Archive for July 2018
Experts: Nuclear energy is safe and Europe needs it
As European nations continue transitioning to low-carbon energy sources in their bid to help mitigate global climate change, nuclear power should be playing an increasingly larger role in the continent’s energy plans, several experts say. Unlike fossil fuel-fired power plants,
Time is running out for most endangered species on Earth
Sixty-six million years ago Planet Earth experienced one of the largest mass extinctions in its entire history. Within what counts as a blink of an eye in geological time the dinosaurs, which had ruled the planet for hundreds of millions
The Amazon’s forests are reaching a ‘point of no return’
The forests of the Amazon are among the most biodiverse places on Earth. Sadly, however, they are among the planet’s fastest-shrinking environments as well. Trees in large parts of the Amazon are being burned at alarming rates to make way
Europe sets out to tackle its waste problems
Currently less than a third, or 30%, of the 25 million tons of plastic waste collected for recycling within the European Union gets recycled. By 2025, however, that amount will have almost doubled to 55%; by 2030, to 60%; and
Could bacteria soon help us meet some of our energy needs?
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are aquatic microorganisms whose evolutionary lineage stretches back 3.5 billion years, right to the first stirrings of life on Earth. They were responsible for releasing the first oxygen molecules into the planet’s atmosphere, thereby
Wearable solar-powered devices may soon be on the way
The sun is an inexhaustible source of clean energy, but much of that readily available energy we have yet to be able to harness. Imagine, for instance, if we could carry some ultrathin solar cells with us embedded in our