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Minimalist multi-use unit creates more intimate studio apartment in Sydney

With everything happening in one space, studio apartments can often feel too cluttered. This Sydney apartments gets a space makeover with the addition of a clever multifunctional unit that partitions the space and stores things out of sight.




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Sydney micro-apartment designed with Japanese organizational technique in mind

Decluttering techniques are a big trend now. This small apartment is designed with organizational principles right from the start.




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80-year-old wooden escalators repurposed into impressive sculpture

Instead of trashing these old treads, they have been made into a inter-looping work of art in the same station.




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Laneway Studio is a tiny rooftop house in the city

Built on top of an existing garage, this laneway house in Australia makes use of what's already there.




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If you had a choice: Eat-in kitchen or separate dining room?

I think open kitchens are greener and more efficient, but others like a separation.




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Is Fahrenheit a better temperature scale than Celsius? (Survey)

This is one area of measurement where perhaps the Americans, Liberians and Burmese get it right.




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So a bear walks into town. Should police shoot it?

People are outraged that a bear is shot and killed in a suburban backyard. It's not so simple.




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Should mountain climbing be banned? (Poll)

People seem to do awfully stupid things when they get high.




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A flatpack pot: hot or not?

It does take up a lot less space, but there are issues.




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Is it time for the toilet to finally come out of the (water) closet?

With people living in smaller spaces and with better toilets, perhaps it is.




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Could you do a digital detox? (Survey)

The modern update of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs rings very true.




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Trulia study finds Americans say they care about the environment but aren't willing to pay for it

The extremely dated "It ain't easy being green" title of this Trulia survey actually misinterprets the data; judging by the questions they asked, it is perfectly easy being green; it just ain't cheap.




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Are you a successful minimalist?

Which of these two images does your place look like?




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Side mirrors no longer required on cars in Japan. Is this a good idea?

It would save fuel and be safer for pedestrians and cyclists. But is it too complicated?




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Are raccoons "Urban anarchists" or "lovable rogues?"

Some would pick a third option: vermin.




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One-a-day bananas: Genius at work or waste of packaging? (Survey)

Bananas are already in a perfect package. But is this even better?




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Photo: Grand Canyon's Havasu Falls are a picture of paradise

Our photo of the day comes from the 15th oldest U.S. national park.




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Award Winning Enviro Laundry Saves the Climate

Ozone, is a substance that like CO2, seems not only to require international treaties, but it likes cleaning stuff. Apparently NASA discovered it works a treat as a disinfectant, killing bacteria and making stains soluble at low temperatures. The




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Ozone Hinders Plants' Ability to Absorb Carbon Dioxide

Ozone — best known for filtering out harmful UV light as a component of the Earth's stratosphere — could dramatically reduce plants' ability to act as a carbon sink and thus cause further accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, according to




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Ozone Could Slash Global Crop Yields by 40% by Century's End

We recently told you of a study warning that global warming could prompt the large-scale collapse of the world's crops by 2080; now comes another study concluding that rising levels of ozone could achieve the same result by century's end. The study,




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Could Fixing the Ozone Layer's Hole Make Global Warming Worse?

Talk about a lose-lose situation: On one hand, not taking any action to repair the hole would allow harmful UV radiation to percolate through; on the other hand, helping to accelerate its recovery could strengthen global warming by




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Scientists Develop Potent Acids to Take Down Destructive Fluorocarbons

While their brethren, the dreaded chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), may be on the wane, fluorocarbons -- a class of equally dangerous industrial gases -- are still wreaking havoc. As the name implies, the main distinguishing characteristic between CFCs and




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Existing Ozone Controls Aren't Protecting Human Health or the Environment, Report Says

Image from NASA updated: As many noted, I (idiotically) cited the Montreal Protocol's success here, which has nothing to do with reducing tropospheric ozone -- rather, it has to do with fixing the ozone layer. Thank you commenters, and my apologies for




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New Survey Explores Link Between Views on Politics, Economics, and Global Warming

Photo courtesy of Next Nature American Climate Values Survey Views on global warming may be more strongly politically and economically influenced than many may have hoped. The recently released results of the American Climate Values Survey, conducted




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Asthma Inhalers' Green Upgrade Deadline Fast Approaching

Good news: The ban on CFC-based asthma inhalers is rapidly approaching. Inhalers are going green and by December 31, all inhalers must be powered by hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) instead of the ozone-harming chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).




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Ozone Depletion Contributes to Ocean Acidification in the Southern Ocean

Forty percent: That is the share of annual oceanic carbon dioxide uptake accounted for by the Southern Ocean. Given that oceans comprise Earth's largest carbon sink, that is not an insignificant figure;




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New Research Shows Baltimore Heatwave Was Worsened by DC's Hot Air

In July of 2007, the East Coast was slammed by a record-setting heat wave. From New York City to Washington, DC, temperatures averaged above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, causing more than 40 deaths.




