HEAT – So far, July 2023 has been the hottest on Earth in history. Sadly, that breaks the record just set in June 2023. The heat has set new records equally in Canada, United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and eastern Australia. If 2022 is any indication, the heat will be deadly: 11,000 people died from […]
Many cities light up the sky during festive occasions. In the United States, today marks a holiday often celebrated with fireworks. But with drought plaguing some areas, the risk of igniting wildfires is causing an innovation: sky art with drones. Instead of traditional fireworks, the city of Boulder, Colorado will feature a drone show (the […]
Humans have long dreamed of magical transformations. Jabir ibn Hayyan, 8th century alchemist, and Albertus Magnus, colleague of fellow Dominican Thomas Aquinas, who wrote of the lapis philosophorum or “philosopher’s stone” that turned base metals into gold, are among those who foresaw what may be natural magic that could help to transform climate change, altering […]
It’s obvious that sea level rise will threaten low-lying coastal areas. But more than 50% of all Earth’s coasts are cliff-lined. Are these higher elevations safe? Not really. Climate scientists and city planners worrying about sea level rise have mostly focused on immediately vulnerable low-lying cities. That’s appropriate and urgent: more than one billion people […]
Earth Day‘s theme for 2023: INVEST in OUR PLANET. Linking business, finance, and investment to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) goals and values will be critical to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. IBM’s Institute for Business Value (IBV) surveyed 20,000 consumers, 2,500 executives in 22 industries and 34 countries about the relationship of climate-protection […]
Can the orbital commons bring the world together? That was the vision of COMSAT. It all started with a 1955 article “Orbital Radio Relays” by John R. Pierce of Bell Labs, AT&T’s incubator for new ideas. Perhaps Pierce had read Arthur C. Clarke’s article “Extra-Terrestrial Relays,” published a decade before. When the first Trans-Atlantic Telephone […]
One of the joys of city living is availability and variety of take-out food. From cheesy fries to pizza by the slice, urban snacks are legendary. But most of these treats come in plastic containers that eventually end up in landfills. Cities are filled with discarded plastic, from single-use containers to bottled water. Every year, […]
Dust – it’s something we may not think about until we swipe a finger across a windowsill or squint an eye on a windy hike. But did you know that dust comes in different colors? Minerals in the land, when they become dust, have various reflective properties according to their composition. Those colors have an […]
Smart phones are common but so-called “earths” that power these devices are rare. In fact, 17 elements termed rare earth elements or REEs supply everything from phones to electric vehicles, wind turbines, and military systems. That glowing light on your car dashboard? Rare earth chemistry in action. Rare earths are obtained by mining, combined with […]
Significant engineering, scientific, and technical achievements shaped the course of civilization. In their day and at their time, these achievements were breakthroughs, and advanced progress. But now older energy grids are inadequate to current needs; water systems leak; bridges and roads need repair. With climate change, increasingly devastating storms demand rebuilding. Sea level rise will […]