Jan 07 Watch 2:08 NewsHour Shares: Bill Gates drinks water purified from waste By PBS News Hour Human waste is being turned into drinkable water at a treatment plant in Washington state, with funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In our NewsHour Shares video of the day, we see how the pioneering idea could be… Continue watching
Jan 07 Watch 9:30 While the drone industry grows faster than the flick of a joystick, regulation lags By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jan 07 Climate change and fertilizer runoff spell bad news for Lake Erie By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy Record algae blooms in Lake Erie were a result of weather patterns altered by climate change. Continue reading
Jan 07 How communism turned Cuba into an island of hackers and DIY engineers By Jenny Marder Just outside Havana, in the childhood bedroom of illustrator Edel Rodriguez, a washing machine engine welded to a boat propeller has become a makeshift fan. This kind of cobbled-together contraption is common in Cuba. So are stoves that run on… Continue reading
Jan 07 Photo essay: The bizarre, brilliant and useful inventions of Cuban DIY engineers By Travis Daub, Jenny Marder Long walled off from world trade and modern technology, Cuba has developed a robust culture of DIY engineers who turn household items into useful inventions. Water pump motors propel bicycles, clothes dryers are repurposed into coconut shredders. Cuban artist Ernesto… Continue reading
Jan 07 You can read a star’s age by its spin By Justin Scuiletti It turns out, like us, stars slow down in their old age. That observation is the key to a new method astronomers are using to accurately tell the age of cool stars — stars that match the size of, or… Continue reading
Jan 06 Hubble’s new high-definition pic shows Pillars of Creation fading away and stars being born By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy In 1995, the Hubble Telescope snapped a stunning photo in the Eagle Nebula, 6,500 light years from Earth. The photo revealed three gigantic columns of cold gas, illuminated by the ultraviolet light from nearby young stars. The Pillars of Creation… Continue reading
Jan 06 WATCH: This machine turns human waste into water By Ruth Tam The Janicki Omniprocessor converts sewer sludge into water, electricity and fertilizer. Continue reading
Jan 06 SpaceX delays rocket launch until Friday By News Desk Private spaceflight agency SpaceX scrubbed its launch early Tuesday morning of a rocket intended to supply the International Space Station, because of a technical glitch with the booster’s upper-stage motor, NASA reported. Continue reading
Jan 05 Can protection from aging be found in a whale genome? By Justin Scuiletti The secret to giving humanity a longer life and protection from age-related illnesses could be hidden within the genome of the longest living mammal. Continue reading