David Richardson
David C. Richardson is a writer based in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in topics related to science, the environment, and public policy.
Defeating Bacteria From the Inside Out
The world’s most ubiquitous organism could save millions of lives — if only they could get a new tryout.
Can Farmed Fish Flourish on a Veggie Diet?
It’s a fish-eat-fish world out there, which is bad news for ailing fisheries providing feedstock for aquaculture. If only some key dinner-table species were vegetarians, smaller fish would be spared.
Among Antibiotics, Resistance Knows No Bounds
A microbiologist on the front lines of antibiotic resistance sees a lot of ways to improve the search and development of new antimicrobials.
Building Cities With Sustainability in Mind to Cut Costs
Municipal waste — from poop to heat — can be a valuable resource that could run our cities more cheaply and sustainably, says a hands-on Canadian ecologist.
Putting Bees on the Righteous Path
An annual Woodstock for honeybees highlights one of the factors leading to the pollinators' decline in North America. Perhaps keeping bees at home is the solution.
Fighting TB and HIV Simultaneously
Tuberculosis and HIV are both high-profile global health scourges, but surprisingly little focus has been paid on treating them when they team up.
Balancing the Power of Offshore Wind
Fears that wind only provides power when it's blowing outside could be neutralized by drawing from a wide area — like the U.S. Atlantic coast.
Fine-Tuning Fuels From Algae
Overcoming some of the obstacles that have hindered petri-dish-to-gas-pump schemes in the past, scientists are finding ways to produce high-octane fuel and even pure hydrogen from co-opted algae.
ARPA-E Gets Serious About Clean Energy
While Arunava Majumdar says America urgently needs to come up with clean-energy “game changers,” until now there hasn’t been a systematic approach to develop them.
Cool It Now and Chill Later
Blocks of ice are joining molten salt and compressed air as ways to deliver yesterday's energy when it's wanted today.
Disease Apparently Not Harming French Bat
A fungus linked to widespread destruction of U.S. bat colonies has been found on a thriving French bat.
Kids Skip School Lunches for Corner Store Junk
Lots of urban kids are flocking to eat crappy food peddled by corner stores, but both kids and vendors can be shown a more nutritious way.
A Second Life For Orbiting Carbon Observatory?
As the need to measure carbon absorption takes on global political and environmental import, researchers are rushing to resurrect a project that literally crashed and sank.
The Good, The Bad and ... Well, You Decide
In sizing up a possible opponent's intentions, men make snap judgments based on the shape of the guy's head.
Vulcan Logic and the Missing Sink
Researchers studying a mashup of existing data are tracking exactly where carbon is entering — and exiting — the atmosphere.
Emotional Vérité: If You Can See It You Can Feel It
In a sequel to an experiment from the days of silent film, a multinational team of psychology researchers has shown that we perceive emotions based on what we bring to the table.
Virus Swarm May Lie Behind Honey Bee Catastrophe
Researchers examining the recently unveiled genome of the honey bee think they've uncovered a big clue in dealing with the colony collapse disorder ravaging U.S. hives.
Ladies and Gentlemen — Meet the Beetles
A persistent pest from China chomping on American trees spotlights the economic and aesthetic damage that foreign species may cause in new environments.
School Lunch Brings Home the Bacon
An experiment in subsidizing school lunches to use locally raised commodities pays off both in the cafeteria and in the regional economy, one study finds.
Spacefarers Need A Wiki
Merely identifying all the stuff orbiting Earth isn't enough to prevent mishaps. We need to know where it's going in data everyone can interpret.
Nanotechnology: New Risks But No Rules
While some experts say mum's the word when it comes to nanoproducts' environmental safety, others believe that cannot be good for the future of the technology.
Riddles of an Acerbic Sea
Aside from global climate change, carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to another equally disturbing global problem: Ocean acidification — and its potential effects on marine ecosystems, especially coral reefs — has biologists very concerned.
New Therapies Break Sickle Cell’s Painful Grip
A brace of therapies ranging from improved bone marrow transplantation to stem cell research may finally put sickle cell anemia on the run.
Looking for a Traffic Cop in Space
The collision of two satellites over Siberia highlights long-standing calls for a traffic management system and a no-littering policy in space.
Much Ado About Nanotech
A growing chorus of observers believes that nanotechnology needs better oversight, especially as it works its way into household staples like cosmetics and sunscreen.
Domestic Spying: A Mission in Search of a Cause
Civil rights advocates fear that anti-terrorism fusion centers are overstepping their bounds.
Billions Haven’t a Pot to You-Know-What In
For World Toilet Day (Nov. 19), we offer a chat with the author of the new book "The Big Necessity."
Unhappy Halloween: Bats In Grave Danger
Bees do it. Frogs do it. And now scientists fear bats may be the next die-off victims.
Toning the Brain With an Internet Workout
Age-related dementia currently affects about 10 percent of the U.S. population — you could look it up on the Internet.
NYC Says 'Cool It' to Air-Conditioning the Sidewalk
The lure of a cool blast costs 22,000 barrels of oil and pumps out tons of carbon dioxide.
The Grass Floodwall: Gustav Highlights Need for Wetlands
Mother Nature needs to be allowed to protect New Orleans from ... Mother Nature.
Working Around Salty Residue in Nation’s Breadbasket
Salt buildup in America's most productive farming area could idle thousands of acres. But there are, ahem, solutions ...
If You Can't Raise the River, Modernize the Canal
Caught between a rock and dry place, California tries automating farm water delivery.
The Ticking Compass Inside a Butterfly
Humankind can learn a lot from the power of circadian clocks and sunlight observation that are child's play to monarch butterflies.
Butterfly Diplomacy: An Immigration Policy for Monarchs
North America's monarch 'is one of the largest of our butterflies and rules a vast domain.' But it's in trouble on both ends of its massive migration.
Climate Change Leaves Wildflowers in the Cold
In the wildflower meadows of the West, we may be hearing the whisperings of a post-climate-change world.
Various Groups Gather to Study Nature's Calendar
The United States has built one of the most advanced technological societies the world has ever seen, but we still don't really know when spring starts.
Finding Health, and Opportunity, in the Latrine
Ecological sanitation, or 'ecosan,' can provide both improved hygiene and an income for the majority of the world, where just getting a sip of clean water can be a challenge.
Facing the Sanitation Challenge
The U.N. sees a dire need for even simple actions. Western businesses find it in their own interest to take heed of the need.