Environmental Science
The environment is truly a thing of beauty and should be protected whenever possible. What can we do to save the environment, and what new technology is available to help us?
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In this mass graveyard, workers dismantle 52,000-ton ships using simple hand tools. Why would anyone want to work at Alang? Is this place doing the world a service by recycling obsolete ships?
Rough times call for creative measures. The world is filled with oceans, and oceans are filled with wave energy that could potentially be transformed into power. Is wave energy a viable fossil fuel alternative?
By Jane McGrath
Depending on who you ask, urban sprawl is either the best thing that ever happened to growing families -- or the downfall of civilization and the environment as we know it. Learn about the history and consequences of this American phenomenon.
By Alia Hoyt
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Many people think that beautiful, blazing sunsets are one upside to living with the smog that hangs over polluted cities. Are they right? Does smog actually enhance sunsets?
By Julia Layton
Ever since its discovery in 2000, a dinosaur fossil named Leonardo has held the interest of paleontologists the world over. A 3-D model of the animal even toured the world. So what's the big deal?
Usually we're focused on our personal power consumption -- wondering why our gas bill went up or took a dip. But what if we added up everybody's power consumption? How much would it be?
Fossils tell a story, much like the clues at the scene of a crime. Researchers look for evidence and paleontologists study that evidence to answer questions about the past.
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Oil is a nonrenewable resource. Have we found all the oil there is to find, or is there more out there somewhere? What's the best way to wean ourselves from our oil dependency?
By Josh Clark
The waste collectors threw your recyclables into one big bin on their truck. How do you know your recyclables are being recycled? And what happens to them next?
By Josh Clark
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?
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
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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?
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?
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?
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
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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?
A sustainable community might not be as radical as you think. What's so crazy about minimizing waste, reducing consumption and preserving green space?
Also known as "freak waves," these colossal walls of water have been alleged to be in the range of 100 feet or more. Learn what separates rogue waves from other large waves, what causes them and find out about some of the better-known rogue wave incidents.
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?
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Recycling proponents tell us that everything that can be recycled should be. Some items, however, can use more energy to recycle than it would cost to make new ones. Are we better off throwing some things away?
Most scientists agree that human interference in the environment has something to do with the recent trend of rising temperatures on the Earth. If we got ourselves in this pickle, what can we do about it?
If it takes $1 million a year to save the California condor, how much would it take to save every endangered species? Is it possible, and how can we save species we don't even know exist?
Of course you know what gravity is. It's the force behind Wile E. Coyote plummeting off the face of a cliff and you stumbling spastically in front of your crush. But did you know it can bend light and help us detect hidden cosmic phenomena, too?
By Robert Lamb
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Crack open any science textbook and the authors will tell you that such things don't happen. So how did a couple of paleontologists and an acid bath turn that widespread belief on its head?
By Robert Lamb
Our planet would be a much different place without its richly diverse ecosystems full of plants, animals and microorganisms. What poses the biggest danger to the millions of species that call Earth home?