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One human's genome represents a large chunk of data. Put a lot of genomes together and it starts to become unmanageable

Now panels can be made lightweight, cheaply, and cleanly.

Researchers at MIT have figured out how to grow "humanized" livers inside of mice--so the little critters could soon accurately predict how our livers will respond to drugs. Mice are a boon to biomedical research; they can often predict how humans will react to certain conditions, and not too many people get upset if they die from an overdose of toxic chemicals. But mice aren't as useful in pharmaceutical research because their livers react to drugs differently than human livers

All of our gadgets suck down an enormous amount of energy. But a new discovery--using magnets to power them--could make them almost impossibly efficient. Even the most energy conscious among us often run into one major obstacle: we need computers

In an industry littered with excess packaging, it sounds like an impossible goal. And the Texas startup isn't just targeting waste, it's also going after food deserts, too. In an industry littered with excess packaging, it sounds like an impossible goal: in.gredients , a startup out of Austin, Texas, wants to create the first zero-waste, packaging-free grocery store in the U.S.

You thought you weren't supposed to use your phone while driving. But Israeli startup Picitup uses augmented reality to warn you of dangers on the road ahead

Sand is a cheap and easy to find water filter. It's also not a very good water filter

Turns out that building bike lanes isn't just a benefit for bikers. Building those bike lanes provides a big boost to the economy.

To stop honeybees--some of the planet's most important food pollinators--from continuing to disappear at an alarming rate, London has launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign to raise awareness about the problem. It's hard to say exactly why honeybees the world over are disappearing. Evidence points to viruses , fungi, cell phone use , pesticides, and climate change as potential causes (or parts of a larger cause).

Mimicking the highly efficient power-generation process of photosynthesis, an artificial leaf could change how the world gets energy. And new developments at MIT mean it could happen in the next few years. Earlier this year, MIT professor Daniel Nocera made a discovery : By dipping a cobalt-and phosphate-coated artificial silicon leaf into a jar of water, he could effectively mimic photosynthesis and create power at an efficiency greater than today's solar panels

Developing countries lack both clean water and clean energy sources. By converting soiled water into energy and clean water, a new project could wipe away both problems. Waste to fuel facilities are nothing new--in the past few years, we've seen chicken poop-powered fuel cell plants , a scheme to use astronaut poop for fuel in space, and a town that's converting wastewater sludge into thermal energy.

Biofuel-powered aircraft have finally been approved, and could cut airlines' fuel costs in half. When's the maiden flight? Biofuel-powered aircraft have finally moved into the real world now that the U.S.-based Air Transport Association has approved a fuel blend of up to 50% organic waste and non-food material (i.e

It's been scarily simple for companies to make false claims about how good their products are for the environment, but now the government is stepping in. It's scarily simple for companies to make inauthentic "green" claims about their products. They can just slap an unregulated green seal of approval on their product.

When you measure BPA levels based on a lifetime of daily exposure, it turns out our bodies are full of the poisonous stuff. BPA is practically inescapable--it's found in soup cans, water bottles, store receipts, dental linings, plastic-packaged foods, and any number of other products. Canada has already declared that BPA is a toxic substance, and the stuff has been banned in baby bottles in Europe, China, and Canada, but we're still exposed to BPA constantly.

The rare metals that go into clean technology are already in short supply. Without a way to get them out of our old electronics, we could run out before we know it