Environmental Science

The element lithium is one of just three created during the Big Bang and has been used for mental health care for decades. But now it's in higher demand than ever before.

By Allison Troutner

Hair trimmings from salons and personal donations can be repurposed as mats that soak up oil spills and help protect the environment.

By Patrick J. Kiger

A virtual power plant is a network of wind farms, solar parks and home battery systems designed to relieve the energy load on the main power grid. We talked to one expert to find out how.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. However, many health groups are against it. What do studies say and should President Joe Biden sign the bill into law?

By Allison Troutner

Cinnabar's bright-red pigment has been used in jewelry, pottery and makeup for millennia. But cinnabar is also the primary ore for mercury, making it a dangerous mineral if the particles are inhaled.

By Allison Troutner

The rose-red mineral rhodonite was first discovered in the 1790s in the Ural Mountains of Russia. Today it's found globally and is associated with compassion, love and healing.

By Allison Troutner

The curves of the giant snake line up with the sun during equinoxes and solstices.

By Jesslyn Shields

The new field of imageomics allows scientists to cull useful data from photos and videos to help save endangered species. It even uses images taken by tourists.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Mountains might look like they're stoic and still, but research shows otherwise. Massive ones, like the Matterhorn, are moving all the time, gently swaying back and forth every few seconds.

By Richard J. Sima

The waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet at the tip of Cape Horn and never the two shall mix, right?

By Jesslyn Shields

A new project aims to document the possible demise of Planet Earth due to climate change. It's called Earth's Black Box and the creators hope this will be a warning to all Earth-dwellers to take global warming seriously.

By Joanna Thompson

From the chemicals that pollute and the massive use of water, the traditional method of dyeing blue jeans is an environmental disaster. Nanoparticles made from wood pulp might be the answer to the problem.

By Jesslyn Shields

This alien-looking archipelago off the coast of Yemen is teeming with plants and animals. Many species here are threatened or endangered. Can they be saved?

By Stephanie Parker

Some say UFOs, while others say a meteor strike formed the Carolina Bays. Whatever created these isolated ponds and wetlands across North and South Carolina left a wondrous ecosystem that is in dire need of protection.

By Allison Troutner

Reducing the amount of methane that human activities are adding to the atmosphere could have a quick impact on global warming, if everything goes as planned.

By Jeff Nesbit

The science is off the charts. Climate change is here and it's affecting the planet. We'll tell you how and where.

By Betsy Weatherhead

A new report released by Beyond Plastics suggests that plastics will release more greenhouse gas emissions than coal plants in the U.S. by 2030.

By Elizabeth Claire Alberts

Waterfalls are mainly reliant on precipitation to keep flowing. Here are six famous waterfalls that slowed to a trickle when drought set in.

By Laurie L. Dove

Nutty Putty Cave, near Salt Lake City, Utah, was discovered in 1960 and sealed up forever in 2009. This is the story.

By Dave Roos

Rooftop solar panels are nearly 80 percent cheaper than they were just 10 years ago. A new paper says that if we installed them on 50 percent of roofs, we could meet all the world's yearly electric needs.

By Siddharth Joshi, James Glynn & Shivika Mittal

In the lead-up to U.N. Climate Change Conference, the Swedish activist talked about Biden's climate plan, the media's responsibility and what gives her hope.

By Mark Hertsgaard

The Montreal Protocol treaty signed in the '80s halted the destruction of the ozone layer. In the process, it prevented Earth from becoming nearly 1 degree hotter.

By Jenessa Duncombe

A July study found that every coastal estuary could prevent $38 million of damage from major storms like Hurricane Ida. But that means wetlands need protecting, too.

By Liz Kimbrough

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, plays an essential role in regulating ocean temperatures, but it looks as if it may be collapsing. What happens next?

By Joanna Thompson

A lead author on the newly released IPCC report explains what the warnings mean.

By Robert Kopp