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US Renewable Electricity Surpassed Coal in 2022

Electricity generated from renewables surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced Monday. Renewables also surpassed nuclear generation in 2022, after first doing so last year. Growth in wind and solar significantly drove the increase in renewable energy and contributed 14% of the electricity produced domestically in 2022. Hydropower contributed 6%, and biomass and geothermal sources generated less than 1%. “I’m happy to see we’ve crossed that threshold, but that is only a step in what has to be a …


No Atmosphere Found at Faraway Earth-Sized World, Study Says

The Webb Space Telescope has found no evidence of an atmosphere at one of the seven rocky, Earth-sized planets orbiting another star. Scientists said Monday that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the planets in this solar system, some of which are in the sweet spot for harboring water and potentially life. “This is not necessarily a bust” for the other planets, Massachusetts Institute of Technology astrophysicist Sara Seager, who wasn’t part of the study, said in an email. “But we will have to wait and see.” The Trappist …


Microplastic Pollution Impairs Seabird Gut Health

Scientists have long known that wild seabirds ingest bits of plastic pollution as they feed, but a new study Monday shows the tiny particles don’t just clog or transit the stomach but can subvert its complex mix of good and bad bacteria, too. Plastic-infested digestive tracts from two species of Atlantic seabirds, northern fulmars and Cory’s shearwaters, showed a decrease of mostly beneficial “indigenous” bacteria and more potentially harmful pathogens. There was also an increase in antibiotic-resistant and plastic-degrading microbes, researchers reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. The …


Burmese Pythons, Other Invasive Animals, Devour the Competition in Florida

Florida has captured more than 17,000 Burmese pythons since 2000, but tens of thousands more are likely roaming the Florida Everglades. That’s a concern because the reptiles, which are not native to the area, are gobbling up the competition. “[Pythons] can take out one of our apex predators, which are alligators and crocodiles, and then it’ll take down some of the other native animals that are small mammals — some of the rats, the mice, the marsh bunnies — things that are supposed to be food for other things,” says …


Five Planets Will Be Lined Up in Night Sky This Week

Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout. Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars — will line up near the moon. Where and when can you see them? The best day to catch the whole group is Tuesday. You’ll want to look to the western horizon right after sunset, said NASA astronomer Bill Cooke. The planets will stretch from the horizon line to around halfway up the night sky. But don’t be late: Mercury and Jupiter will quickly dip …


North Sea Shell Survey Brings Out Volunteers

Hundreds of volunteers descended on the beaches of the North Sea coast this weekend to collect sea shells as a measure of the sea’s biological diversity. While there is a serious scientific purpose to the exercise, it is also a fun day out on the coast for Belgian, French and Dutch families with kids. On Saturday, Natascha Perales and her children marked a wide spiral pattern on the sand in Middelkerke, in Flanders, and filled their plastic buckets with shells. The harvests were taken to a sorting center run by …


Ignoring Experts, China’s Sudden Zero-COVID Exit Cost Lives, AP Finds

When China suddenly scrapped onerous zero-COVID measures in December, the country wasn’t ready for a massive onslaught of cases, with hospitals turning away ambulances and crematoriums burning bodies around the clock. Chinese state media claimed the decision to open up was based on “scientific analysis and shrewd calculation,” and was “by no means impulsive.” But in reality, China’s ruling Communist Party ignored repeated efforts by top medical experts to kickstart exit plans until it was too late, The Associated Press found. Instead, the reopening came suddenly at the onset of …


Lithium Discovery Seen as Mixed Blessing in India’s Kashmir

The discovery of major lithium deposits is being seen as a mixed blessing in India’s troubled Kashmir region, where hopes for a major economic boost are tempered by fears of human displacement and damage to the territory’s fragile ecology. The finding of the lithium, key to the manufacture of batteries used in electric cars and other electronic devices, is likely very good news for India as a whole, promising to save the country billions of dollars as it seeks to move its economy away from fossil fuels. It also offers …


Invasive Animals Wreak Havoc in Florida

Florida’s warm weather attracts millions of visitors, including animals that outstay their welcome. Wildlife brought in from somewhere else has seriously damaged the ecosystem in Florida, home to the most severe invasive animal crisis in the continental United States. VOA’s Dora Mekouar has more from Orlando. Camera: Adam Greenbaum Produced by: Dora Mekouar, Adam Greenbaum …


COVID-19, Global Crises Hinder Progress in Ending TB

In marking World TB Day, health officials warn the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple global crises are setting back years of progress in fighting tuberculosis and eventually ending the deadly disease. Tuberculosis, an ancient disease that some say goes back to biblical times, kills more people than any other infectious disease. The World Health Organization says 1.6 million people globally died from TB in 2021 and an estimated 10.6 million people were newly infected. Tuberculosis – a bacterial infection of the lungs – is a preventable, treatable and curable disease. Significant …