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Environment

New Research

Soon, Red Fireworks Might Not Contain Carcinogens Anymore

Scientists discover alternative to cancer-causing chemicals that give red fireworks their color.

New Research

The Grand Canyon is Full of Mercury

Researchers find high levels of mercury and selenium in plants and animals along the Colorado River

New Research

Over 14,000 Miles of America’s Coastline is Covered in Concrete

14 percent of America’s coastline is coated in concrete — and that could actually be really bad

A mock-up of an electric road

England Is Going to Test Roads That Actually Charge Electric Cars

Highways of the future may have special lanes that recharge the batteries of electric cars as they go

New Research

This Pesticide Doesn’t Kill Spiders, But It Does Mess With Their Heads

Just because a chemical isn’t lethal doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous to other insects

An image of the Italian Alps, snapped in June by the ESA's Sentinel-2, could be used in biodiversity studies.

Cool Finds

Why Satellites Are a Biologist’s Best Friend

From tracking penguins to coral reefs, satellites are changing the way scientists study ecology

A researcher tests the sensor's stretchability.

Thin Sensors on Our Skin or in Our Clothes May Warn Us of Environmental Hazards

Australian researchers are developing flexible sensors that track dangers that humans cannot detect with their own senses

The Animas River under better circumstances in 2011.

Trending Today

What’s Next for the Animas River?

Cleanup efforts are underway at the river, which turned a bright orange-yellow after a catastrophic chemical spill

Cool Finds

Scientists Have Been Talking About Greenhouse Gases for 191 Years

The first explorations of the greenhouse effect began in 1824

Coal power plant in New Mexico

Trending Today

How Do U.S. Carbon Emissions Rank Internationally?

It’s complicated

What Makes Day Old Water Taste Funny?

It might be full of microbes and carbon dioxide, but a leftover glass of water is still (probably) safe to drink

EJSCREEN overlays demographic data with EPA pollution data.

The EPA Has a New Tool For Mapping Where Pollution and Poverty Intersect

To better target its efforts, the agency is identifying problem areas, where people are facing undue environmental risks

The Yampa River in Dinosaur National Monument

Twenty of the West’s Leading Water Managers Raft Colorado’s Yampa River

In a historic drought, a group of decision makers take to the water to discuss the future of rivers

A drone shot of the Harvest Dome 2.0, sinking over a sunken ship in Gowanus Canal

Urban Explorations

A Sculpture Meant to Celebrate the Renewal of the Gowanus Canal Just Got Caught on Trash and Sank

R.I.P. Harvest Dome 2.0

Is air in the country healthier than air in the city? One scientist has a theory as to why that's the case, and it's got nothing to do with pollution.

Cool Finds

Is Country Air Really Better Than City Air?

One scientist thinks it’s because of toxic plant chemicals

Cool Finds

Here’s Why Scientists Want to Flood the Grand Canyon

Without sediment flowing through the canyon, it loses sandbars vital to the river ecosystem

Sand Mining on the banks of the Sita River near Mabukala bridge in Brahmavar, India

Cool Finds

The Demand for Sand is so High There are Illegal Sand Mining Operations

Only certain kinds of sand can be used in construction and mining it causes problems

A screenshot of the new visualization from Pitch Interactive and Google News Lab

Cool Finds

Here’s What People Are Asking Google About Climate Change

The visualization reveals what people want to know about the environment

Cool Finds

This Surfboard Maps Waves and Gathers Ocean Data for Researchers

Sensors would make surfers into citizen scientists

Shortly after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, dolphins were observed swimming through an oil slick. Their exposure to petroleum fumes may have wrought serious consequences.

New Research

Research Confirms Fears that Deepwater Horizon Spill Contributed to Dolphin Deaths

Dead bottlenose dolphins stranded in the Gulf of Mexico had lesions linked to petroleum exposure

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