Is Nuclear Energy Our Best Hope?
Even the creator of the holistic Gaia hypothesis has come around. 04.25.2008
Biofuel Farming Looks to Be an Environmental Disaster
Growing corn for ethanol may increase greenhouse gases for over a century. 04.03.2008
The Great Forgotten Clean-Energy Source: Geothermal
The U.S. uses less than 1 percent of our available geothermal energy. 04.03.2008
Has Science Found a Way to End All Wars?
Given adequate food, fuel, and gender equality, mass conflict just might disappear. 03.13.2008
A New Source of Green Energy: Burning Tires?
If rubber recycling hits a glut, there may be little choice. 02.12.2008
The Latest Weapon Against Global Warming: Your Fridge
Smart appliances react to the grid to prevent blackouts—and pollution. 02.11.2008
If Life Gives You Methane, Make Methane Energy
The global warming risk that's also a great opportunity 01.31.2008
The Cheapest Way to Power Your Car
If you had the right ride, hydropower could lop 2/3 off your gas bills. 12.18.2007
Green House vs. Greenhouse
To save the environment, imitate mobile homes and go pre-fab. 11.29.2007
Solar Power, At Last?
The long-sought mechanism for a superior solar cell may now be at hand. 11.16.2007
Better Planet: Nuke Power is Earth's Friend
It’s time to replace coal power with wind and, yes, nuclear. 08.01.2007
The First Nuclear Refugees Come Home
Chernobyl-area natives return to find a city of ghosts. 06.08.2007
The Ultimate Garbage Disposal
A power station eats up dirty landfill and churns out clean electricity. 05.18.2007
Can Coal Come Clean?
How to survive the return of the world's dirtiest fossil fuel. 12.18.2006
Life After Oil
Everyone from GM to President Bush is suddenly infatuated with ethanol. Here's how Big Corn could really replace Big Oil. 08.01.2006
Homegrown Fuel
New research on reducing our dependence on foreign oil—with paper. 07.25.2006
A Better Energizer
An ultracapacitor is what really keeps going and going. . . . 05.28.2006
All Aboard The Cow Train
Natural gas from the manure of about 30 cows powers a train. 05.28.2006
Anything Into Oil
Turkey guts, junked car parts, and even raw sewage go in one end of this plant, and black gold comes out the other end. 04.02.2006
The Energizer
Amory Lovins has a vision: The U.S. economy keeps going and going and going—without any oil 02.20.2006
Wave Energy
Can a mechanical snake that surfs the ocean squeeze enough watts from water? 12.02.2005
Energy
Who needs oil or coal or gas when the world is full of plain old algae? 10.24.2005
Discover Dialogue: Chemist Rick Smalley
We are used to a world where we are rich in energy, driven by low-cost oil. That will not go on for much longer 02.06.2005
Don't Hold Your Breath for Hydrogen
07.25.2004
China Gets Greener
07.25.2004
Anything Into Oil
07.25.2004
Greenmark
On a tiny island off the Danish coast, life after oil is working out just fine 06.26.2004
Fire From Ice
05.29.2004
Catch the Fire!
Innovative dotcom engineers ReInvent Solar Power 08.01.2003
Bush Gambles on Fusion Energy
06.01.2003
Anything Into Oil
Technological savvy could turn 600 million tons of turkey guts and other waste into 4 billion barrels of light Texas crude each year 05.01.2003
Unplugged
Self-sustaining homes could mean the end of utility bills or even the end of utilities 04.01.2003
Future Tech
Fusion could solve all our energy problems, if only we could get it to work 03.01.2002
Perpetual Locomotion on Alien Worlds
01.01.2002
Wind Power Goes to Town
01.01.2002
At Last, a Good Use for Airplane Food
10.01.2001
Christopher Flavin Energy Without Regrets
07.01.2001
The (slow) Rise of Alternative Energy
Wind and solar power become increasingly important. 05.01.2001
Hot Fusion in a Can
03.01.2001
Future Tech
This tube of supercharged sound could make the biggest bang since internal combustion 05.01.2000
Future Tech
Hybrid cars are electric efficient, gasoline convenient, and the biggest auto innovation in a century 04.01.2000
The Tenth Annual Discover Magazine Awards for Technological Innovation TRANSPORTATION
WINNER MIT's MicroplasmatronInnovator: Daniel Cohn 07.01.1999
Plasmamobiles
12.01.1998
Edible Motor Oil
08.01.1998
Physics Watch: Fusion's Future?
Will tomorrow's power plants run on a few ounces of hydrogen and boron instead of several hundred tons of coal? Physicist Hendrik Monkhorst is betting on it. 05.01.1998
At Play on a Field of Trash
Hastily converted landfills can be unruly dragons, belching garbage, gas, and fire. But done right, a dump can be a thing of beauty. 06.01.1997
Their Game Is Mud
05.01.1997
Reinventing the Wheel
A flywheel may be the key to a car that's both powerful and efficient. 08.01.1996
State of the Earth: 1995
01.01.1996
The Amazing All-Natural Light Machine
Scientists are using a molecule hidden in pond murk to create sugar like a bacteria. 12.01.1995
Power Lunch
With a couple of million microbes and a little bit of sugar, Peter Bennetto hopes to produce enough electricity to run a watch, a car, or even a city. 03.01.1995