A Japanese steel giant has pledged billions in new investment in Pennsylvania’s Monongahela River Valley, raising hopes that it would clean up pollution from its steel mills in the region. But documents show that its plans to ramp up production will worsen local air quality.
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Solutions
Beyond Lithium: New Battery Tech Starts to Break Through
As EV sales boom and grids seek more energy storage, researchers are racing to develop batteries that are cheaper, more powerful, and less reliant on hard-to-source materials. Lithium-ion still dominates, but sodium-ion and solid-state technologies are moving from lab to market.
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INTERVIEW
What Do We Actually Know About the Microplastics Inside Us?
Pervasive plastic contamination and unreliable methods have clouded the science on microplastics in the human body. In an interview, Australian scientist Cassandra Rauert, who built a plastics-free lab to study human exposure, explores the challenges for researchers.
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Energy
In East Africa, a Controversial Oil Project Is Poised for Production
Despite years of opposition, a 900-mile crude oil pipeline through East Africa is about to be completed, and its environmental and social risks are coming into focus. Campaigners in Uganda and abroad are making a final push to halt the project before the oil starts to flow.
Climate
A Missing Piece in Climate Models: Nature’s Own Emissions
Rising temperatures are set to drive up emissions from wildfires, fermenting wetlands, and melting permafrost, but these feedback loops are poorly captured in climate models. Scientists are racing to make sense of these emissions to gauge how much warming may lie ahead.
E360 Digest
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Drained Under Soviet Rule, Aral Sea Has Become a Huge Source of Emissions
The Aral Sea sits between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and was once the fourth-largest inland body of water on Earth. For the past 60 years, though, humans have bled it nearly dry irrigating cotton crops, leaving behind a salty plain the size of Ireland. Its loss has long been seen as an ecological and humanitarian problem, but new research shows that it has also been a significant driver of climate change. More about Drained Under Soviet Rule, Aral Sea Has Become a Huge Source of Emissions →
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New Species of Monkey Discovered in the Congo
Scientists have identified a new species of monkey in the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is just the fifth new species of African monkey discovered in the last 75 years. More about New Species of Monkey Discovered in the Congo →
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Risks Loom for Chinese Dam Project Being Built on Active Fault Line
As China erects the largest hydropower installation on Earth atop an active fault line in the Himalayas, Chinese scientists are calling on engineers to guard against risks from earthquakes. More about Risks Loom for Chinese Dam Project Being Built on Active Fault Line →
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Energy
A Home Battery Revolution Is Reshaping the Power Grid
As residential batteries have become more energy dense, cheaper, and smaller, more households are storing their excess solar power. Now, utilities and energy companies in dozens of countries are buying up those electrons, bundling them together, and using them to balance the grid.
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INTERVIEW
An EPA Researcher Details the Agency’s Assault on Science
In January 2025, the Trump administration began shutting down projects within the EPA’s independent science division that touched on climate change and environmental justice. Air quality researcher Thomas Luben, who had worked at the agency for 18 years, was fired for objecting.
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Oceans
Efforts to Save Kelp Forests from Ocean Warming Are Ramping Up
At one time, kelp forests — which shelter fish, slow erosion, and sequester carbon — grew along a third of the world’s coastlines. Now, scientists are working to bolster heat-stressed kelp by attacking the urchins that prey on them and transplanting hardier kelp varieties.
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Biodiversity
Pollution Is Changing the Smells of Nature, With Risks for Wildlife
A growing body of research shows how air pollution, fertilizers, and fungicides are altering the chemical signals that plants and animals use to communicate. Scientists warn that insect reproduction, foraging, navigation, and even the pollination of crops could be affected.
