This Is Why Giving Up on Weed After Years of Smoking Can Feel So Terrible

"After I got sober, it took me a little over a year to go a single day without wishing for a drink, but it was more than nine years before my craving to get high abated."

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Florida utility to close natural gas plants, build massive solar-powered battery

On Thursday, Florida Power and Light (FPL) announced that it would retire two natural gas plants and replace those plants with what is likely to be the world's largest solar-powered battery bank when it's completed in 2021. The utility says its plan, including additional efficiency upgrades and smaller battery installations throughout its service area, will save customers more than $100 million in aggregate through avoided fuel costs. FPL also says its battery and upgrade plan will help avoid 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

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More than 1 Million Acres of U.S. Cropland Ravaged by Floods

At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by Gro Intelligence for Reuters showed.

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I had my poo tested to see if the science on gut bacteria stacks up

There are more than 1,000 species of bacteria fighting deep inside your body. But what does the makeup of that bacteria tell us about our health? Your digestive system is about seven metres long — dank folded passageways filled with rotting food and faeces and slick with bile.

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66 million-year-old deathbed linked to dinosaur-killing meteor

The beginning of the end started with violent shaking that raised giant waves in the waters of an inland sea in what is now North Dakota. Then, tiny glass beads began to fall like birdshot from the heavens. The rain of glass was so heavy it may have set fire to much of the vegetation on land. In the water, fish struggled to breathe as the beads clogged their gills.

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Skin-eating fungus is mighty species slayer

A frog-killing fungus is responsible for the decline of more species than any other pathogen on record, a global analysis has found. The study, published on 28 March in Science1, reveals that chytrid fungi have caused the decline of at least 501 amphibian species worldwide from 1965 to 2015, including 90 that have become extinct. Other well-known pathogens such as the bat disease white-nose syndrome or West Nile virus, which kills birds, have affected just a fraction of the number of species. Chytrid fungi’s impact on biodiversity is comparable to those of the most destructive invasive species, such as cats and rodents, says the study.

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Thousands of German teens join Thunberg's climate fight

Thousands of German youths went on strike from school on Friday, joining Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg who has taken her protest against climate change to Berlin. Armed with homemade posters bearing slogans like "It's getting hot in here" or "Our house is on fire" or "You're never too small to make a difference", the teenagers packed into a park in central Berlin to sound the alarm about global warming.

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The US will need a lot more neodymium if it wants an offshore wind boom

Magnets made of rare-earth metals like neodymium are commonly used in the generators found in offshore wind turbines. Turbines with neodymium magnets generally need less maintenance than those without them—an advantage when your turbine is a few miles out from land. But neodymium is costly, it almost all comes from China (which has restricted export in the past to drive prices up), and the environmental impact of extracting it from the Earth is not super.

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Renewables ‘have won the race’ against coal and are starting to beat natural gas

The rapidly dropping cost of renewable energy has upended energy economics in recent years, with new solar and wind plants now significantly cheaper than coal power. But new research shows another major change is afoot: The cost of batteries has been declining so unexpectedly rapidly that renewables plus battery storage are now cheaper than even natural gas plants in many applications, according to a report released this week by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

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Greenhouse gas emissions in UK fell 3% in 2018, official figures show

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 3% in 2018 as pollution from the energy sector continued to decrease, provisional government figures show. Emissions of the gases that drive climate change have fallen for six years in a row, and are 44% below the 1990 baseline for the UK. Emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, are at the lowest level since before the start of the 20th century, when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, government officials said.

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Dogs Can Smell Epileptic Seizures, Study Finds

A new study has found that the human body emits a specific odor during seizures and that dogs can smell them. 

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Here's why Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and other investors are pouring billions into clean-tech ventures

As funding for coal- and gas-fired power generation continues to decline, investors long leery of so-called “clean tech” plays are taking a shine to renewable-energy start-ups and other carbon-reducing technologies.

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Bill Gates casts an enthusiastic vote for bill to accelerate nuclear energy research

If dollars were votes, newly reintroduced legislation aimed at boosting nuclear energy innovation and advanced reactors would be a winner, thanks to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ strong endorsement today. The world’s second-richest person is the founder and chairman of Bellevue, Wash.-based TerraPower, a startup that’s working on next-generation nuclear fission reactors.

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How climate change will put billions more at risk of mosquito-borne diseases

Climate change doesn’t just shift weather patterns. It can force the migration of plants, people, animals, bugs — and disease. By the end of this century almost all of the world’s population could be exposed to mosquito-borne diseases once limited to the tropics, according to a new study from PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

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Study suggests trees are crucial to the future of our cities

The shade of a single tree can provide welcome relief from the hot summer sun. But when that single tree is part of a small forest, it creates a profound cooling effect. According to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, trees play a big role in keeping our towns and cities cool. According to the study, the right amount of tree cover can lower summer daytime temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit. And the effect is quite noticeable from neighborhood to neighborhood, even down to the scale of a single city block.

