Ever heard of biochar? For most home gardeners, chances are that it's a brand new term. In short, biochar is a charcoal compound added to soil that makes it more fertile. Biochar has a long and complex history of use in indigenous farming throughout West Africa and the Amazon … [Read more...]

There might be a new and improved way to rid contaminated soil of toxins and pollutants: zap it with lasers. By directly breaking down pollutants, researchers say, high-powered lasers can now be more efficient and cheaper than conventional decontamination techniques. The … [Read more...]

In the mid-1990s, 1,000 truckloads of orange peels and orange pulp were purposefully and legally unloaded onto a barren pasture in a Costa Rican national park. Today, that area is covered in lush, vine-laden forest. A team led by Princeton University researchers surveyed the … [Read more...]