Salt, air and bricks: could this be the future of energy storage? 2/4/2024

Think of battery ingredients and lithium, cadmium and nickel come to mind. Now think again. What about salt, air, bricks, and hand-warmer gel? In our electricity-hungry future they’re set to provide heat to manufacturers who need it, and to help keep the lights on at times when energy is short. ...more

Three-quarters of children want more time in nature, says National Trust 2/4/2024

More than three-quarters of children want to spend more time in nature, the National Trust has found, as the conservation charity pushes ministers to ensure youngsters are no more than a 15-minute walk from green spaces. ...more

'Adopt a penguin egg' Easter campaign helps endangered African birds 2/4/2024

Bored of buying eggs made of chocolate and wrapped in foil with predictable bunny motifs? This Easter in South Africa you could instead spend your cash an egg that will hatch a live penguin. ...more

‘Ecocide in Gaza’: does scale of environmental destruction amount to a war crime? 1/4/2024

In a dilapidated warehouse in Rafah, Soha Abu Diab is living with her three young daughters and more than 20 other family members. They have no running water, no fuel and are surrounded by running sewage and waste piling up. ...more

Aerial surveys show US landfills are major source of methane emissions 1/4/2024

Over half of U.S. landfills observed by aerial surveys are super-emitting sources of methane, according to a new study in the journal Science published on Thursday. ...more

Hydroelectricity is a hidden source of methane emissions. These people want to solve that 1/4/2024

Dams and reservoirs around the world are an underappreciated source of methane. Now start-ups want to capture that gas as a source of power. ...more

Vegetables are losing their nutrients. Can the decline be reversed? 1/4/2024

In 2004, Donald Davis and fellow scientists at the University of Texas made an alarming discovery: 43 foods, mostly vegetables, showed a marked decrease in nutrients between the mid and late 20th century. ...more

Biden restores endangered species protections rolled back by Trump 1/4/2024

The Biden administration on Thursday restored some protections under the Endangered Species Act rolled back under former President Donald Trump, giving the federal government more leeway to designate plants or animals as threatened or endangered. ...more

In Iraq, water crisis leaves farmers clinging to sidr trees 29/3/2024

Faced with a failing date palm business due to scarce resources, Iraqi farmer Ismail Ibrahim has planted "sidr", or jujube, trees which require far less water during an irrigation crisis. ...more

Surge of new US-led oil and gas activity threatens to wreck Paris climate goals 29/3/2024

The world’s fossil-fuel producers are on track to nearly quadruple the amount of extracted oil and gas from newly approved projects by the end of this decade, with the US leading the way in a surge of activity that threatens to blow apart agreed climate goals, a new report has found. ...more