Scientist viewing plant leaf in a petri dish under a inverted microscope in a laboratory.

Artificial Photosynthesis

What is artificial photosynthesis, how does it work, and why would we need it?
Plastic waste floating in the sea

Is Plastic Pollution Depriving Us of Oxygen?

Plastic debris is killing the ocean’s “invisible forests,” which produce ten percent of the oxygen we breathe.
A peacock

Green Birds Aren’t Really Green

Some of the most dazzling coloration you see in birds doesn’t actually exist.
A landfill with smoke in the background

The Lowdown on Municipal Trash Incinerators

Burning household trash in massive incinerators saves landfill space, but it also introduces a host of other waste management issues.
A physician wearing a seventeenth century plague preventive costume

How the Plague Reshaped the World

The bacterium that causes the plague emerged relatively recently, as bacterium go. And yet the pandemics it's created have altered the world.
Suprematist Painting (with Black Trapezium and Red Square) by Kazimir Malevich

Dreaming of Spaceflight in 1920s Russia

Early in the 20th century, Cosmism was all the rage in Russia, inspiring a utopian and mystical view of interstellar travel.
The Leader of the Luddites

Why Luddites Are Fashionable Again

Today we call anyone with a flip phone a Luddite. But the term has radical origins.
Potted herbs sitting on a windowsill

Three Ways to Turn Your Apartment into a Sustainable Garden

Even the smallest city dwelling has enough space for a mini-meadow or a few flower pots.
Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Brooklyn, NY

How Urban Agriculture Can Meet Its Potential

New York City's urban agriculture has not been found to provide benefits to either hungry people or the environment. How could city farms work better?
A land snail

The Hidden Extinction Crisis

The extinction crisis might be even worse than we think, because we tend to mostly pay attention to terrestrial vertebrates.