Technology

"San Francisco is at the forefront of a movement to recycle wastewater from commercial buildings, homes, and neighborhoods and use it for toilets and landscaping. This decentralized approach, proponents say, will drive down demand in an era of increasing water scarcity."

"Thousands of low-income, Latino residents in Texas still do not have safe drinking water. In one El Paso colonia, residents see the benefits of solar distillation."

"Lion and leopard populations in Zambia's Kafue National Park are showing signs of a modest comeback following decades of poaching, helped by expanded protection strategies, including an innovative vulture early-warning system."

"The outcome of a Chemours Co. lawsuit challenging a PFAS health advisory the EPA set for drinking water could affect cleanups, public health, and regulatory processes, attorneys said in recent interviews. The lawsuit focuses on a particular PFAS used to make a type of chemical, perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA), important to the semiconductor industry."

"Demand for air conditioners is surging in markets where both incomes and temperatures are rising, populous places like India, China, Indonesia and the Philippines."

"At a barbecue on campus last week, flames licked a set of sausage links as scientist Blake Foraker worked on the perfect grill marks. ...  With permission from the Food and Drug Administration, WSU researchers made them from pigs whose DNA has been changed."

"Offshore wind energy critics often cite the risk of collision with birds as an argument against the use of wind power. But a new study conducted by European energy company Vattenfall shows that offshore wind turbines at one UK wind farm are much less dangerous to birds than previously thought, a step towards debunking common claims that turbines are a major contributor to bird mortality."

"As new technologies supercharge the field of bioacoustics, researchers can better listen to environmental changes — and use the information to guide conservation efforts."

"Think of them as speed cameras, but for methane. Just like roadside instruments used to identify drivers breaking traffic rules, new powerful satellites are starting to catch oil and gas operators releasing the planet-warming gas into the atmosphere."