Anthropocene Magazine

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Everyone’s afraid of mountain lions. The data says be afraid of deer instead.

A five-year study finds the big cats you avoid on trails are quietly preventing the collisions that actually kill people.

Warren CornwallAug 5, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

A majority of Americans don’t actually fit either climate camp

An analysis of 20 years of polling data shows how age, education and income—in addition to political affiliation—shape views on climate policy

Sarah DeWeerdtAug 4, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

A spritz of nanoparticles could save tomatoes from salty soil

Scientists sprayed stressed tomato plants with a combination of manganese and an ingredient from crustacean shells with striking effects for tomato survival.

Emma BryceJul 31, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

MIT researchers have designed a recyclable alternative to spandex

This new polyethylene yarn matches spandex's stretch—and unlike spandex, it can be melted down and re-spun repeatedly.

Anthropocene TeamJul 30, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

How to save giant Sequoias: Burn the forest around it first

New research quantifies, for the first time, how much prescribed fire reduces mortality in the world's largest trees.

Warren CornwallJul 29, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Do small climate habits help or hurt the bigger cause? What a 4-year study found.

Researchers tracked nearly 2,800 people's habits, protests, and policy views to test whether small green acts help or hurt the bigger fight. Neither, it turns out.

Sarah DeWeerdtJul 28, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Researchers use hemp, rock dust and biochar to scrub forever chemicals from farm soils

A Yale study finds that combining three low-cost interventions could bring contaminated soils below safety thresholds within a decade, at a fraction of conventional cleanup costs.

Emma BryceJul 24, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Battery-like device sucks carbon dioxide out of thin air

Using electricity and seawater chemistry would be more economical and efficient than today’s direct air capture technologies

Anthropocene TeamJul 23, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Obeying the speed limit would save 57,000 tons of carbon a day. It would cost you 54 seconds.

A study of more than 120 million trips finds that Americans' rush to save time on the road comes at an outsize environmental cost.

Sarah DeWeerdtJul 21, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

A new entrant in the plant-protein race: The marigold

With as much protein as quinoa, marigolds are a surprising untapped nutritional resource, research finds. What’s more their emulsifying and foaming properties make them a boon for the food industry.

Emma BryceJul 17, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Scientists turned coffee grounds into biochar fuel in 90 seconds

A plasma pyrolysis breakthrough turns soggy spent grounds into coal-grade biochar without pre-drying—opening the door to distributed waste-to-energy systems

Anthropocene TeamJul 16, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

This tiny bottle cap traveled 1,500 kilometers. It had 307 hitchhikers aboard.

Scientists cracked the case of a single plastic cap using isotope chemistry and ocean current models, revealing how trash is turning into rafts for invasive species.

Warren CornwallJul 15, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

The surprising upside of asking people to use less energy

New research complicates the long-held belief that climate policy is a trade-off between cost and carbon, adding a third factor: it might make daily life better, too.

Sarah DeWeerdtJul 14, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

The climate fix isn’t cutting all meat—It’s targeting the people who eat the most.

A Scottish study finds that shifting heavy meat eaters toward modest cuts, rather than trimming everyone's diet evenly, could prevent 60,000 diabetes cases and deliver outsized climate gains.

Emma BryceJul 10, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Recycling that rescues dolphins

Tying plastic bottles to gillnets cut dolphin deaths by nearly 90% in a new study, without reducing the fish catch.

Warren CornwallJul 8, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

The overlooked wiring problem in the clean-energy transition

As more households add solar panels, batteries and heat pumps, researchers at Purdue found that running them all on DC power—not the AC current from the wall—could cut energy use and emissions.

Sarah DeWeerdtJul 7, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

This remarkable microbe could help farmers survive rising seas

As rising seas push salt water inland, scientists have found a naturally occurring bacterium that helps soybeans and other crops grow despite it—no genetic modification needed.

Emma BryceJul 3, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Scientists built a solar reactor that eats plastic bottles and burps out clean hydrogen . . .at scale.

A Cambridge University team made the device with simple materials using a paint sprayer—offering a possible dual fix for plastic pollution and dirty hydrogen production

Anthropocene TeamJul 2, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

When war came to Chornobyl, the animals didn’t all run away.

A new study offers rare evidence of how armed conflict reshapes wildlife behavior, with a few species moving toward human settlements rather than fleeing them—upending assumptions about animals in war zones.

Warren CornwallJul 1, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Ironically, buying green can quietly erase its own efficiency gains, new study finds

Researchers show how consumer eco-consciousness can trigger discounts on inefficient products, canceling the gains shoppers thought they'd locked in.

Sarah DeWeerdtJun 30, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Swapping beef for salmon once a week could significantly cut emissions, study finds

A UK study comparing five dietary scenarios through 2050 found the simplest option delivered meaningful, realistic emissions reductions.

Emma BryceJun 26, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Icy winters are no match for these floating solar panels

Using foam and aquarium pumps, engineers designed a floating photovoltaic system that keeps working efficiently through Canadian winter conditions

Anthropocene TeamJun 25, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Pumas are quietly tracking your hiking and biking habits better than you think

GPS collars and fitness-app traffic reveal that the Santa Cruz Mountains' pumas track human recreation patterns with surprising precision and adjust their lives accordingly—complicating old assumptions about "habituated" wildlife.

Warren CornwallJun 24, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

New AI agent tallies a gadget’s emissions in the time it takes to brew tea

Researchers just built a multimodal AI system that scours spec sheets, iFixit teardowns, and YouTube videos to do carbon math that used to take human experts months.

Sarah DeWeerdtJun 23, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Scientists brew energy-efficient espresso. It is made without heat and 75% less energy.

A newly-developed method applies ultrasonic sound waves to turn room temperature water and coffee grounds into a quality espresso shot. Taste-testers couldn’t tell it apart from a conventional brew.

Emma BryceJun 19, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

This shape-shifting liquid stores solar energy, and releases it on demand

Northwestern chemists created a liquid that morphs into an energy-storing gel and resets with nothing but air—no metal, no plastic, no battery casing required.

Anthropocene TeamJun 18, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Gorillas scarred by poaching learn to trust again. And it might help save them.

A 12-year study in Cameroon found that habituating gorillas to researchers might help reduce poaching activity and offer a model for protecting endangered apes.

Warren CornwallJun 17, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

The climate friendly city is a bullseye

Urban planners have been asking the wrong question. It's not how dense a city is—it's how close. The sweet spot for shorter commutes and lower emissions, for many cities, forms a ring.

Sarah DeWeerdtJun 16, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Scientists have made jet fuel from plastic waste

A new process converts hard-to-recycle styrofoam waste into valuable jet fuel at a cost competitive with petroleum-based fuels.

Anthropocene TeamJun 11, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

Mangroves are making a comeback. It’s a rare climate success story.

For decades, we've catalogued what we're losing to climate change. A sweeping new study offers something harder to find—evidence that one of the planet's most vital coastal ecosystems is actually winning.

Warren CornwallJun 10, 2026