Sat.Dec 28, 2024 - Fri.Jan 03, 2025

article thumbnail

A Year of Climate Extremes, In Photos

Yale E360

From floods in Brazil to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, extreme weather exacted a devastating toll in 2024.

2024 344
article thumbnail

2024 Year in Review: Clean Energy Progress Steeped in Solar and Storage

Union of Concerned Scientists

The end of every year is a great time for taking stock of what the year has broughtincluding in terms of clean energy in the power sector. As it turns out, 2024 has provided a whole lot of clean energy progress as fodder for that stock-taking. Heres a taste, from US projects, technologies, electrons, and investment, to happenings in the world as a whole.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

AI chatbots fail to diagnose patients by talking with them

New Scientist

Although popular AI models score highly on medical exams, their accuracy drops significantly when making a diagnosis based on a conversation with a simulated patient

article thumbnail

Outrage Fatigue Is Real. Here's Why We Feel It and How to Cope

Scientific American

Repeated exposure to outrage-inducing news or events can lead to emotional exhaustion.

144
144
article thumbnail

How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

article thumbnail

The Year in Energy in Four Charts

Yale E360

The global energy sector defied expectations this year, in ways both good and bad for the climate. Four charts highlight key trends in the transition to clean energy.

article thumbnail

Environmental Hearing Board Denies Supersedeas, Allows Operation Of Catalyst Energy, Inc. Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In McKean County During Appeal

PA Environment Daily

On December 27, the Environmental Hearing Board issued an order denying a petition for a supersedeas from residents appealing a DEP permit for the Catalyst Energy, Inc. oil and gas wastewater injection well near the town of Cyclone in Keating Township, McKean County. The decision means Catalyst Energy may open the injection well and accept wastewater for disposal during the Board's consideration of the citizens' appeal.

2024 101

More Trending

article thumbnail

Jimmy Carter, Who Died at Age 100, Spared Millions of People from Guinea Worm, a Debilitating Parasite

Scientific American

Former president Jimmy Carter’s charity has helped transform Guinea worm from a disease that used to infect millions to one that infects fewer than a dozen

144
144
article thumbnail

The Growing Human Footprint on Earth, as Seen from Space

Yale E360

Last year saw warming reach startling new highs, with record heat fueling extreme weather around the world. As farms and cities grow, pollution is spreading and overheating the planet. The evidence of our impact is so profound that it can be seen from space.

276
276
article thumbnail

Busting the Myths of New York's Congestion Pricing Program

NRDC

New Yorks congestion pricing infrastructure is ready for its January 5 startto the benefit of mobility, public health, and the economy throughout the city and beyond.

121
121
article thumbnail

Physicists bend atoms in ‘impossible’ experiment

New Scientist

Entire atoms have been put through a classic quantum experiment for the first time and the breakthrough could lead to better detectors for picking up the gravitational waves that ripple across the universe

144
144
article thumbnail

The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

article thumbnail

Do We Live in a Special Part of the Universe?

Scientific American

According to a tenet scientists call the cosmological principle, our place in space is in no way exceptional.

136
136
article thumbnail

Elevated Levels of Radium Found in Western Pennsylvania’s Freshwater Mussels 

Inside Climate News

Researchers detected increased radioactivity in mussels downstream of oil and gas wastewater discharge points, raising concerns about effects up the food chain. By Kiley Bense Sixty-two years ago, Rachel Carsons Silent Spring connected disappearing populations of bald eagles to the presence of the pesticide DDT in the birds food chain. Because bald eagles are apex predators, their dose of the toxic chemical was magnified and became fatal to their ability to reproduce.

article thumbnail

PA Interfaith Power & Light Accepting Requests For Free Native Trees From Anywhere In PA

PA Environment Daily

PA Interfaith Power & Light is accepting request for free native trees to plant anywhere in Pennsylvania. Please make your request as soon as possible - by January 15 is ideal, latest by January 18. Requesting native trees through the program is simple weve broken it down into three easy steps! 1. Visit Their Tree Planting Guide : Native Trees and Shrubs can be planted in all kinds of places!

2024 95
article thumbnail

Everything we know about long covid - including how to reduce the risk

New Scientist

Some people have been living with long covid for five years, but we are still just starting to learn about its exact causes and how best to treat the condition

140
140
article thumbnail

Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

article thumbnail

Jumping 'Numts' from Mitochondria Can Be Fast and Deadly

Scientific American

Bits of DNA from mitochondria can skip surprisingly fast into our genome and may reduce lifespan

127
127
article thumbnail

The Year in Climate: Record Heat, an Election, a Push for Justice and Reasons for Hope

Inside Climate News

2024 was a year that might as well have been a decade. Heres what happened, as documented by Inside Climate News reporters. By Dan Gearino, ICN Staff In a year of record-setting heat, intensifying extreme weather and a bitterly partisan presidential election in which climate change was almost never mentioned, the transition away from fossil fuels made significant progress that was still not nearly enough.

article thumbnail

Unforced Variations: Jan 2025

Real Climate

This month’s open thread on climate topics. Please remember to be substantive, respectful and vaguely on topic. Note that we’ll have an update to the various observational datasets after Jan 10th, and hopefully an update to all the model-observation comparisons the week following (depending on other things not getting in the way). Happy New Year to you all!