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South Korea accepts geothermal plant probably caused destructive quake

The nation’s energy ministry expressed ‘deep regret’, and said it would dismantle the experimental plant.

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Fukushima contaminants found as far north as Alaska's Bering Strait

Radioactive contamination from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant hit by a tsunami in 2011 has drifted as far north as waters off a remote Alaska island in the Bering Strait, scientists said on Wednesday

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EU to ban plastic plates, cups, and cutlery by 2021

Leave your plastic at home on your next European vacation.

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Garfield phones mystery solved after 35 years

For years, novelty phones appear on Brittany's beaches - but the source is finally found.

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Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch Into A Giant Bee Sanctuary To Help The Environment

Morgan Freeman is a lot of things. Apart from being one of the most renowned actors on the planet, the 81-year-old celebrity has time and again raised his incredible voice to call attention to a number of concerning issues. The star added yet another title to his illustrious resume as an actor, filmmaker, and director, in 2014 when he took on the label of a beekeeper. He decided to do so in order to help put an end to the dwindling bee population on the planet and do what he can to revive and conserve their presence on earth.

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Rugged 'mountains' taller than Everest lurk deep inside Earth

Revealed by powerful earthquakes, the subterranean structures offer exciting new clues to why our planet is a chemical oddball.

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Unbelievable Assassin Bug Wears Its Victims' Corpses as Armor

Like a real-life version of the Predator—that's barely a half-inch in size—the aptly named assassin bug wears the bodies of its victims like trophy armor after liquefying and consuming their innards. Disgusting. After it's made a kill, the assassin bug—which calls Malaysia home—injects its victim with a special enzyme that dissolves and softens its guts so they can be easily sucked out.

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Big oil pumps $1 billion into climate change lobbying, execs laugh about Trump access

Major oil companies have spent $1 billion on climate lobbying that is “overwhelmingly in conflict” with the Paris Agreement, according to one new report. And another report reveals oil execs laughing about their newfound access within the Trump administration.

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More Than 90 Percent of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

The real risks from chemicals in our food—for farmworkers and children, in particular—are being ignored.

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When more women are decision-makers, the environment wins

When more women are involved in group decisions about how to manage land, the group conserves more—particularly when offered financial incentives, new research published this week shows.

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'Coal is on the way out': study finds fossil fuel now pricier than solar or wind

Around three-quarters of US coal production is now more expensive than solar and wind energy in providing electricity to American households, according to a new study. “Even without major policy shift we will continue to see coal retire pretty rapidly,” said Mike O’Boyle, the co-author of the report for Energy Innovation, a renewables analysis firm. “Our analysis shows that we can move a lot faster to replace coal with wind and solar. The fact that so much coal could be retired right now shows we are off the pace.”

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A toxic warning to the world

All over the world cities are grappling with apocalyptic air pollution but the capital of Mongolia is suffering from some of the worst in the world. And the problem is intrinsically linked to climate change. The country has already warmed by 2.2 degrees, forcing thousands of people to abandon the countryside and the traditional herding lifestyle every year for the smog-choked city where 90% of children are breathing toxic air every day.

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Crocodile steals massive barramundi from NT fisherman at the last possible second

Sometimes the thrill of the chase is the best bit about dropping in a line, but for two Territory fishermen, it was role reversal when they nearly became bait for a monster NT saltie. Darwin anglers Dac and Daniel were fishing at a Top End billabong when one of them hooked onto an "absolute donkey of a barra". Unfortunately for the pair, their excitement was also shared by what looked to be a 4-metre saltwater crocodile watching their endeavours from nearby.

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Poisonous toads overrun South Florida neighborhood

Thousands of adorable but poisonous Bufo toads, which can kill pets and are dangerous to children, have invaded a suburban Florida neighborhood. Cane toads, as they are known, range from 6 to 9 inches in length. Their babies are dime-sized, though, and those are the creatures hopping around in droves.

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Ice fisher has 2nd thoughts about hunting after rescuing female moose from lake

Seasoned anglers often talk about the big one that got away, but it's unlikely any of them can top the story being told by Reggie Jackson. Jackson, 37, who lives in Flin Flon, Man., was ice fishing on nearby Wildnest Lake in northern Saskatchewan Wednesday. He had just caught his limit of fish and was heading back home when he noticed another man who had taken down his shack still hadn't left.

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The world’s oldest medieval map

Created around 1300, it is the largest surviving map from the Middle Ages and offers a glimpse into the mindset of the ancient Christian world.

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The insect apocalypse is not here but there are reasons for concern

How real is insectageddon?

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Citing climate change, U.S. judge blocks oil and gas drilling in Wyoming

A judge blocked oil and gas drilling across almost 500 square miles in Wyoming and said the U.S. government must consider climate change impacts more broadly as it leases huge swaths of public land for energy exploration. The order marks the latest in a string of court rulings over the past decade — including one last month in Montana — that have faulted the U.S. for inadequate consideration of greenhouse gas emissions when approving oil, gas and coal projects on federal land.

