Russia’s state-controlled energy giant, Gazprom, has unveiled a fresh design for a major new office building it has been planning for several years in St. Petersburg. The new design, which embellishes the original plan, proposes to use plants to control the building’s temperature.

Researchers in Texas are reporting the design, construction, and assembly of nano-size building blocks into the first giant structures that can sense and respond to changes in environmental conditions.

MIT researchers have figured out how bacteria ensure that they respond correctly to hundreds of incoming signals from their environment.

Have you ever wondered what happens in the rainforest when no one is looking?

Starting June 1, the Chinese government's country-wide plan to make shoppers pay small fees for plastic bags, and to forbid the production of ultra-thin bags will take effect. The move should save China 37 million barrels of oil a year. NGOs have been into the act earlier, pushing for relief from the ubiquitous plastic bag — Chinese use over 3 billion such bags every day.

You won’t be given a plastic bag from Ontario liquor stores any more. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario has banned plastic bags at all of its retail stores.

“Environmentally friendly” is not a phrase normally used to describe a chemistry lab. But thanks to a groundbreaking discovery at Tel Aviv University, the chemical industry is a step closer to being green.

Scientists in Germany are reporting development of a new generation of explosives that is more powerful than TNT and other existing explosives, less apt to detonate accidentally, and produce fewer toxic byproducts. Their study of these more environmentally friendly explosives is scheduled for the June 24 issue of ACS’ Chemistry of Materials, a bi-weekly journal.

Emissions trading is seen by many governments and commentators as a major means of controlling global warming but it involves worrying assumptions on enforceability and potentially serious implications for development. A study in Regulation and Governance published by Wiley-Blackwell finds that the rise of emission trading brings contentious issues to the fore.

Scientists in Turkey have warned that Lake Van in the southeastern part of the country will disappear in the next 10-15 years if no radical measures are applied to save it. Lake Van is regarded the fifth biggest lake in Europe.

Apple has been criticized in the past for its lack of "greenness," but when it launched the MacBook Air it made plenty of statements about how its newest computer was so much greener than previous models. ClimateCounts.org begs to differ, at least when looking at Apple overall.

Wind farms generally improve the scenery of locations that were not that picturesque to begin with. According to a study in Geographical Research published by Wiley-Blackwell, wind farms have a negative impact on landscapes with a high scenic quality, but a positive effect on dull and mundane landscapes.