Time spent alone during the pandemic led to positive effects on well-being across all ages, new research has found. The study of more than 2000 teenagers and adults, published in Frontiers in Psychology today (Monday 1 November), found that most people experienced benefits from solitude during the early days of the global Covid-19 pandemic. All age groups […]

Taking action against climate change requires coordinated efforts and the support and cooperation of the public, and three new studies offer clues about the types of policies Americans are more likely to support and why. The researchers found that Americans may prefer policies that emphasize alternative energy sources over those that focus on energy reduction. […]

In February of 2020, no one could have fathomed that the very next month would usher in the COVID-19 pandemic – an era of global history that has (to date) resulted in 5 million deaths, 240 million cases, trillions of dollars lost, and the worsening of every inequality imaginable. And while scientists and governments have […]

Several U.S. cities have instituted taxes on drinks with added sugar in order to reduce consumption, but new research suggests these policies currently have one fatal flaw. The study found that sugary drink taxes only reduce purchasing if price tags at stores mention that consumers are paying that tax when they buy the drink. “If […]

A study led by the University of Cambridge has found that periodic mass outbreaks of leaf-munching caterpillars can improve the water quality of nearby lakes – but may also increase the lakes’ carbon dioxide emissions. From a water quality perspective they’re a good thing, but from a climate perspective they’re pretty bad Sam Woodman Outbreaks […]

As part of Conversations on Sustainability, a webinar series hosted by the Caltech Science Exchange, Adam Wierman, professor of computing and mathematical sciences and director of Information Science and Technology, and Steven Low, the Frank J. Gilloon Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences and Electrical Engineering, discussed how a “smarter” electrical grid can help us more […]

Physicists looking for signs of primordial gravitational waves by sifting through the earliest light in the cosmos – the cosmic microwave background (CMB) – have reported their findings: still nothing. But far from being a dud, the latest results from the BICEP3 experiment at the South Pole have tightened the bounds on models of cosmic […]

The first detailed analysis of the emissions associated with burning woody biomass imported from the US suggests that in the UK, 13–16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were added to the atmosphere in 2019. That’s equivalent to the yearly emissions of 6–7 million cars. Emissions from biomass burning are expected to grow to 17–20 million […]

UK-based researchers have devised a waste-free approach for oxidising alkenes to epoxides, in which atomic oxygen and carbon monoxide are both generated from carbon dioxide using non-thermal plasma. The method comes from a fairly unusual collaboration between organic chemist Benjamin Buckley and plasma scientist Felipe Iza, both at Loughborough University, and may help unlock the […]

While accurately predicting earthquakes is in the realm of science fiction, early warning systems are very much a reality. As advances in research and technology make these systems increasingly effective, they’re vital to reducing an earthquake’s human, social and economic toll. Damaging earthquakes can strike at any time. While we can’t prevent them from occurring, […]