Science Corner

Innovation in energy and sustainability is supported by research and discovery in science and engineering. Planet Forward’s Science Corner, brought to you in partnership with the National Science Foundation, takes a look at the science behind the innovations of today and tomorrow.

Soccer Stadiums Help Fight Climate Change in Brazil

Brazil is a solar energy pioneer in Latin America. The country’s biggest photovoltaic facility is a unique one: it ... more ...

Architecture, Climate Change, Economics, Efficiency, Engineering, Green Building, Green Living, Recycling, Renewable Energy, Solar

Volcanic Power in El Salvador

El Salvador is well-known for its majestic, powerful volcanoes. The hot, steaming lava that bubbles just under the ... more ...

Adaptation, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Engineering, Geothermal, Renewable Energy

How Much Would Sea Levels Rise If All Polar Ice Melted?

Calcutta, Shanghai, London – Low-lying cities will get into trouble if sea levels continue to rise. Ice masses at ... more ...

Climate Change, Science, Water

What Is Your Personal CO2 Balance?

Global Ideas seeks to break down pressing, complex issues about climate change. We’ve begun a series of ... more ...

Climate Change, Education, Green Living

Gardening Goes Guerilla in Berlin

Once a wasteland in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, a plot of land in the middle of Berlin has been revitalized and ... more ...

Activism, Agriculture, Green Communities, Smart Cities

Clean Water for Turkey

Turkey invests massively in its infrastructure, especially in water treatment where there is still a pent-up demand. ... more ...

Health, Smart Cities, Water

Hydrostation ‘S’: The Longest Ocean Time Series Reveals ‘Smoking Gun’ of Climate Change

A program that has been measuring ocean temperature and chemistry since 1954 shows the ocean has been gradually warming ... more ...

Climate Change, Oceans, Water

Combustion Vessel Tests Energy Efficiency

Researchers at Michigan Technical University (MTU) have created a combustion vessel to study engine technologies ... more ...

Science, Transportation

Climate CoLab: Online Citizen Collaboration on Climate Solutions

Climate CoLab–a new online forum developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of ... more ...

Climate Change, Green Communities, Science

After Japan Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: How Much Radioactivity in the Oceans?

Among the casualties of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan was the country’s Fukushima ... more ...

Storing Sunlight As Heat

H. Peter Vollhardt and collaborators at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered molecules composed of ... more ...

Alternative Storage for Alternative Fuels

Hong-Cai Zhou’s team at Texas A&M University has developed many unique porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) ... more ...

Energy Storage, Science

Better Biofilm Reactors for Microbial Fuel Cells

Northwestern University researchers have found that microbial fuel cells designed to produce electricity and clean ... more ...

Project GreenLight Powers Up Direct Current Servers

Project GreenLight added direct current-powered (DC) servers as one of its instrumented server facility capabilities. ... more ...

Clean Tech, Efficiency, Science

Biochar Produces Better Crops and Cleaner Air

A multinational research team is developing biochars–fine-grained, highly porous charcoal that helps soils retain ... more ...

Agriculture, Science

Controlling Light Pollution

New measurements of the NSF-funded Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz., show that sky brightness has ... more ...

Green Building, Green Communities, Green Living, Science

Sparking the Algae Harvest

A team of engineers and scientists at North Carolina State University has developed a new method for harvesting marine ... more ...

Agriculture, Algae, Biofuels, Science

Conversion of Sugars to Make Fuels, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals

Researchers have developed a way to make an efficient catalyst that transforms biomass-derived sugars into a compound ... more ...

Biofuels, Science

Engineering Bacteria to Make Biofuels

Researchers have re-engineered an anaerobic bacterium known as clostridia to prevent spore formation, a change that ... more ...

Biofuels, Science, Transportation

Identifying Severe Weather Outbreaks Earlier

A team of scientists from three universities has developed a weather-prediction system that will allow forecasters to ... more ...

Natural Disasters, Science

Understanding the Nanoparticle in Renewable Energy

Using a powerful electron microscope, a research group at Arizona State University has observed dynamic behavior in ... more ...

Renewable Energy, Science

Winter Shrinking by Seven Days Each Decade

Adaptation, Agriculture, Science

Toward a Low Energy Computer: Efficient Caches

In an NSF-sponsored project, computer scientists at the University of Utah have developed techniques to reduce the ... more ...

