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Environment

The nonprofit SkyTruth enlisted more than 200 volunteers to scan aerial imagery and pinpoint the locations of fracking wastewater ponds in Pennsylvania.

Tracking Frackers From the Sky

Citizen scientists eyeing Pennsylvania’s natural gas drillers in aerial images may help determine if there is a link between fracking and certain illnesses

Located on the Rhode River of the Chesapeake bay, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's new laboratory building emits 37 percent less CO2 and cuts energy costs by 42 percent.

A New Environmental Science Lab Now Walks the Walk, Cutting Its Overall Emissions by 37 Percent

With geothermal heating, on-site water reclamation and a host of other energy saving technologies, the Smithsonian’s first LEED-Platinum building opens

Deforestation in Brazil

New Research

The Amazon Rainforest Disappeared Way More Quickly This Year

Widespread deforestation is even worse than you think

New Research

Prozac Doesn’t Make Birds Happy

Birds on Prozac lose their appetite and libido

New Research

Wind Power is Actually Cheaper Than Coal, Nuclear and Gas

Once you consider the downstream consequences, coal becomes a lot more expensive

For the time being, at least, the lands near the Grand Canyon will not be converted into something resembling this uranium mine in New Mexico.

Cool Finds

The Grand Canyon Will Not Be Mined for Uranium

Uranium mining will be banned for the next 20 years on nearly 1 million acres of land near the Grand Canyon

Sealskin clothing, shown here on Aaju Peter, is waterproof, durable, and warm.

To Survive Climate Change, We Should Be More Like the Eskimos

Arctic Studies Center director Bill Fitzhugh says that studying northern cultures can help people adapt to climate change

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (R) on June 9, 2014

Trending Today

Canada and Australia Don’t Want To Play Along With U.N. Climate Summit

Political leaders from Canada and Australia, along with a few others, are skipping the U.N. climate summit today

New Research

New Study: Blame Defective Wells for Fracking Leaks

Fixing shoddy wells could mean making fracking safer for the environment

People take pictures of water gushing from the reservoir of China’s Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydropower station in the world.

Anthropocene

Seven Unexpected Ways We Can Get Energy From Water

It’s not all about giant dams—H2O is a surprisingly common and versatile tool for meeting the world’s energy needs

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Cool Finds

Nine Different Households, Surrounded by a Week’s Worth Garbage

Photographer Gregg Segal wanted to highlight the problems of waste, pollution and overconsumption

Cool Finds

This Project Wants to Compost People After They Die

A Seattle-based designer aims to introduce a sustainable way of disposing of bodies

Cool Finds

Scientists Are Actually Talking About Building Giant Space Lasers to Control the Weather

This is what happens when you refuse to do things the easy way

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New Research

Someone, Somewhere Is Still Emitting A Whole Load of Ozone-Depleting Chemicals

Emissions of carbon tetrachrloride are still 30% of peak emissions

Warm temperatures are contributing to, among other things, the drought in the western U.S.

Trending Today

ICYMI: July Was Really, Really Hot

This past July was the fourth hottest on record

Randy Schademann (R), an on scene coordinator with the US Environmental Protection Agency, and contractor Erik Hadwin collect water samples from the Gulf of Mexico off the beach at Grand Isle, Louisiana, USA, 21 June 2010.

New Research

Can We Clean Up the Next Oil Spill With Magnets?

A new technique may help during the next oil spill

South Korean researchers have come up with a one-step process for turning cigarette filters into a material that can be used to store energy in supercapacitors.

Cigarette Butts Could Help Power Future Devices

South Korean researchers have found a simple way to turn toxic trash into high-performance supercapacitors

Google hosts its fourth-annual science fair. Shown here, the 2013 winners.

Google Thinks These 18 Teenagers Will Change the World

The global finalists of this year’s Google Science Fair take on cyberbullying countermeasures, tar sands cleanup and wearable tech

An image from NASA of algae blooms along the Gulf coast, seen here in teal. This image was taken by MODIS at an unspecified date.

Trending Today

The Gulf of Mexico’s Dead Zone Is the Size of a Small State

The Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone actually shrunk this year—but it’s still the size of Connecticut

This hardware innovation will make it easier for conservationists to identify where illegal deforestation efforts are happening and stop them before the trees have been taken down.

Tech Watch

How Solar-Powered Recycled Smartphones Could Save the Rainforest

A Silicon Valley non-profit is ready to give the forests of Africa and the Amazon ears to listen for loggers—and the ability to phone the authorities

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