Tag: environment
Russian scientists reported to have reached untouched lake beneath Antarctica
Lake Vostok is located 2.2 miles beneath Antarctica's icy surface. It's been unseen and untouched for about 20 million years. But now reports are surfacing that Russian engineers may have reached the lake after a decades-long effort to drill into it....
VIDEO: With Keystone pipeline project halted, China looks to Canada
As Canada looks to develop markets for its oil after the defeat of the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States, Primer Minister Stephen Harper says the country needs to develop tighter ties with China — one of the world's fastest growing economies....
Scientist recreates sound of 165 million year-old insect
Like a modern cicada, the ancient katydid used its legs to make sounds to attract members of the opposite sex. But unlike their modern descendants, the ancient critters produced just a single note....
GOP-backed transportation bill slashes funding for cycling, pedestrian facilities
A Republican transportation bill seeks to eliminate the $1.6 billion in federal transportation funds that has been used to add bike lanes, improve sidewalk, create curb cuts and otherwise enhance roadways to make them more friendly to cyclists and pedestrians....
Kansas student researching how plant waste could become building material
The substance that gives plant cells their rigid nature, the same substance that binds trees together, is typically discarded as waste in the agricultural process. But a Kansas State University student is researching how that waste, lignin, may be used in construction....
University professor developing environmentally conscious cement
A Drexel University professor is trying to reduce the environmental impact of cement — one of the most ubiquitous materials on earth. So far, he's had success in all of the areas that matter....
Norway's musk oxen provide warning of climate change consequences
Norway's musk oxen are doing well today, but just a few years ago, when temperatures reached record highs, they died in unprecedented numbers. Now scientists say that may have been a warning of what is to come if the Earth's temperature continues to rise....
Dutch company turns cremation remains into global charity
When a body is cremated, if it has any metal parts, like a titanium hip, those metal parts are left behind. For years it was either buried in graves or sent to the dump. But a Dutch company, OrthoMetals, has a business that gathers those materials and processes them for industrial reuse, sending the proceeds to charity....
Farmers in Mozambique trying to adapt farming to climate change
As the rain and water in Mozambique becomes less predictable and less suited to subsistence farming, aid groups and the local government are trying to help some change the way they farm so they're not so paralyzed by a flood or a drought. But there's a lot of work to do....
Maldives working to be carbon-neutral by 2020
About two years ago, the Maldives announced the nation would be carbon-neutral by 2020. That's a tall order for a country that spends 15 percent of GDP on diesel fuel, but work is progressing toward that goal....
