Miles away from the ocean, projects are afoot to clean up salty groundwater and use it to grow crops. Some say it’s a costly pipe dream, others say it’s part of the future.
hardware & infrastructure
A Dragonfly for Titan
A new eight-rotor robotic probe will head to the solar system’s most Earth-like moon. Here’s what its team is doing to prepare.
Panama Canal Logistics Are at the Mercy of Weather and Climate
Regional weather variability and climate change make operating the canal a challenge.
U.S. Academic Research Fleet to Add Three Smaller, More Nimble Vessels
A dire lack of investment in oceangoing vessels means the U.S. ocean sciences community is lagging, scientists say. Three new vessels will play a part in building capabilities.
Road Development May Put Habitats at Risk
New research links road construction with increased urbanization and more fragmented species ranges.
Human Activities Might Create Temporary Atmospheres on the Moon
Outgassing could pose problems for long-term habitation of the Moon, including health hazards for astronauts, hindrances for electronics, and hampered scientific study.
An Unprecedented Experiment to Map Kīlauea’s Summit Magma System
Dozens of researchers deployed nearly 2,000 seismic stations—and a T-Rex—to better illuminate subsurface structure and magma storage below the summit of the highly active volcano.
Alerting Communities to Hyperlocalized Urban Flooding
A high-accuracy, low-cost sensor network may change the way urban floods are detected and monitored.
Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Industry Are Triple Current Estimates
A new study using aerial data reveals that fossil fuel extraction and processing are responsible for far more methane than previously believed.