environment

Here at Popular Science, we're pretty optimistic about the potential for large-scale technological projects. But sometimes the cutting edge can cut in destructive ways. Join us as we look at five upcoming projects that have the potential to wreak destruction on the environment.

What are the dirtiest industries? Sometimes the most innocuous-seeming are the worst culprits. PopSci takes a look inside five of the sectors most responsible for unleashing destruction upon the planet.

For most of history, sailboats were by definition pollution-free. Now, however, even purists use outboard motors to get their three-sheeters in and out of the harbor. Including conventional motorized boats, there are more than 10 million hydrocarbon-burning marine engines in the U.S. alone.

As part of PopSci's "Future of the Environment" special, we commissioned a modern, eco-themed take on the classic videogame "Frogger." In our version, called "The Walker," players have to catch various forms of alternatively fueled vehicles to help them cross a busy highway and make it to school on time.

Dear EarthTalk: Summer’s going to be a scorcher this year, and I’d like to know how I can keep cool indoors without just running my energy-hogging air conditioners all the time. Any tips?
—John McGovern, Cohasset, MA

A new type of charger called the Green Plug aims to replace the pile of power bricks under your desk with a hub that powers multiple devices at once, but only when they need it. The idea behind the system, due out early next year, is that software in gadgets would let them tell the hub exactly how much power they need. When its battery is full, the device tells the Green Plug to cut the juice. Current chargers keep drawing a small amount of power as long as they’re plugged into an outlet.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced yesterday that 2008 could be a busy hurricane season. Between twelve and 16 storms may be big enough to earn names, and six to nine should be intense enough to be qualified as hurricanes. And of those, two to five could be major.

If you’re like millions of Americans, summertime means heading to the beach with sunscreen and, of course, beach reading in tow. Along with the latest Grisham novel, you may want to bring along something a bit more serious: the current report by the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative (JOCI). It has all the elements of a good thriller—suspense, high-tech gadgetry, villains—and it can help preserve the marvels of the offshore world for future generations to enjoy.

Officials in Los Angeles said today that they're going to reconsider a water conservation proposal that won't just ask residents to change their habits, but calls for recycling wastewater, too.

The plan would place restrictions on watering lawns and washing cars, and it would encourage residents to switch to less thirsty washing machines. But the most controversial part of the initiative would involve recycling water - refilling underground drinking supplies with treated wastewater. Los Angeles has tried this before, but critics forced officials to drop it.

Now, though, city officials say improvements in recycling technology make it a viable option.

For those looking to get themselves off the grid—or at least move toward that ideal—a number of options are currently available. You can tack solar panels onto the roof of your house. You can erect a small wind turbine in your yard. You can now even distill ethanol in your garage. The EFuel 100 MicroFueler is a device the size of two very large refrigerators which will convert 490 pounds of feedstock (sugar and yeast) into 35 gallons of ethanol over the course of a week. Plug it in to any standard outlet and it will consume 150 watts for each batch. But while the concept of manufacturing your own fuel sounds appealing on its face, I'm not entirely sure the numbers add up to make it worth it.

Ferrari hasn't yet pulled the $50-a-yard, Swiss voile cotton sheet back on its latest model, the California. But the company did release its initial media package on the car earlier today. It revealed a sleek grand tourer sporting the first front-mounted V8 in the company's history. The California is also the first all-new model to arrive since the iconic brand started hinting at a new focus on fuel efficiency. Say what?

In the current climate of rising gas and food prices, it should stand to reason that people would find ways to change their most wasteful habits. According to new research from the UK, we need look no further than our own refrigerators. Fully 18 percent of all food purchased for household use in England and Wales is thrown away. The number is even higher for families with children at 27 percent. A now four year-old study of similar measure in the U.S. puts the American number around 14 percent, with nearly half of all food readied for harvest never making it to a dinner table.

Flowers are known to attract pollinating insects through a variety of means, from alluring fragrances and nectar to vibrant colors and shapes. According to a new study in the

Bioplastics, like biofuels, are on the rise as consumers demand alternatives to fossil fuel-based plastics and big business take their wants seriously. Everything from shopping bags to clamshell containers are being reengineered out of bio-based packaging in the hope of finding a truly disposable container; one that, instead of ending up floating in the ocean, will quickly decompose underground. That ideal, as you might expect, is not quite so simple. And already, our two leading alternative bag types are falling short of the hype.

The small airplane is too dirty for an environmentally threatened world. Thats not the view from eco-activists, but from some of the leading lights in general aviation—the category encompassing small planes such as Cessnas flown by citizen pilots. At some point, some environmental group is going to figure out that small aircraft fly leaded fuel, said Mark Moore, NASAs personal air vehicle program manager, to a meeting of engineers, aviation advocates and a billionaire corporate titan with his own private jet. Their goal, however, is not to bury private aviation, but to remake it as the greenest form of personal transit.