Baltimore Key Bridge: how a domino effect brought it down in seconds

We’ll need to learn the lessons from this disaster.

Mohamed Shaheen, Lecturer in Structural Engineering, Loughborough University • conversation
March 28, 2024 ~5 min

Thin, bacteria-coated fibers could lead to self-healing concrete that fills in its own cracks

Your skin heals from cuts and scrapes on its own − what if concrete could do that too?

Yaghoob Farnam, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Drexel University • conversation
March 22, 2024 ~7 min


Old forests are critically important for slowing climate change and merit immediate protection from logging

President Biden has called for protecting large, old trees from logging, but many of them could be cut while the regulatory process grinds forward.

William Moomaw, Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy, Tufts University • conversation
Jan. 19, 2024 ~8 min

Digitized records from wildlife centers show the most common ways that humans harm wild animals

Hundreds of wildlife rehabilitation centers across the US and Canada treat sick and injured animals and birds. Digitizing their records is yielding valuable data on human-wildlife encounters.

Richard B. Primack, Professor of Biology, Boston University • conversation
Nov. 22, 2023 ~8 min

What are roundabouts? A transportation engineer explains the safety benefits of these circular intersections

Whether you call them rotaries, traffic circles or roundabouts, they offer a safer alternative to the four-way stop. But the modern roundabout has been decades in the making.

Deogratias Eustace, Professor of Civil, Environmental and Engineering Mechanics, University of Dayton • conversation
Oct. 25, 2023 ~7 min

The Conservatives have seized on cars as a political wedge – it's a bet on public turning against climate action

Today, as in the past, pro-car sentiment is a backlash against nascent environmental protest.

Matthew Paterson, Professor of International Politics, University of Manchester • conversation
Sept. 5, 2023 ~6 min

Giraffes range across diverse African habitats − we’re using GPS, satellites and statistics to track and protect them

The largest ever giraffe tracking study shows how these massive animals are responding to human pressures across many different habitats throughout Africa.

Michael Brown, Conservation Science Fellow, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
Aug. 30, 2023 ~9 min

Bridge collapses, road repairs, evacuations: How transportation agencies plan for large-scale traffic disruptions

When a major roadway or bridge needs fixing, all that traffic has to go somewhere.

Lee D. Han, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee • conversation
June 29, 2023 ~9 min


A shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions

Native plants help damaged landscapes by stabilizing soil, fighting invasive species and sheltering pollinators. Two horticulture experts explain what they’re doing to help develop new seed sources.

John Campanelli, PhD Student in Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut • conversation
March 28, 2023 ~9 min

The Amazon is not safe under Brazil's new president – a roads plan could push it past its breaking point

Nearly 95% of deforestation in the Amazon occurs within 3.5 miles of a road or near a river. Brazil’s plans to ramp up exports may be on a collision course with the forest.

Robert T. Walker, Professor of Latin American Studies and Geography, University of Florida • conversation
March 22, 2023 ~10 min

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