Environment

Things have been heating up for the Sun, as the star approaches peak activity during its 11-year cycle, with giant eruptions bursting regularly from its surface. Luckily for us, this coincides with the Moon passing between the Earth and its host star, offering a captivating view of the solar corona during the upcoming solar eclipse. We might also witness some extraordinary activity on the Sun during those rare moments of totality.See How X-Men '97 Faithful Riffs on the Classic X-Men Cartoon OpeningIf you’ve been paying…

It was around 5 pm on March 15, and the light was fading fast, when Constantin and Tatiana were attacked by the bear. The young couple, aged 29 and 31 and identified in local media reports only by their first names, were Belarusians living in Poland. But Constantin had been working for the winter as a ski instructor in Jasná, a popular resort in neighboring Slovakia. The winter season was coming to an end, and on a day off he’d decided to go hiking with his girlfriend beneath the 4,718 foot-high peak of Na Jame, in the…

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the “Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council" on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6, 2024.Amanda Andrade-rhoades | ReutersTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday lauded President Joe Biden's investment in electric vehicles for accelerating the sector, even as the industry cools off from its yearslong hot streak.Yellen touted Biden's EV actions in Kentucky at a new $49 million EV battery…

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.Top 5 Shopping Tips for Amazon Prime DayFeeling guilty about all those blue-and-white plastic Amazon bags piling up around the house? Fear not — they can be recycled! At least, that’s what the packaging says.For years now, Amazon’s plastic bags, bubble-lined mailers, and air pillows have featured the ubiquitous “chasing arrows” recycling symbol along with the words “store drop-off.” The idea is simple: Since most curbside recycling…

The phone or computer you’re reading this on may not be long for this world. Maybe you’ll drop it in water, or your dog will make a chew toy of it, or it’ll reach obsolescence. If you can’t repair it and have to discard it, the device will become e-waste, joining an alarmingly large mountain of defunct TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, cameras, routers, electric toothbrushes, headphones. This is “electrical and electronic equipment,” aka EEE—anything with a plug or battery. It’s increasingly out of control.As…

Richard Battarbee spent his entire life studying freshwater ecology as an academic at University College London—but it was only when he retired to Yorkshire that he found himself on the frontline of a battle to save a river. Fishermen in the town of Ilkley near where he lived started catching condoms, wet wipes and sanitary towels on their lines. Residents were noticing that fish and other animals were dying en masse. The water was discolored every time it rained heavily. Something was wrong in the river Wharfe.Battarbee,…

Abandon all hope, ye who enter the waters off Cyprus. A team of researchers report that the giant water bug L. patruelis has arrived in the country, sparking concerns that the creature has an established presence on the island.How Important Was it for Jason Reitman to be a Part of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire?The bug has never been recorded in Cyprus before, though it inhabits nearby continental countries like Greece, Turkey, and Israel. Now, a team of researchers report seven sightings of the insect, primarily on Cyprus’…

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.How Important Was it for Jason Reitman to be a Part of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire?People living near plants that use ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment have for years pressured regulators to crack down on their toxic emissions. Residents in communities from Laredo, Texas, to Willowbrook, Illinois, have tried to shut these facilities down, challenged them in court, and fought for air-sampling studies to measure their…

Diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring material on Earth, but a supercomputer just modeled stuff that’s even harder. Called a ‘super-diamond,’ the theoretical material could exist beyond our planet—and maybe, one day, be created here on Earth.Do We Have to Send Humans to Mars for Exploration?Like normal diamonds, super-diamonds are made from carbon atoms. This specific phase of carbon, composed of eight atoms, should be stable at ambient conditions. In other words, it could exist in an Earth laboratory.The specific…

By TOM KRISHER and MATTHEW DALY (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week is expected to announce new automobile emissions standards that relax proposed limits for three years but eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The changes come as sales of zero-tailpipe emissions electric vehicles, needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry has cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA’s preferred standards unveiled…