HS-ESS3-4

Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

  1. Animals

    Whale blowholes don’t keep out seawater

    Whales’ blowholes aren’t as protective as scientists had thought. They not only can let in water but also pollutants.

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  2. Chemistry

    New solution for carbon dioxide: Turn it into ‘green’ fuel

    Chemists have created a new way to convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. It might one day help remove excess CO2 — a greenhouse gas — from the air.

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  3. Ecosystems

    Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them

    Coastal wetlands can protect our shores from erosion, flooding and rising sea levels.

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  4. Animals

    Are coyotes moving into your neighborhood?

    How do coyotes survive in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago? Researchers and citizen scientists are working together to find answers.

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  5. Environment

    Pesticides contaminate most food of western U.S. monarchs

    Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweeds. A new study finds widespread pesticide use has tainted these plants across the insect’s western U.S. breeding grounds.

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  6. Environment

    Fossil fuels appear to release far more methane than we thought

    Ice cores reveal less methane than expected. This suggests today’s fossil fuel industry is responsible for nearly all of the methane emissions from natural sources today.

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  7. Science & Society

    CO2 emissions have nosedived as COVID-19 keeps people home

    The COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel that can pollute the air. By April, travel-related daily emissions of greenhouse gases was back to 2006 levels.

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  8. Materials Science

    This ‘living’ concrete slurps up a greenhouse gas

    Microbes help harden a mix of sand and gelatin into a living concrete that could interact with people and the environment in great new ways.

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  9. Environment

    Legos could last a disturbingly long time in the ocean

    By looking at toys washed up on beaches, scientists have estimated how long it takes hard plastics to break down in the oceans. And it’s a long time.

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  10. Environment

    Laundry tweaks can help clothes last longer and pollute less

    Clothes washed in cooler water and for less time shed less dye and fewer fibers, a new study finds. That’s better for clothes — and the environment.

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  11. Chemistry

    Converting trash to valuable graphene in a flash

    Flash heating of carbon-rich wastes creates graphene, which has many commercial uses.

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  12. Animals

    Drones might one day capture a dolphin’s breath in midair

    High-speed footage of dolphin spray reveals that droplets blast upward at speeds close to 100 kilometers per hour.

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