Henry Fountain

The concept, called distributed propulsion, is one of several being studied to develop technologies that could lead to completely new and far less polluting aircraft designs.

A report released by the European Parliament concluded that as the global economy expands, shipping could account for about one-sixth of all the CO2 released into the atmosphere by human activity by 2050.

Scientists have several powerful tools to help them analyze volcanic eruptions, but in the end, they are often reduced to analyzing possibilities within possibilities, chains of potential events that could unfold in multiple ways.

Well into the 20th century, scientists knew relatively little about the mechanism behind large seismic events. But that all changed when a devastating quake struck Southcentral Alaska on March 27, 1964, nearly 50 years to the day before the recent 8.2 Chilean quake.