Environmental Science

Haunted by ideas of your body polluting the Earth after you're gone? Microbial fuel cell technology could allow you to harness the energy of your own decomposition to power batteries.

By Maria Trimarchi

Experts expect more than 1 billion climate refugees by the year 2050. Where will they go and how will the world feed, clothe and shelter them?

By Maria Trimarchi & Sarah Gleim

While it's good to be environmentally accountable, too much eco-angst can spiral into an actual anxiety disorder. What makes people lose sleep thinking about their big, muddy carbon footprints?

By Stephanie Watson

Did you know that sand dunes can sing? And, their artistic curves certainly make for a gorgeous photograph. In fact, you might call the sand dune the diva of the desert.

By Debra Ronca

With the global food crisis, some people feel that using food to make biofuel just doesn't make sense. Could algae be a solution? How could algae possibly fuel cars and even airplanes?

By Stefani Newman

Wetlands may look murky and even creepy, but their value is clear. They soak up floodwaters and filter runoff before it enters our lakes and streams. How can we protect these spongy areas?

By Debra Ronca

Are wind farms and other renewable energy sources the closest we can come to free energy? Isn't there some crackpot invention out there that you can set up in your backyard?

By Jessika Toothman

What if you could scrub out carbon dioxide emissions before they ever dirtied the atmosphere? This exciting technology could do just that, but will the benefits outweigh the costs?

By Jennifer Horton

Dinosaur eggs and the embryos inside can teach us a lot about dinosaur reproduction and behavior. But how do scientists get the rocky embryos out from the equally rocky shells?

By Tracy V. Wilson

It's colorless, odorless and definitely life-sustaining, but is it invisible to the naked eye? Not usually. So what's going on with everyone's favorite liquid?

By Robert Lamb

Popeye used the iron from spinach to morph into a formidable sailor. We know that iron is an essential component of the human body. But could it also be the answer to global warming?

By Jennifer Horton

A sustainable community might not be as radical as you think. What's so crazy about minimizing waste, reducing consumption and preserving green space?

By Jennifer Horton

We all know the cartoons of prehistoric people running from dinosaurs aren't realistic. But many animals living today have ancestors from that time.

By Tracy V. Wilson

Everyone knows that once a bone has fossilized, it's hard as a rock, right? So how did scientists find soft tissue inside a broken dinosaur bone?

By Tracy V. Wilson

In "Back to the Future," Doc Brown throws garbage into Mr. Fusion, powering his time machine. We might be closer than you think to generating electricity for our homes using trash.

By Jonathan Strickland

Environmentalists have found a way to harness the military precision of missile-tracking technology for a decidedly nonviolent mission: replanting forests. So what do C-130 aircraft have to do with reforestation?

By Jennifer Horton

Plants absorb carbon dioxide and feed us oxygen. So it's pretty much a no-brainer: Plowing down our forests is a bad idea. What's driving the destruction? And is anything being done to stop it?

By Debra Ronca & Sascha Bos

Diamonds are beautiful and popular - but not everyone can afford these gems. While man-made versions are less expensive, most lack the luster and brilliance of the real thing, except moissanite. See how it compares!

By Melissa Russell-Ausley

Electrical power is a little bit like the air you breathe: You don't really think about it until it is missing. There are good reasons the power grid distribution system works the way it does, though it can lead to some big problems.

By Marshall Brain & Dave Roos

Is it possible to generate electricity directly from heat? Thermocouples do it, with no moving parts.

A seismograph can accurately measure the movement of the Earth during a quake. How does a seismograph work, though, and what is the Richter scale that is associated with earthquakes? Learn the answers to these questions in this article.

By Sascha Bos

Water is one of the most abundant substances on the planet. About 70 percent of our planet is covered by oceans, but just how much water is there on Earth?

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors & Yara Simón

We know that paper comes from trees, but just how much does it take? Let's do the math and figure out how much paper your average tree can be made into.

During the summer I am always hearing about ozone warnings in my city. This ozone is bad. But then I hear about the ozone layer, which is good. How can ozone be both good and bad?

Charcoal is carbon. Activated charcoal is charcoal that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms. What does this have to do with its absorbancy?