海角大神

What we're writing

How water swaps help manage a precious resource

Water markets are in many ways in their infancy. But the idea is a big one. If managed right, it can聽potentially encourage聽water to flow where it's most useful, supporting farms, cities, and ecosystems.聽Farmers, the biggest water users, gain an incentive to conserve when they can make extra money by selling or leasing their surplus. //聽Zack Colman

The humble potato ... interplanetary rock star?

An experiment simulating conditions on Mars suggests聽the hearty tubers might聽thrive even there, if provided with air.聽The lesson for Earth: The versatile potato聽is also聽a prime candidate to help feed a warmer, more populous world. //聽Patrick Reilly

Clean energy has momentum, despite Trump

President Trump is expected to issue an executive order to dismantle an Obama administration Clean Power Plan. But experts say that alone won't dictate what states and businesses do. // Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang,聽Medill News Service (in collaboration with 海角大神)

What we're reading

What Alaska can teach聽world about renewables

For people around the world who lack electricity, clean-energy microgrids may be the answer.聽// Ensia

Geology-inspired brickmaking may slash聽emissions

Bricks solidified聽with聽pressure instead of heat could save lots of energy,聽say these Swiss researchers.聽// Anthropocene

Everglades' superpower: absorbing carbon

A researcher tries to quantify the carbon-storing benefits of Florida聽Mangrove forests.聽// Yale Climate Connections

NASA studies a rarity: Growing Louisiana deltas

Airborne instruments聽help scientists explore聽how coastal marshes might聽cope with rising sea levels. // NASA

What's trending

Death Valley's rare wildflower 'super bloom'

"Very few people get to see it, and it is incredible." // Alan Van Valkenburg, park ranger, in video shared by聽Southern California Public Radio

US聽solar soared in 2016, but investors still leery

"Investor sentiment ...聽in a rising interest rate and falling oil price market obscured by tax policy uncertainty remains tepid." // Credit Suisse analyst Andrew Hughes, quoted by Reuters. Mr. Hughes is still bullish on some聽residential-solar stocks.

On solar, homeowners buy rather than聽lease

"All signs point to the continued rise of customer ownership. Leasing was a necessary temporary solution that sparked the original growth of residential solar, but the future is cash and loans."聽// a GTM Research report, quoted in Computerworld

Shell CEO urges his industry to embrace聽clean energy

"I do think trust has been eroded to the point that it is becoming a serious issue for our long-term future.... If we are not careful, broader public support for the sector will wane." // CEO Ben van Beurden, at a Houston conference, quoted by Digital Journal