Kids News - Environment Articles

While most scientists are focused on creating vaccines for life threatening mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever and malaria, British biotech firm Oxitec is taking a unique approach. They want to nip the problem in the bud or should we say larva, by killing the dengue-carrying mosquitos with the help of genetically modified laboratory versions....

Though humans may think they are the masters of deception, some of the world's best con artists appear to be birds. First there is the cuckoo finch that tricks other birds into raising its offspring and now, Africa's fork-tailed drongo that sends out false alarm signals, just so that it can steal food from other birds....

In 2013, Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde made headlines when he teamed up with Heijman's Infrastructure to build the world's first 'Smart Highway' in The Netherlands. Now, a British company called Pro-Teq has invented a product that can transform mundane sidewalks into 'Starpaths' - public paths that project a star-like glow, alleviating the need for street lights....

Each year, from March to June, millions of Americans that live in the Midwestern and Southern United States, brace themselves for the tornado season. And while the twisters are often late, they never fail to make an appearance. This year's first big storm which arrived on Sunday, April 27th, was a deadly slow moving system that caused havoc across a large swath of the country from Oklahoma to Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Iowa, The Carolinas and even, New York....

Earlier this week, the Earth Day Network announced the 'Green Cities' challenge, asking communities worldwide to reduce their dependence on 'dirty' energy - electricity produced using fossil fuels. Now, Washington D.C.'s Georgetown University, is making the challenge more enticing, with a $5 million USD reward for any U.S. town or city that devises the best program to reduce energy consumption....

On Earth Day (April 22nd), The Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute, released the world's first endangered song - One that will disappear forever, unless people make the effort to digitally reproduce the single that was released on just 400 polycarbonate records that will degenerate, after being played a few times....

If you ever happen to be in China's Shandong Province, you may want to seek out this remote scrapyard that lies a few miles outside its capital city Jinan, especially, if you are a Transformers fan. That's because this rustic area is home to every Autobot you may know - from Optimus Prime to Bumblebee and even, Megatron. And we are not talking miniature versions either, but life-size Transformers complete with limbs that move!...

Earth Day was born on April 22nd, 1970, when 20 million people across the United States took to the streets to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Today, it has transformed into a global movement, one that is observed by billions of people around the world who annually pledge to undertake a 'green' initiative set by the Earth Day Network (a consortium of 22,000 partners across 192 countries), to help our planet....

Residential houses have come a long way in reducing their energy footprint. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, homes built after 2000, consume only 2% more energy than older homes, despite being 30% larger. While that is certainly encouraging, advocates of the Passive House movement believe that there is a lot more that can and needs to be done - not just to reduce energy costs, but also, to help reverse global warming....