Development
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On the Freedom of Knowledge
March 07, 2011
The European Research Council has mobilized to unify Europe's fragmented research efforts through the creation of a single market for scientific knowledge.
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On Biotechnology Without Borders
March 03, 2011
Biologists have become engineers of the living world. By making their bioengineered solutions to global problems openly available, we can transform the developing world.
biotechnology, commons, development, engineering, global reset, information
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On Delivering Vaccines
December 30, 2010
Vaccine deployment is a challenge in the third world with its unreliable power grids and roads. We need a self-sufficient device—a super thermos—to surmount this lack of infrastructure.
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The Human Animal
December 01, 2010
The special bond that often forms between people and both domesticated and wild animals may be, paradoxically, part of what makes us human.
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The Silk Renaissance
September 17, 2010
From its origins in the Far East thousands of years ago, silk has now infiltrated the realm of scientific research, offering breakthrough applications that could change the world.
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In Defense of Difference
July 09, 2010
Scientists offer new insight into what to protect of the world's rapidly vanishing languages, cultures, and species.
biodiversity, demographics, development, ethics, globalization, languages, population
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Slow Burn
June 24, 2010
Since 1962, a coal fire has been raging beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania, and it may continue burning for centuries. When the very ground beneath your feet catches fire, how can you extinguish the blaze?
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A Titanic Challenge
June 11, 2010
What might a glut of hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico—and a dearth of them on Saturn's moon, Titan—imply about humanity's long-term prospects?
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Is Population a Problem?
June 10, 2010
Will 9 billion people max out the Earth's natural resources? Or is overconsumption the real planetary threat? Three experts discuss the Gordian knot of wealth, fertility, and environmental impact — and why making do with less stuff matters so much.
agriculture, climate, development, economics, environment, population, poverty
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Greener Pastures
June 03, 2010
Dominant theory says that desertification is caused by overgrazing. Operation Hope, winner of the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, has upended this idea—restoring degraded African grasslands into lush, green pasture.
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Food Fight, Round 1
May 12, 2010
What does "sustainable agriculture" truly mean—and what should it look like? In round one of our debate, two experts square off on the true causes of food insecurity.
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Watered by the Sun
April 05, 2010
Linking the efficiency of drip-irrigation to the reliability of solar panels, a new technology—and a creative science-development partnership—is helping women to grow more food in rural Benin.
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Yellow, Black, and Blues
February 15, 2010
A look at our agricultural past may explain why honey bees around the world began disappearing three years ago.
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Illuminating Dark Economies
February 08, 2010
Measuring economic activity from outer space is a new frontier in the struggle to quantify humanity’s impact on the natural world.
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A Natural Obsession
October 26, 2009
Organic foods are exploding in popularity. But fears of biotechnology—and a widespread mistrust of science—won’t help efforts to create a truly sustainable agriculture.
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Catching the Wind in Rural Malawi
October 13, 2009
With a tinkerer’s imagination and farmer’s grit, William Kamkwamba transformed junk into the beginning of one small town’s green energy revolution.
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Illuminating Dark Economies
September 21, 2009
Measuring economic activity from outer space is a new frontier in the struggle to quantify humanity’s impact on the natural world.
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A Manifesto for the Planet
September 03, 2009
Author and environmental icon Stewart Brand on four green heresies, developing-world ingenuity, and the new face of environmentalism.
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Sowing Africa’s Green Revolution
July 18, 2009
Small-scale farmers are Africa’s greatest asset—
a fact now being recognized on a global scale as President Obama and other G8 leaders call for major new investments in African agriculture. -
The Great Climate Change Pay-Off
July 13, 2009
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on wealthy nations to cough up $100 billion for climate aid. But with no firm commitments, could money be the deal breaker in Copenhagen?
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Battling Dengue in Argentina
May 28, 2009
A writer reports from the dengue epidemic in Argentina, where locals are asking hard questions of government and exploring a wide-reaching approach to prevention.
cities, climate, development, medicine, multilateralism, politics, water
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The Truth About Water Wars
May 14, 2009
Seven experts debate the past and present existence of water wars, consider the difficulty of owning a fluid resource, and examine the hot spots for future conflict.
conflict, development, environment, leadership, policy, water
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The Green Collar Solution?
April 23, 2009
Will efforts to jumpstart the economy — even ostensibly green ones — collide with efforts to save the planet?
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Why Environmentalism Needs High Finance
April 22, 2009
Conservationists may wish money were no object, but if nature is to survive, economic incentives and biological imperatives must align.
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Nepal: Wireless in the Mountains
February 16, 2009
A home WiFi kit and a solar-powered relay station transform healthcare and education for a remote village in western Nepal.
borders, community, development, globalization, innovation, technology
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Going, Going, Gone
The second most common element in the universe is increasingly rare on Earth—except, for now, in America.
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Ideas
Earth-like Planets Aren’t Rare
Renowned planetary scientist James Kasting on the odds of finding another Earth-like planet and the power of science fiction.
