People have never doubted NASA’s contribution to daily life on Earth: from cordless tools to water filters and memory foam, a majority of NASA’s technology, originally created to facilitate the exploration of space, now functions to make everyday living more comfortable. Importantly, NASA has also been making big strides in terms of improving our relationship [...]

According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, almost 80% of Americans currently live in a municipality that bans smoking in the workplace, local bars, restaurants, and other public and private spaces. The smoking ban campaign aims to address health concerns associated with cigarettes by achieving cleaner indoor air. Some cities, like Belmont, California, have even [...]

Since its invention of the ketchup packet in 1968, H.J. Heinz Co. has received nothing but complaints about the small, messy, and above all else, simply wasteful design of the to-go version of America’s most popular condiment. But by the end of year, ketchup packets may disappear altogether. Fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Carl’s [...]

Shrimp farming, an industry that supplies the world with over 5 million metric tons of shrimp each year, is known throughout the environmental community as one of the world’s most destructive coastal industries. Aquaculture, the type of industry utilized by shrimp companies in areas like Southeast Asia, dramatically reduces biological diversity, degrades habitats, reduces genetic variability, [...]

When it comes to the topic of environmental degradation in Borneo, conservationists have become the new colonialists. From the conservationist standpoint, forests are seen as pristine sources of wilderness and wildlife, untouched by the human hand and unseen by the human eye. The goal of conservation in Borneo is to preserve important areas of biodiversity [...]

On January 28, 2011, the UK agreed to develop formal partnerships with China to accelerate the development of low-carbon technologies in both countries. In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by UK climate change secretary Chris Huhne and Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, the governments outlined plans for a Low Carbon Cooperation (LCC) initiative designed to facilitate the [...]

Even in the green tech world of today, hydrogen fuel cell cars are receiving a small amount of attention compared to their electric counterparts. While companies like Best Buy and SolarCity are starting to offer materials and installation for electric vehicle charging stations, and the waiting list for a Nissan Leaf is reaching nearly 20,000, [...]

Since the 1940s, the Green Revolution and the rise of agricultural productivity improved survival and population rates. Although the majority of people have benefited from technological advancement in food production, the introduction of pesticides and food commercialization came with no long-term plans for dealing with the externalities, including cultural, environmental, social and economic instability. Today’s [...]

                  A new methodology of engineering design, Biomimicry Design, introduces a completely logical and intriguing way of thinking. Its foundation, rooted in nature’s ingenious system of biomimicry, is both innovative and unique. The word biomimicry can be broken down into the words “bio,” which means life, and [...]

In early August 2011, U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garauf ruled in favor of the U.S. government’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the state of New York.  State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman claims that an environmental impact report must be created for new legislation that could result in new hydraulic fracturing projects [...]