Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP), a technology Japan is currently pioneering to ensure a sustainable future, has the ability to provide a world where solar energy never fades, even when the sun sets or clouds gather. At the heart of this journey is the OHISAMA project, named after a lovely Japanese term for ‘the sun’ that…
Across Massachusetts, an unusual partnership is bringing renewable energy and traditional farming together on the same land. Sheep are being brought onto ground-mounted solar farms, where the panels provide shade while the animals graze on grass and weeds growing beneath and between the arrays. Known as solar grazing, the practice gives solar operators a natural…
Sierra Nevada pond during low- and high-snowfall years, showing how snow levels change the landscape. ( Picture: Christine C. Bonadonna) High in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, small ponds may look peaceful and unchanged. Surrounded by rocky peaks and open skies, they appear calm during summer. But beneath the surface, these shallow water bodies are constantly…
A restored wetland area surrounded by our Natural Water Sanctuary. (Picture source: Suntory) For years, many rice fields in Japan have been left unused as fewer people continued farming and rural communities grew older. Without regular care, many of these fields became covered with weeds. The frogs, dragonflies and other small animals that once lived…
Life on Earth isn’t just about the flora and fauna anymore, microplastics have entered the equation deep enough to reach the surface levels of vast oceans that no human has ever seen. Plastic pollution has become a global environmental crisis with an estimated 11 million tons of plastic entering the oceans annually. As larger plastic…
Image Credit: Alex Ingle/Schmidt Ocean Institute. In January 2025, a massive event occurred at the Antarctic that changed what we know about life in the extreme cold. An iceberg the size of Chicago, named ‘A-84,’ broke away from Antarctica’s George VI Ice Shelf. As this massive block of ice, roughly 19 miles long and 11…
Deep inside the mountains of Peru, scientists have discovered two tiny frog species that were completely unknown until now. They were found in a special type of mountain forest called an elfin forest. These forests are cold, wet and often covered in thick mist. They grow high in the mountains, where the trees stay short…
On a remote stretch of sand in Assam’s Brahmaputra River, this person spent decades doing something that seemed almost invisible at first. Day after day, Jadav “Molai” Payeng planted trees on land that had been damaged by erosion and changing river patterns. There was no large campaign behind the effort, no immediate recognition, and no…
Cities in the Netherlands are experimenting with a greener approach to urban surfaces by using grass-filled permeable paving blocks in places where conventional sealed concrete or asphalt might otherwise be used. These specially designed blocks contain open spaces where grass can grow, while gaps in the surface allow rainwater to pass through rather than immediately…
Deep within the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, scientists discovered a fungus with an extraordinary ability that could offer new clues in the fight against plastic pollution. Known as Pestalotiopsis microspora, the fungus can break down polyester polyurethane, a widely used type of plastic, and use it as a source of carbon. Even more remarkably, laboratory research…
