Sustainability as a research area investigates the biophysical, technological, and socio-economic conditions under which human and ecological systems can persist within planetary boundaries over the long term. It integrates methods from environmental science, systems ecology, industrial ecology, economics, and social sciences to analyze resource flows, environmental impacts, resilience, and equity. Core topics include sustainable resource management, climate and energy transitions, circular economy strategies, life cycle assessment, and governance mechanisms that align development with ecological limits. Research emphasizes quantitative indicators, scenario modeling, and policy-relevant frameworks to evaluate pathways that minimize degradation of natural systems while maintaining human well-being.
With chances of further sensational hydropower tunnel rescues dimming, the devastating ice-rock avalanche in August at the Nepal-Tibet border and catastrophic floods downstream are no longer making global headlines.
Environment
Sep 21, 2026
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7
To get locally grown food onto a schoolchild's lunch tray, communities need supply chains that sort, process and package local farm products. They don't always exist.
Agriculture
Sep 21, 2026
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7
As a kid growing up in North Carolina, Prakash Mishra was interested in planets. "My parents got me a telescope when I turned 6 or 7, and that was my personality for probably 10 years," he says, noting that he thought he ...
Environment
Sep 18, 2026
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14
In the late evening of Aug. 31, 2026, I missed a call from Jennifer, a seventh-generation cattle rancher in Georgia. She was one of more than 70 family farmers and ranchers across the rural U.S. South and Midwest whom I'd ...
Agriculture
Sep 17, 2026
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11
When people discuss architecture in Ghana, attention often focuses on modern buildings: concrete houses, glass offices, shopping malls and ambitious urban developments. Yet across the country, another architectural tradition ...
Environment
Sep 14, 2026
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7
The discovery of water in dark craters at the moon's poles has sparked a "moon rush" to establish bases there, followed by villages, cities and heavy industry. How sustainable is this rush?
Space Exploration
Sep 14, 2026
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117
Industrialized countries send millions of metric tonnes of used clothing, electronic equipment and other products to the Global South, along with the environmental and health costs tied to producing, consuming and disposing ...
Environment
Sep 11, 2026
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34
Switching to a more sustainable diet could halve food-related emissions in cities such as Amsterdam, while in cities such as Dhaka and Delhi, the focus should be more on making food production more sustainable as they widen ...
Environment
Sep 10, 2026
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19
Mars is a terrible place to build a house. It's bitterly cold, blasted by radiation and a near vacuum. Not to mention that the building materials, even for a modest shelter, could spend months hurtling through space before ...
Space Exploration
Sep 10, 2026
0
29
For thousands of years, human urine has had real value. After our bodies absorb nutrients from our food, they excrete the rest—mainly via urine. An adult produces about 500 liters (132 gallons) a year. This liquid gold is ...
Agriculture
Sep 9, 2026
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