Popular Science

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USE WHAT YOU’VE GOT

Popular Science

CONTRIBUTORS

source of a different color

netflix and don’t kill the planet

you make me feel brand new

the ISS is (almost) a closed loop

grass from the past

what you take with you

the chow we chuck

we might run out of these elements

THE FOREST MAPPER

DON’T HAVE A COW

INSPECTOR GADGETS

GREENER GRASS

DON’T FEAR THE REPAIR

DITCH THE DISPOSABLES

POWER RANGERS

HOW MANY PEOPLE IS TOO MANY PEOPLE?

Popular Science

RISE OF THE PLASTIC EATERS • SCIENTISTS HAVE NEW HOPE THAT NATURE MIGHT HOLD A SOLUTION FOR OUR MOST PROBLEMATIC POLYMERS

The Florida Problem

A New Era Blooms • The toxic red tide that plagued Florida for more than a year left many unsolved mysteries in its wake, including how climate change might be fueling killer algae around the world.

Death of the Reef • A fast-moving contagion fueled by global warming is decimating coral in the Florida Keys. The latest bid to fight it relies on a potentially risky treatment.

Making room for everyone • ELIZABETH FLEMING, SENIOR FLORIDA REPRESENTATIVE OF DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE

Why did it have to be snakes? • IAN BARTOSZEK, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST AT THE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

A fresh-squeezed nightmare • GEE ROE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE OPERATIONS AT W.G. ROE & SONS FARM

Salt in an open aquifer • RENÉ PRICE, HYDROLOGIST AND CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

parts and labor

Big Ag to the Rescue? • Large-scale farming has a well-earned rep as America’s top eco-villain. But what if the industry could change to be more sustainable? Unthinkable? Turns out, shifting to accommodate our planet is the entire story of agriculture in the United States.

Looking at the past…. …to fix the future

MINE in the MOON • LUNAR EXPLORATION STARTED AS AN ADVENTURE. NOW, WE ALSO SEE DOLLAR SIGNS IN SIDE THAT SMILING CHEESE.

THE GIVING TREES • Urban canopies help our air, health, and electric bills, but they’re shr inking. Proactive cities are determined to bring them back.

tops in trees • Cities measure canopy by the percent of ground trees cover. These are five of the shadiest.

TRANSFORMERS • Renewable energy needs more than just wind turbines and solar panels. It needs massive power substations like these, which can send electricity for a million homes across an ocean in seconds.

WHERE THE BUFFALO NO LONGER ROAM • DESPITE WHAT SEEMS LIKE A CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY, OUR NATIONAL MAMMAL MIGHT STILL BEAT RISK.

i grow seed libraries • REBECCA NEWBURN, CO-FOUNDER OF RICHMOND GROWS SEED LENDING LIBRARY IN RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA

holding on to our helium • CHRISTOPHER RITHNER, SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTI STAT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

how to turn a city’s poop into dirt • IAN MOEDE, ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM COORDINATOR AT AUSTIN WATER

laborious lab work • Modern science is fast; the advent of computers, algorithms, and artificial intelligence helps scientists accomplish in seconds what used to take days. Some efforts, though, still require a slower pace or the keen skill of the human eye and brain. For these experiments, time is a crucial ingredient. Here’s a look at a few particularly painstaking duties—and just how long scientists spend on them.

i study ancient crap • JACK TSENG, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY AND...