Adaptation, Business, Clean Tech, Colleges and Universities, Efficiency, Engineering, Green Communities, Green Living, Science

Oil-spill Cleanup Material: Coal Fly Ash

A team of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Central Florida is transforming fly ash–a waste ... more ...

Adaptation, Colleges and Universities, Education, Efficiency, Green Living, Science

Polymers for Stronger, More Efficient Solar Cells

Science at work! NSF-funded engineers have found a way to make solar cells with plastics in a cheaper, more ... more ...

Clean Tech, Engineering, Science, Solar

Green Roofs: Reflecting Light and Radiating Cool

Because cities have so many dark surfaces that absorb heat, they can become extremely hot and congested during the ... more ...

Adaptation, Architecture, Engineering, Green Building, Green Communities, Green Living, Science

Glass Powder Absorbs Oil, Waste from Water and Air

NSF-sponsored research at an Ohio college has led to a revolutionary discovery, a new form of silica glass that can ... more ...

Adaptation, Business, Clean Tech, Economics, Science

Embedded Sea Ice Model with Tidal Forcing May Improve Climate Projections

University of Alaska researchers developed a numerical model of the ice-covered Arctic ocean that includes tides. They ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Colleges and Universities, Engineering, Oceans, Science, Water

New Materials Turn Heat Into Electricity

Most of today’s power plants–from some of the largest solar arrays to nuclear energy facilities–rely ... more ...

Efficiency, Engineering, Renewable Energy, Science, Solar, Water

Cameroonian Farmers Model Effective Resource Management

Counter to conventional wisdom, rural communities demonstrate that self-regulated, community-based resource management ... more ...

Adaptation, Agriculture, Green Communities, Green Living, Science

Tracking Invasive Plants Using Mobile Phones

Researchers have come up with an easy way for both park employees and visitors to contribute to conservation ... more ...

Adaptation, Business, Education, Green Living, Science

Crab Shells Clean Acid Mine Drainage

Engineers at the Pennsylvania State University have found crab-shell chitin effectively raises acidity (pH) levels and ... more ...

Adaptation, Campus Sustainability, Colleges and Universities, Education, Engineering, Green Communities, Science

Porous Carbon Captures Greenhouse Gas

Keith Gubbins of North Carolina State University, Raleigh, in collaboration with industrial partners, has discovered ... more ...

Smaller Particles Could Mean More Efficient Solar Panels

Studies done by Mark Lusk and colleagues at the Colorado School of Mines could significantly improve the efficiency of ... more ...

Adaptation, Architecture, Clean Tech, Engineering, Green Building, Green Living, Science, Solar

Robots to Monitor Oil Spills Where Humans Can’t Reach

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Distributed Robotics is developing an amphibious robotic system, the ... more ...

Adaptation, Clean Tech, Engineering, Science

Use of Plug-in Cars May Increase Due to Smaller Batteries

Electric vehicles are here to stay. With that being said, how will EVs engage more drivers while increasing efficiency? ... more ...

Adaptation, Business, Clean Tech, Electric Cars, Green Living, Hybrid Vehicles, Science

A New Biofuel – Mixed Prairie Grasses

Mixed prairie grasses, grown on degraded land, may be a better source of biofuel than corn ethanol or soybean biodiesel. ... more ...

Adaptation, Biofuels, Clean Tech, Science

Mammals Seek Higher Elevations as Climate Warms

Many species of mammals in Yosemite National Park have shifted their home ranges to higher elevations over the last ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Science

Ocean Circulation Plays a Major Role in Controlling Greenhouse Gas Fluctuations

Over time, warming events in Greenland and the North Atlantic were followed by gradual cooling. These changes correlate ... more ...

Adaptation, Clean Tech, Climate Change, International Climate Negotiations, Oceans, Science, Water

Engineering Inspired by Nature

By modeling designs after concepts found in nature, engineers hope to create stronger buildings and more efficient ... more ...

Architecture, Biomimicry, Efficiency, Green Building, Green Communities, Science

New Technique Rapidly Analyzes Chemical Composition of Organic Aerosols

Researchers have developed a new way to monitor organic aerosols (OA)–a sizable class of atmospheric aerosols, ... more ...

