveiled what it called the world’s first electric vehicle made of fossil-free steel, it underwhelmed some who’d been eager for the drop. Though the majority was made from green steel—from hydrogen power and not coal—some parts of the vehicle were made from traditional steel, including the ... read more

This article originally appeared in Nexus Media News. When Katie Lopes set out to create a women’s underwear brand, she wanted her products to be comfortable and hip—and eventually disappear into a pile of coffee grounds, eggshells, and potato peels in her garden. “I was beginning to become more aware ... read more

A typical wind turbine is massive—roughly as tall as the Statue of Liberty, with blades that stretch wider than a football field. (Some are even bigger, like a new offshore turbine from Siemens that has a 774-foot-wide rotor.) By contrast, a new 10-by-10 foot turbine is relatively tiny. And without ... read more

For six decades, a coal power plant near Peoria, Illinois, belched black soot into the air, polluting nearby neighborhoods and racking up thousands of air quality violations. Like other coal plants, it was also a major contributor to climate change. But the plant will close by the end of this ... read more

When storms like Hurricane Ian strike, many people have to cope afterward with losing water service. Power outages mean that pumps can’t process and treat drinking water or sewage, and heavy stormwater flows can damage water mains. Ian’s effects echoed a similar disaster in Jackson, Mississippi, where rising river water ... read more

It has been a year of unprecedented food crises. Record heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere have caused extraordinary droughts and wildfires. Grain stuck in war-torn Ukraine has led to extreme food shortages. Inflation and a cost-of-living crisis has forced restaurants to close and families to skip meals just to ... read more

Hurricane Ian left an extraordinarily broad path of destruction across much of South Florida. That was evident in reports from the ground, but it also shows up in satellite data. Using a new method, our team of spatial and environmental analysts was able to quickly provide a rare big picture ... read more

Hurricane Ian wasn’t just Florida’s deadliest hurricane since 1935, but also the U.S.’s second costliest disaster, after Katrina, with at least $60 billion in damages—much of which will take years to fully repair. Rebuilding communities after natural disasters has largely become the role of migrant workers. But they’re often taken ... read more

I wish companies were half as “woke” as some elected officials portrayed. Hundreds of businesses recently showcased their environmental commitments during Climate Week and UN General Assembly events, highlighting how they’re upholding human rights, championing women’s empowerment, and supporting LGBTQ communities. And yet companies and the business associations they pay ... read more

In the wake of Hurricane Ian, it still isn’t clear how many homes were destroyed in Florida. But it is clear that some neighborhoods could take years to rebuild, and likely that those who have the means to do so will choose to move to higher ground. That was already ... read more

By Ashley Stimpson This article originally appeared in Nexus Media News and Next City and was made possible by a grant from the Open Society Foundations. Growing up in Rosemont, a once vibrant Black neighborhood on Baltimore’s West Side, Glenn Smith remembers “having everything you needed”—parks, markets, and even a ... read more