2025 100
article thumbnail

IBM will release the largest ever quantum computer in 2025

New Scientist

Following successful early demonstrations of linking two quantum computing chips, IBM is aiming to break records for the largest quantum computer yet by combining many of them in parallel

2025 145
article thumbnail

Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

article thumbnail

Nanotech Scientists Build on an Insect’s Odd Soccer Ball-Like Excretions to Design Ingenious Camouflage

Scientific American

Artificial versions of nanoscale soccer-ball-like structures called brochosomes might be used to make new forms of military camouflage, self-cleaning surfaces or hydrogen fuel

112
112
article thumbnail

These Graphics Help Explain What Climate Change Looked Like in 2024

Inside Climate News

Plus, a few more that tell environmental stories in a fraught year. By Paul Horn Telling the story of our livesclimate changetakes a lot of words. But sometimes, a graphic is what makes things click.

article thumbnail

Brodhead Watershed Association Water At Risk - Counting Our Blessings

PA Environment Daily

By Carol Hillestad for Brodhead Watershed Association , Monroe County On much of planet Earth that is human-occupied, clean water cant be had for love or money. Really. About a quarter of the men, women, and children in the world have no choice but to drink from and wash in water sources that are contaminated with excrement. It might surprise you to know that even in America, 2.2 million homes dont have running water or basic plumbing.

article thumbnail

Can we use quantum computers to test a radical consciousness theory?

New Scientist

Hartmut Neven, who leads Google's Quantum AI lab, wants to entangle our brains with quantum processors to test the idea that consciousness involves quantum phenomena

145
145
article thumbnail

Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

article thumbnail

Nearly Forgotten ‘Phage Therapy’ Fights Antibiotic Resistance

Scientific American

In a new book, a science journalist recounts the story of a lifesaving treatment for infection that scientists broadly dismissed until recently

103
103
article thumbnail

Not Living Fast and Dying Young: Why Older, Bigger Animals Matter

Inside Climate News

New research finds that protecting longer-lived species in the face of climate change is critical for animal populations. By Georgina Gustin The Bigmouth buffalo isnt the prettiest fish in the water, nor is it particularly appealing to eat, but it has unsung qualities that scientists say are increasingly important in a climatically challenged, ecologically homogenizing world: It gets really big and really old.

article thumbnail

DEP Posted 103 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In January 4 PA Bulletin

PA Environment Daily

Highlights of the environmental and energy notices in the January 4 PA Bulletin -- -- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - January 4 [PaEN] -- DEP published notice in the January 4 PA Bulletin inviting comments on draft Technical Guidance for Maintaining Freeboard and Dewatering of Well Development Impoundments for Unconventional Oil and Gas Operations. [ DEP ID: 800-2200-005 ] The deadline for comments is February 3.

2025 102
article thumbnail

Ozempic and Wegovy have heart health benefits beyond just weight loss

New Scientist

A study in pigs has shown that the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy directly boosts heart health, in addition to the benefits of losing weight

144
144
article thumbnail

Heliophysics Is Set to Shine in 2025

Scientific American

The science of the sun and its effects on the solar system is a sprawling discipline that expects a very exciting 2025

2025 85
article thumbnail

Viewpoint – Nice Rice: the first sustainable rice brand

A Greener Life

By Jeremy Williams Last year, I wrote about the out-sized carbon footprint of rice , which accounts for almost a quarter of all greenhouse gases from global food production. Half the world eats rice every day, so thats perhaps not surprising. However, theres no question that its much more damaging to the climate than other staple grain crops. Analysis: Climate change drives down yields and nutrition of Indian crops You can look up my previous article to read up on why that is.

article thumbnail

Brodhead Watershed Association: Protecting Clean Water Together - Become A Master Watershed Steward

PA Environment Daily

By Carol Hillestad for Brodhead Watershed Association , Monroe County Maybe youre a hiker, birder or hunter. Or maybe you love fishing, nature photography, trail running or mountain biking. And maybe youre a curious kind of person, someone who enjoys learning about the world and sharing what you know with others. If so, you might have what it takes to become a Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward.

2025 73
article thumbnail

Ancient checked dress may be Europe's oldest two-colour garment

New Scientist

Textile fragments found in a 2800-year-old grave in the Netherlands were once part of a woven dress with a red and blue checked pattern, molecular analysis has revealed

144
144
article thumbnail

Why Countries Are Color-Coding Healthy Foods at Grocery Stores

Scientific American

European Union countries and Australia have rolled out front-of-package nutrient profiling.

93
article thumbnail

EPA Publishes Preliminary Lists of Manufacturers (Including Importers) Subject to Fees for Risk Evaluations

Nanotech

On December 31, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of and solicited comment on the preliminary lists of manufacturers (including importers) subject to fees for the next five chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under Section 6(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 89 Fed. Reg. 107099. The five chemicals that have been designated as High-Priority Substances (HPS) for risk evaluation and for which fees will be charged are acetaldehyde (Chemical