Essential to the production of smartphones, fighter jets, and electric vehicles, rare-earth metals have turned into a key strategic leverage point after China—the leading supplier—imposed export limits earlier this year. As the EU rolls out a plan on Wednesday to boost European production of critical raw materials and reduce reliance on China, here are some […]

We encounter air pollution every day. As soon as we go outside, we breathe in pollutants from sources like smoke, dust, fossil fuel emissions, wildfires and more. In recognition of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, experts at Baylor College of Medicine highlight how air pollution harms our overall health, especially our lungs. Air Pollution Still Threatens […]

Conventional synthetic herbicides are often harsh and harmful to the environment, making them best avoided whenever possible. In response, a team of Japanese scientists is developing an eco-friendly alternative made from the leaves of the modest walnut tree. The Allelopathic Power of the Manchurian Walnut Tree For years, scientists have observed that few large plants […]

Dutch scientists created an artificial cloud in a glass chamber to study rain formation and explore uses in climatology and drought prevention. Miniature Cloud Experiment Replicates the Water Cycle Researchers simulated condensation conditions on a small scale until droplets combined and fell as raindrops. This scaled-down version of a natural process successfully replicated part of […]

For decades, plastic has posed one of the greatest environmental threats to the planet. It builds up in oceans, harms marine life, and can take hundreds of years to break down—particularly durable varieties like polyurethane. Now, however, scientists have been stunned by a new finding: a marine species capable of degrading this very type of […]

A new study challenges the long-standing assumption that frozen conditions slow chemical activity, offering fresh insight into the mysterious orange tint of Arctic rivers. The research reveals that ice can actually outperform liquid water in extracting iron from common minerals. Arctic Rivers Turning Orange Over recent years, rivers across the Arctic have taken on an […]

This summer, scientists drilled beneath the Atlantic off the U.S. Northeast and uncovered a vast, little-known freshwater reservoir — a finding that could hold major implications for a world grappling with a worsening water crisis. Freshwater beneath the Atlantic has been known for decades but left mostly unexplored. In the 1960s and 1970s, research expeditions […]

Here’s some uplifting news: the Earth’s ozone shield is on the mend. In 2024, the seasonal gap in the stratosphere measured smaller than during the years 2020 through 2023. A step toward full protection This signals progress toward restoring full ozone coverage, which protects us from the Sun’s damaging ultraviolet radiation. The World Meteorological Organization […]

Researchers at ICN2 have found that bending ice produces electricity, offering new insight into the origin of lightning. Ubiquitous in nearly all cold ecosystems, ice is still unveiling hidden properties. Ice Proven to Be Flexoelectric Through International Collaboration In a global collaboration with Xi’an Jiaotong University (China) and Stony Brook University (USA), the Catalan Institute […]

According to a study from the University of Michigan, dinosaurs influenced Earth so profoundly that their abrupt extinction caused widespread landscape transformations—including alterations in river patterns—which are now preserved in the geologic record. Scientists have long noticed a sharp contrast in rock formations from the time just before and just after the dinosaurs’ extinction. Traditionally, […]