The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Prochlorococcus bacteria are so small that you’d have to line up around a thousand of them to match the thickness of a human thumbnail. The ocean seethes with them: The microbes are likely the most abundant photosynthetic organism on theContinue Reading
This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. As part of a broad effort to bypass Congress and unilaterally cut government spending, Donald Trump’s administration has all but shut down operations at the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, the independent federal bodyContinue Reading
At the world’s most renowned meteorite show, in Ensisheim in France, I noticed there were many dealers from Morocco. Unlike most of the Europeans and Americans—who had display cases and labels and books—the Moroccan stalls were minimalistic. Perhaps a white sheet covered with lumps of reddish-brown rocks. A pair ofContinue Reading
Taiwan’s transition from coal and gas to renewable energy, mostly solar and wind, is crucial for the country to reach its legally enshrined 2050 target for net-zero emissions. And it’s not just about emissions reduction; this next evolution of the electricity system is the foundation for Taiwan’s ongoing economic development.Continue Reading
Evolution, ethnography, epidemics—this is the soup from which Dengue Boy, a brilliantly strange new novel by the Argentine author Michel Nieva, emerges. The eponymous Dengue Boy is a mosquito–human hybrid who might be an experiment, a genetic mutant, or the result of some terrible corporate crime. He might be allContinue Reading
“Which one is which?” my husband asked, peering at the side-by-side maidenhair ferns in 6.5-inch pots I’d left on the dining room table. One had been planted in regular hardware store potting soil, the other in a mixture of potting soil and compost made from the previous month’s kitchen scraps.Continue Reading
When I spoke with Guldin in December, after the first stage of the pilot had finished, he sketched a rough vision of what this work could look like in the not-too-distant future. Robotic crawlers equipped with cameras, powerful lights, sonar, and upgraded grabber systems might be used to pick upContinue Reading
In recent years, green hydrogen has gained significant attention in Nepali energy discourse, emerging as a symbol of new ambition and opportunity. For Nepal, sitting on abundant water resources and with its often cited but largely untapped hydropower potential of 80 GW, the idea of channeling anticipated surplus electricity intoContinue Reading
A large-scale development plan in Hong Kong that received government approval in late 2024 is drawing criticism from environmental groups, who have voiced concerns over the planned destruction of coastal wetlands. The 74,000 acre Northern Metropolis project will bring 2.5 million new residents to Hong Kong’s New Territories, transforming farmContinue Reading
As the home to the U.S. military’s headquarters for Indo-Pacific operations, Hawai’i’s pivotal role as the United States’ fulcrum in the Pacific is unquestionable. However, Hawai’i’s local energy infrastructure issues have major implications for the security of U.S. forces in the Pacific and may pose a gaping vulnerability to trans-PacificContinue Reading