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Reforestation Drones Drop Seeds Instead of Bombs, Planting 100,000 Trees Per Day Each

The math is simple. Humans are cutting down 15 billion trees a year and replanting only 9 billion, creating an annual net loss of 6 billion trees. Planting trees by hand is time consuming and expensive, making it difficult to keep up with bulldozers clear-cutting over 40 football fields of trees ever minute. We’ve had impressive efforts, such as India planting 66 million trees in a day, but that was a large-scale event, which required organizing millions of volunteers. It would be difficult to recreate something like that on a regular basis.

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Aging Is a Communication Breakdown

Genes that can’t express themselves may be hallmarks of cancer. By Jim Kozubek.

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Tyrannosaurus Rex Found In Canada Is The World's Largest T-Rex

Share Scotty, names as such after the bottle of scotch the researchers drank after their discovery, is a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was found in Canada. Now, scientists revealed that Scotty is the world’s largest T-Rex ever unearthed. This “Canadian” Tyrannosaurus Rex measured 13 meters in length and about 9,000 kilos in weight. According to scientists …

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A new study reveals the Amazon is losing surface water

A new study shows that large amounts of surface freshwater are being lost every year in the Amazon. The changes are being caused by human intervention, including hydropower dams and deforestation, and climate change. A major new study of the Amazon has revealed an alarming trend, with the region losing as much as 350 km2 of surface freshwater every year on average. The loss is related to the construction of hydropower dams, deforestation and climate change.

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The Instagram-famous plant that used to be impossible to find

What started as a niche social media trend has spread to big brands like Walmart and Home Depot.

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Donald Trump is using Stalinist techniques against climate science | Michael Mann and Bob Ward

Americans should not be fooled by the Stalinist tactics being used by the White House to try to discredit the findings of mainstream climate science. The Trump administration has already purged information about climate change from government websites, gagged federal experts and attempted to end funding for climate change programmes.

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Melting glaciers reveal Everest bodies

Expedition operators are concerned at the number of climbers' bodies that are becoming exposed on Mount Everest as its glaciers melt. Nearly 300 mountaineers have died on the peak since the first ascent attempt and two-thirds of bodies are thought still to be buried in the snow and ice. Bodies are being removed on the Chinese side of the mountain, to the north, as the spring climbing season starts.

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'Mindblowing' haul of fossils over 500m years old unearthed in China

Thousands of fossils date back to huge burst in diversity of life on Earth known as Cambrian explosion

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This Photo of 'Not Marbles' Is Probably The Strangest Thing You'll See All Day

We know what you're thinking: why am I looking at a weird handful of pink marbles in a patch of mud?

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Adidas Sold 1 Million Eco-Friendly Shoes Made from Ocean Plastic, Plans 11 Million More

Purchasing shoes made from disposed plastics may be the way of the future after one company turned millions of plastic bottles into running shoes. Imagine this—11 plastic bottles can be recycled and made into a pair of trendy futuristic running shoes, including the laces, heel webbing, heel lining, and sock liner covers. This is not just a dream but has become a reality for Adidas.

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Why Dogs Are Loved and Valued More Than Cats

One of the easiest ways to start a heated debate is to raise the issue of whether dogs or cats are better and more satisfactory pets. There actually is some scientific data which has been collected on this issue and it suggests that, although both dogs and cats provide joy and companionship to their humans, dogs are more emotionally satisfying and dogs are also more universally preferred.

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An Important Group of European Hunter-Gatherers Taught Themselves To Farm

Some 12,000 years ago, the land was exceptionally fertile curving up from the Nile River basin across Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, down into the Tigris River Valley. The area’s earliest settlers grew wheat, barely and lentils. Some kept pigs and sheep. Farming soon replaced hunting and foraging as a way of life there. The region became known as the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of agriculture.

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Deer Wars: The Forest Awakens

On Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, culling deer is an act of cultural and ecological restoration. By Leslie Anthony.

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When will global warming make the earth uninhabitable?

When tropical forests become firestorms and the Sahara turns green. By David Wallace-Wells.

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A pet monkey was buried some 4,000 years ago with same rites as humans

Modern people aren’t the first to cherish their animal companions. A monkey that died more than 4,000 years ago in the Middle East was laid to rest in a human cemetery in a type of grave used for infants, suggesting that it was a treasured pet.

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Once sacred, the Oracle at Delphi was lost for a millennium. See how it was found

Relying on clues from the past, a team of 19th-century archaeologists uncovered Delphi, the site where ancient Greeks asked questions, and Apollo answered them. By María Teresa Magadán.

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'Paramedic' Ants Are the First to Rescue and Heal Their Wounded Comrades

Matabele ants nurse each other back to health after battle with a surprisingly high success rate, a new study finds.

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