Adaptation, Clean Tech, Climate Change, International Climate Negotiations, Science

Genetic Consequences of Climate Change

Recently, multiple NSF-funded researchers have documented genetic changes resulting from climate change. These studies ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Science

George Mason Studies Resilience Of Arctic People For Adaptation Research

George Mason University researchers are investigating the resilience of Arctic peoples to changes in their local ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Green Communities, Science

Rising Seas Bring Salty Risks

A rising tide may lift all boats, but what does it do to marshlands? In this week's WEBISODE we ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Oceans, Science, Water

Science Nation – Marshes and Sea Level Rise

Villanova University marine scientist Nathaniel Weston studies how both land use and climate change can impact habitat ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Oceans, Science, Water

New Climate Mode of Variability Links Ocean Climate and Ecosystem Change

Decadal fluctuations in ocean salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, a variety of zooplankton species, and fish stocks in the ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Geothermal, International Climate Negotiations, Oceans, Science, Water

How Climate Change Is Choking Marine Ecosystems

While investigating the effects of climate change on nitrogen cycling in temperate coastal systems, Rhode Island ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Science, Water

Thoreau’s Woods Reveal Patterns of Climate Change

It is not often that a scientist collaborates with a writer and philosopher, let alone one that lived in a previous ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Science

Global Climate Change Teacher Institute

The development of the Global Climate Change Teacher Institute by Kurt Pregitzer of the Michigan Technological ... more ...

Climate Change, Education, Science

Microgrids Can Be Used To Integrate Renewable Energy Into The Power Grid

Renewable energy sources that power residences and small businesses are usually integrated into small networks known as ... more ...

Clean Tech, Efficiency, Engineering, Renewable Energy, Science

Greenstreets: Drexel University Researchers Investigate Urban Ecosystem Improvements

In urban areas that receive a lot of rain, researchers from Drexel University have transformed small green spaces, such ... more ...

Engineering, Green Building, Green Communities, Science

Mosquito Population will Increase with Climate Change say University of Arizona Researchers

Research on the impact of climate change on mosquitoes has revealed that their populations will increase, as well as ... more ...

Climate Change, Health, Science

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing Conductive Paint for Flexible Solar Panels

Researchers at the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Minnesota are ... more ...

Clean Tech, Engineering, Renewable Energy, Science, Solar

Solar Energy – Green Revolution

In this episode of Green Revolution, learn how solar cells capture energy from the sun, and how scientists and engineers ... more ...

Raise the Roof!

In this week's webisode, we bring you an idea from the National Science Foundation about the benefits of green roofs. ... more ...

Adaptation, Climate Change, Green Building, Green Communities, Green Living

Powering Up with Smart Grids – Green Revolution

According to these researchers, renewable energy is a vital part of the country’s energy future. However, there is ... more ...

Clean Tech, Science

Microbes! – Green Revolution

Can bugs save the planet? Join host Lisa Van Pay, PhD (aka a scientist) as she explores exciting alternative energy ... more ...

Biomimicry, Clean Tech, Science

City Car – Green Revolution

Last night on Bloomberg West we showed you City Car, a car that’s in a league of its own! These shareable electric cars ... more ...

Science, Transportation

Hydrogen as Energy – Green Revolution

How do we harness the power of hydrogen and turn it into useable energy? This episode of Green Revolution talks to ... more ...

Science, Transportation

Green Roofs – Science Nation

Ingenuity sprouting from the rooftops. The rooftops of Manhattan are as varied as the city itself. A glance at the city ... more ...

Agriculture, Science

EVs Get the Greenlight: The Science Behind Electric Acceleration

Have you driven an EV and noticed how quickly it accelerates from rest? Cartoonist Mitch Butler explains the phenomenon ... more ...

Electric Cars, Engineering, Transportation

Nobel Argon Gas: The Science of Energy Efficient Windows

Meet Argon, a lazy noble gas, and join him on his journey to find his place in the world.
more

Architecture, Clean Tech, Science

It’s Electric: The Science Behind Solar Panels

Finalist Danny Kennedy leases solar panels, but, after all these years of looking at the bluish, glassy panels, do you ... more ...

Clean Tech, Science, Solar

Biomass – Green Revolution

How do we turn biological material into energy? This episode of Green Revolution explores how scientists are studying ... more ...

Algae, Biofuels, Science

Science Nation – Green Gasoline from Cellulose

Carbon neutral gasoline … from plants! Like everyone else, George Huber knows money doesn’t grow on trees. ... more ...

Biofuels, Science

Green Revolution – Wind Power

We just launched a new partnership with NSF to bring you the Science Corner, where you can get all the science you need. ... more ...