Indonesia says its giant sea wall will stop flooding. Is this climate adaptation or a costly folly?

A study of one of the world's longest-running disaster warning systems—desert locust monitoring—finds surveillance limits damages and generates returns of up to 680 times the investment. The new study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research as part of its working papers series, measures how valuable early warning systems could be in limiting the damage caused by natural disasters. Using three decades of data, it evaluates one of the earliest and longest-running disaster monitoring

Educators and researchers around the world, especially in countries with limited resources, need cost-effective, scalable tools for assessing early child development. Direct assessments, a commonly used approach, require children to complete a range of activities that measure academic, physical, and social-emotional skills. These assessments paint a nuanced picture of early child development and are useful to evaluate programs and policies. However, administering direct assessments often takes 3

Stored in an open-air warehouse in tropical Darwin, Australia, are dozens of trays containing cylindrical cores of rock. They are from drill holes bored hundreds of meters below the surface by mineral exploration companies decades ago.

In less than a millionth of a second after a nuclear detonation or a severe nuclear reactor accident, an enormous burst of energy heats the surrounding air and materials. Everything in the vicinity is vaporized into a hot, glowing cloud of gas and plasma. As that nuclear fireball expands, it mixes with air, begins to cool and condenses into tiny solid particles—creating nuclear fallout.