News and Articles


EPA Orders Louisiana Poultry Farms to Stop Discharging Waste

Two chicken broiler facilities in Louisiana have received notice to stop dumping waste in a neighboring river.

EPA Health Assessment for Popular Dry Cleaning Solvent

In an effort to protect public health, the EPA completed an assessment of the popular dry cleaning solvent - perc. The final assessment determined that perc is a "likely human carcinogen."

Streams Need Trees to Withstand Climate Change

More than twenty years of biological monitoring have confirmed the importance of vegetation for protecting Australia's freshwater streams and rivers against the ravages of drought and climate change.

Electrical Engineers Build No Waste Laser

A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has built the smallest room-temperature nanolaser to date, as well as an even more startling device: a highly efficient, “thresholdless” laser that funnels all its photons into lasing, without any waste.

Chemists Harvest Light to Create Green Tool for Pharmaceuticals

A team of University of Arkansas researchers, including an Honors College undergraduate student, have created a new, “green” method for developing medicines.

Domestic Consumption Main Contributor to Africa's Growing E-waste

West Africa faces a rising tide of e-waste generated by domestic consumption of new and used electrical and electronic equipment, according to a new United Nations report. Domestic consumption makes up the majority (up to 85 percent) of waste electronic and electrical equipment produced in the region, according to the study.

Plants Don't Get Sunburn

Experts at the University of Glasgow have discovered how plants survive the harmful rays of the sun.

New Battery Could Lead to Cheaper, Efficient Solar Energy

A joint research project between the University of Southampton and lithium battery technology company REAPsystems has found that a new type of battery has the potential to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of solar power.

Feds Approve Calif. Sewage Ban and Create Largest Coastal No Discharge Zone in the Nation

U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld will sign a rule on Feb. 9, 2012, that will finalize EPA’s decision and approve a state proposal to ban all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going ships to state marine waters along California’s 1,624 mile coast from Mexico to Oregon and surrounding major islands. The action establishes a new federal regulation banning even treated sewage from being discharged in California’s marine waters.

Research Suggests Americans Know About Polar Regions, But Don't Care

Americans' knowledge of facts about the polar regions of the globe has increased since 2006, but this increase in knowledge has not translated into more concern about changing polar environments, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

New Material Capable of Stopping Carbon Dioxide

Filtering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from factory smokestacks is a necessary, but expensive part of many manufacturing processes. However, a collaborative research team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Delaware has gathered new insight into the performance of a material called a zeolite that may stop carbon dioxide in its tracks far more efficiently than current scrubbers do.

Bird Populations Near Fukushima are More Diminished than Expected

Low-level radiation in Fukushima Prefecture appears to have had immediate effects on bird populations, and to a greater degree than was expected from a related analysis of Chernobyl, an international team of scientists reported in Environmental Pollution.

Ancient Seagrass Holds Secrets of the Oldest Living Organism on Earth

It's big, it's old and it lives under the sea -- and now an international research collaboration with The University of Western Australia's Ocean's Institute has confirmed that an ancient seagrass holds the secrets of the oldest living organism on Earth.

Report On Texas Fire Urges Firefighters to Consider Wind Effects

Wind conditions at a fire scene can make a critical difference on the behavior of the blaze and the safety of firefighters, even indoors, according to a new report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Study Suggests Growing Up On a Farm Directly Affects Regulation of the Immune System

Immunological diseases, such as eczema and asthma, are on the increase in Western society and represent a major challenge for 21st century medicine.

Carbonized Coffee Grounds Remove Foul Smells

For coffee lovers, the first cup of the morning is one of life's best aromas. But did you know that the leftover grounds could eliminate one of the worst smells around – sewer gas?

Why Common Tree is Toxic to Snowshoe Hares

Boise State University biologists have uncovered why the chemical defenses in birch, a common type of tree found in North America, are toxic to snowshoe hares.

USDA Creates Online Tool for Mapping Water Use and Drought

Farmers and water managers may soon have an online tool to help them assess drought and irrigation impacts on water use and crop development, thanks to the work of two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.

Biosphere Study at the University of Arizona

Scientists are preparing to launch a 10-year project to study water resources, gas exchange and carbon cycling in three man-made landscapes built in a half-acre laboratory at the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2.

How Soil Production Processes Respond to Erosion

In many ways, soil is fundamental to life. Flora and fauna depend on its presence for their survival as much as they depend on water and air. In order to sustain its soil content, an ecosystem needs to maintain a balance between rates of soil erosion and soil production. Factors such as tectonic plate movement or climate change can tip this balance, and learning how such changes affect soil cover is crucial to our understanding of how the Earth’s surface works.