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The Secret Life of the Sun (Slideshow)

We rely on the sun for everything from powering up our electronics to basic heat and warmth for survival, but this massive star does more than just send light our way: It's a huge nuclear reactor with explosions, eruptions, storms,




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California Paves the Way for Lower-VOC Cleaning Products to Reduce Smog

Household cleaning products in the U.S. might soon be a little greener, thanks to a new rule in California that will require companies to reformulate products so they contain fewer volatile organic compounds, or




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Rogue NASA Satellite Will Crash Into Earth Sometime Soon, Somewhere

In late September, NASA's Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite will crash into Earth. Weighing more than 1,300 pounds and roughly the size of a school bus, the satellite will likely land somewhere between Canada and South




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In 2011 the Arctic's Ozone Layer Hole Grew to an Unprecedented Size

Left: Ozone in Earth's stratosphere at an altitude of approximately 12 miles (20 kilometers) in mid-March 2011, near the peak of the 2011 Arctic ozone loss. Right: chlorine monoxide - the primary agent of chemical ozone destruction in the cold polar




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Remember the hole in the ozone layer? We slowed that. We can slow climate change, too.

Ben Richmond at Motherboard highlights a climate change success story.




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The Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances is already saving your skin

Hopefully someday we can say the same thing about an effective effort to combat greenhouse gas emissions.




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Ozone hole is officially shrinking, proof that international treaties can be effective

New NASA study offers first direct proof that the ozone hole is recovering thanks to the Montreal Protocol treaty and the international ban on CFCs.




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Reflecting Sunlight Away From Earth to Cool the Planet Could Help Some Places, Really Hurt Others

Among the more high risk methods of geoengineering, methods that reflect sunlight away from the Earth to counteract temperature rise are right up there in terms of potential unintended consequences. Well, a new piece of




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First-Ever Geoengineering Research Ban Considered by Convention on Biological Diversity

While preservation of the planet's dwindling biodiversity itself has rightly grabbed the headlines at the ongoing Convention on Biological Diversity in Japan, Science Insider points out an important geoengineering




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Ocean Iron Fertilization Could Stimulate Toxic Algae Blooms in Open Ocean

There's no doubt that geoengineering brings out passionate emotions both pro and con, as recent debate on TreeHugger about the sort of-moratorium on some research coming out of the Convention on Biological Diversity




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NRDC Assesses Biochar - Says High Hopes For Carbon Storage Premature

There's been lots of back and forth in the past year on biochar, ranging from research showing it has huge potential for absorbing carbon emissions on one side, to uncertainty about its potential, to outright




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Message for Policymakers: Ocean Iron Fertilization Chances of Success Low

Another summary of the potential risks and benefits of ocean iron fertilization--the geoengineering method which proposes seeding oceans with iron so as to stimulate microscopic plants that absorb carbon from the




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Whitening Clouds To Stop Climate Change Might Actually Increase Warming

One of the more invasive geoengineering methods that's been proposed to avert global warming is spraying clouds with seawater to whiten them, reflecting solar radiation. New research presented at the European Geosciences Union meeting urges caution




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Injecting Aerosols Into Atmosphere to Slow Global Warming Environmentally & Economically Risky

Another report on another geoengineering method that is likely too risky to try and utterly not cost-effective: Injecting aerosols into the atmosphere to slow warming (which would do absolutely nothing about ocean acidification, by the way).




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Is Sunlight Unfairly Competing With Fossil Fuels?

We can and should go back and forth about the merits, demerits, risks and potential rewards of the spectrum of geoengineering techniques, from the simple but slow and effective (like afforestation) to the well, more fraught with potential catastrophic




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Hubble Hits a Milestone - NASA Celebrates Millionth Space Observation

If good design means longevity, Hubble is well on its way to redeeming the missteps that required high-tech space missions for vision correction before it could serve its purpose. Could it be a coinicidence that Hubble




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Six Astronauts 'Return to Earth' After Successful Mars-500 Mission

Can humans endure the isolation, self-reliance, and deprivations of travel to Mars and back? Six pale-faced but smiling astronauts answer the question.




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Cells with Installed "Operating Systems" Could Create New Life Forms

Researchers are working on "reprogramming" cells to create customized organisms that can be used for everything from new medicines to environmental clean-up crews.




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New "Cyborg" Yeast Can Be Controlled By Computer

A breakthrough in controlling yeast with computers gives a glimpse at where science is headed with controlling lifeforms.




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Financial, Energy Costs of Scrubbing CO2 Directly From Atmosphere Grossly Underestimated

Reducing CO2 emissions at the source, or better yet, not emitting them in the first place, is the better option.




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Climate News Recap: Climate Scientists Get A Legal Defense Fund; Warming to Both Help & Hurt UK; More

Plus, spewing sulfate into sky to stop warming won't fully work (redux); what Singapore's doing to make sure sea level rise doesn't swamp their city. Here's what caught our eye this morning.




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Geoengineering Virus Infecting Gates Foundation?

Wealthy individuals funding geoengineering feasibility studies because no one else will.




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Geoengineering is a Technical Fix for a Political Problem

"The stakes are very high and scientists are not the best people to deal with the social, ethical or political issues that geoengineering raises."