Earth Wise

Modern civilization is pretty much made of concrete.  People use more concrete than any other substance apart from water.  But concrete is made from cement, and cement is the source of 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft have developed a new kind of concrete made by […]

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global usage of disposable facemasks reached a staggering 129 billion per month. Most of these masks are manufactured from petroleum-based non-renewable plastics like polypropylene and the disposal of these masks results in serious pollution problems.  These include the loss of ecological integrity from buried waste in landfills, […]

LEDs have become the standard source of energy-efficient lighting.  They make use of semiconductors to turn electricity into light.  Depending upon the materials used to make them, LEDs produce different colors.  In the early 1990s, the first blue LEDs were discovered, ultimately earning the Nobel Prize in physics, and enabling LEDs to produce white light, […]

The deadliest animal in the world is the mosquito.  Mosquitos infected 263 million people with malaria in 2023, leading to 600,000 deaths, 80% of which were children.  Malaria is caused by infection from Plasmodium parasites.  The parasites are transmitted to humans from the bite of infected female mosquitos. Researchers at the University of California San […]

Climate change is dramatically impacting food production by altering rainfall patterns, increasing temperatures, and triggering more frequent extreme weather events.  These changes make crops more vulnerable to droughts, floods, heatwaves, pests, and diseases, leading to lower yields and greater uncertainty for farmers worldwide. But climate change isn’t just reshaping our planet.  It’s also changing what’s […]

Back in the 1960s, it was discovered that secretions from toads native to the Sonoran Desert have psychedelic properties.  The information did not have much impact for over 40 years but about ten years ago, the story started having widespread exposure in U.S. media outlets and there was increasing publicity for the fact that the […]

More than 170 countries gathered recently to discuss how to save wetlands, which are critical ecosystems.  However, the U.S. was a no-show for most of the summit and Russia said it will withdraw from the wetlands treaty. Wetlands are a crucial element of all life on Earth, supplying fresh water, oxygen, habitat, and food.  The […]

MIT recently hosted a symposium on the subject of artificial intelligence being both a problem and a solution for the clean energy transition. AI-powered computing centers are expanding rapidly, creating an unprecedented surge in electricity demand.  Electricity demand in the US had been relatively flat for decades but now these computing centers consume about 4% […]

Agroecology focuses on sustainably managing agricultural systems by applying ecological principles.  The goal is to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment. A four-year study by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found that incorporating nature-friendly practices within farming increases biodiversity, pollination by bees, natural pest control, and the numbers of […]

Europe has 37 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity. China is catching up rapidly.  Across the globe, offshore wind is an increasingly important source of clean, renewable power.  The United States had previously set ambitious goals to join the international effort.  But in the aftermath of the 2024 election, offshore wind in the US is basically […]