Burning Green: 15 Cutting-Edge Biofuel Sources

Last year’s record high oil prices have renewed mainstream interest in alternatives to fossil fuels. Current products like corn-based ethanol, with its quick-burning consistency and negative effect on global food prices, might soon be seen as a hiccup in the story of sustainable, green fuels. A new generation of bio-fuels, as well as new approaches to established fuel sources, are making a cleaner, greener future seem like more than a mere pipe dream.

Clean Coal? 10 of the World’s Dirtiest Power Plants

Coal is the undisputed leader in dirty fuel sources. But beyond the issue of global warming/climate change (burning coal is the number one source of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide), coal-fired power plants also release dangerously high levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, arsenic, lead, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, creating environmental hazards both near the plants (i.e smog, respiratory complications, fouled water from coal-slurry impoundments), and far from the plants (i.e acid rain, mercury pollution in rivers and oceans, etc.). And that is only the burning of coal, to say nothing of the mining and transportation of it.

10 of the World’s Most Vital Rivers for Survival

The era when rivers acted as the world’s highways is past. However, some major waterways still have plenty of significance. They still hold religious and mythological value for those who make their living on or near the water. They still act as major transportation corridors, especially in areas where roads and rails cannot go. And, they may hold the key to putting a major dent in the problem of pollution.

Armed To The Teeth: Africa’s Terrifying Goliath Tigerfish

The Goliath Tigerfish may be the most fearsome fish you’ll ever see – and you’d better hope it doesn’t see you first! Ferocious in temperament, armed to the gills with 32 razor-sharp teeth and accustomed to hunting in packs, the Terror Of The Congo makes piranhas seem like pussycats and The Incredible Mr. Limpet look, well, limp.

Berry Nice! 12 Amazing, Odd and Unusual Fruits

Fruits: they’re delicious foods, superb anti-oxidants and if you’re a Monty Python fan, formidable weapons. They’re also available in many more varieties than ever before, some of them decidedly odd. Are you up for some strange fruit? Here are a dozen, ripe for the picking.

Sick Slicks: Counting Down The 13 Worst Oil Spills

The ongoing (at press time) environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform is certainly an eco-disaster of epic proportions, but how does it rank with the worst oil spills in history? Counting down the past half-century’s 13 biggest oil spills – on land and sea – reveals a stunning succession of sick slicks along with the likelihood of more to come.

Fan-Tastic! 10 Cool Colorful Wind Turbine Designs

Thousands of bats and birds die each year pursuing insects that are attracted to wind turbines but a new study out of the UK suggests that painting the supports, blades and turbines purple will deter insects from congregating. Why just purple, though? Adding a little color to wind farms could attract “fans”, repel bugs, and save bats & birds.