The continental United States is jam-packed with reminders of our ravenous oil appetite. Since the 1850s, there have been an estimated 3.5 million oil and gas wells drilled across the country. Many of those were abandoned after the companies running them ran out of business or otherwise ceased operating. These forgotten fossil fuel artifacts, referred to officially as “undocumented orphan wells” (UOWs) are often left behind without meaningful efforts taken to safely seal them. Unplugged orphan wells can leak out dangerous methane, oil, and other chemicals for years which can pollute the air and potentially contaminate nearby water sources. The Bureau of Land Management suspects there are still 130,000 of these unplugged old wells scattered throughout the US. Industry organizations like the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission believe that number might be closer to 740,000.

Finding and plugging those wells is a laborious, time-consuming task. Researchers spend countless hours pouring over hundreds of thousands of old maps, some dating to the mid-19th century, looking for references to wells that aren’t currently accounted for in official records. Artificial intelligence might make that process much faster. Researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Berkeley Lab have created a new vision neural network model trained on over 100 years worth of maps they say can identify previously uncovered orphan wells within 10 meters of their actual location. Researchers have already confirmed the presence of 44 of the 1,301 potential wells identified by the model in California and Oklahoma. Once scaled up, the researcher believes this new AI-driven approach could help make meaningful inroads in finally bringing these long dormant wells fully offline. 

Researchers detailed their process for training the AI in an article published this week in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The team trained their AI mode specifically to identify a symbol shaped like a hollow black circle that was commonly used to identify oil and gas well in topographical maps. A human data labeller spent 40 hours manually identifying examples of these symbols which then served as the AI model’s training set. When training the AI, the researchers had to account for other symbols or makers with similar-looking circular patterns that could be mistakenly identified and result in false positives. Even rounded symbols like the numbers “9” or “0” could potentially become false positives. Some maps were in relatively good condition, but others were worn down over time and stained. Berkeley Lab scientist and paper senior author Charuleka Varadharajan compared this process to “finding a needle in a haystack.” 

Once the AI was fully trained to detect the well symbols, the researchers then unleashed it on thousands of maps limited to four oil-rich counties in California and Nevada. The model came back with 1,301 potentially undocumented orphan wells. Researchers then tried to verify those findings by analyzing aerial and satellite images from Google Earth. They hovered over the areas identified by the AI and looked for features like oil derricks, pump jacks, and storage tanks that would suggest a well’s prince. The team verified 29 previously undocumented wells using this visual method.

But not all abandoned wells are necessarily visible with aerial imagery. Many are cut off below the surface. In those cases, researchers need to conduct in-person field tests where they use backpack-mounted magnetometers to detect magnetic anomalies that suggest the presence of vertical metal pipes buried beneath the ground. The researchers were able to verify 15 more of the wells using this method. 

“We intentionally chose to have more false negatives than false positives, since we wanted to be careful about the individual well locations identified through our approach,” Varadharajan added. “We think that the number of potential wells we’ve found is an underestimate, and we might find more wells with more refinement of our methods.” 

The researchers are hoping to pair the AI’s predictive power with other modern technology like sensor-equipped drones to rapidly accelerate the rate scientists can detect, and ultimately plug potentially leaky wells. In the future, drones outfitted with magnetometers could quickly deploy to areas where aerial detection isn’t possible. Other drones equipped with methane sensors could measure the air for leakage. Drone adorned with hyperspectral cameras, meanwhile, could scan areas for wavelengths associated with methane plumes that would otherwise be undetectable to the human eye. 

 “AI can enhance our understanding of the past by extracting information from historical data on a scale that was unattainable just a few years ago,”  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory postdoctoral fellow Fabio Ciulla said in a statement. “The more we go into the future, the more you can also use the past.”

The post ‘A needle in a haystack:’ How AI is helping uncover abandoned oil wells appeared first on Popular Science.

Californians will finally be able to take advantage of a state e-bike incentive program starting December 18, reports Melanie Curry for Streetsblog California. “The first launch window will provide up to $3 million for about 1,500 e-bike vouchers to ‘income-eligible’ California residents, with future vouchers available in the coming months.” Requirements include being over 18 years old and an income 300 percent or less of the federal poverty level.

The program, administered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), has had a troubled start. After launching in early 2023, the program was slow to begin distributing rebates, and critics warned it was too small to make a significant difference in mode share.

The vouchers will be worth up to $2,000 depending on the applicant’s income and the type of bike purchased.

• E-Bikes
• E-Bike Incentives
• E-bike Rebate
• Active Transportation
• Bikes
• Cycling

In a piece for Governing, Emily Hamilton explains why concerns that upzoning, or liberalizing land use regulations to accommodate more housing construction could actually raise the cost of land and housing are largely overblown.

These fears, Hamilton explains, come from the idea that upzoning lower-density parcels, particularly if limited to certain areas, will raise land values. However, “Abundant and diverse new housing construction pushes rents down. And because land’s value is ultimately determined by the stream of income it can produce, as more housing supply reduces rents across a region, it puts downward pressure on land values, too.”

Hamilton analyzed land values in Houston, where zoning reforms reduced minimum lot sizes over a span of decades. “Together, Houston’s 1998 and 2013 upzonings facilitated the construction of about 80,000 houses on lots less than 5,000 square feet. Small-lot development has allowed for less expensive housing than could otherwise be built and created opportunities for more people to live in desirable neighborhoods close to job centers.” Meanwhile, a Chicago study  showed that limited upzoning near transit stations raised property values of some lots without yielding new housing.

Hamilton’s analysis shows that upzoning has the biggest positive impact when applies broadly over larger geographic areas. “The Houston case shows that when land-use liberalization leads to widespread and diverse housing construction, more people can live where they need to without an unnecessary spike in the price of existing houses.”

• Zoning
• Upzoning
• Zoning Reform
• Density
• Housing Supply
• housing affordability
• Housing Costs

Amtrak saw its highest ridership in fiscal year 2024, reflecting, according to Amtrak Board Chair Tony Coscia, “not only the need for train travel in America but also the impact of strategic investments” in passenger rail. 

“With the help of massive funding from the 2021 infrastructure law, the railroad launched one new train service, expanded four other routes and invested billions in infrastructure upgrades last year,” explains Dan Zukowski in Smart Cities Dive. The agency recorded 32.8 million trips in FY 2024, a growth of 15 percent over FY 2023, and made $2.5 billion in ticket revenue, a growth of 7 percent over FY 2023. 

Unsurprisingly, Amtrak’s most successful routes are in the Northeast Corridor, where frequent service lets many commute long distances regularly by train. Amtrak is upgrading many of those trains to faster models that run at speeds of up to 125 miles per hour.

• Amtrak
• Trains
• Passenger Rail
• Train Travel
• Acela
• Northeast Corridor

For the first time, razor sharp teeth of tyrannosaurs were found in the Bexhill-on-Sea region of coastal East Sussex, England. These teeth indicate that a bevy of carnivorous dinosaurs including tyrannosaurs, spinosaurs, and members of the Velociraptor family stalked this region about 135 million years ago. The findings are detailed in a study published December 5 in the journal Papers in Palaeontology.

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Finding traces of tyrannosaurs in this area is particularly notable. In over 200 years, paleontologists haven’t found many tyrannosaur remains in the sediments that date back to the Cretaceous Period in this part of England. The tyrannosaurs living here likely would have been about a third of the size of their more famous North American cousin Tyrannosaurus rex. Paleontologists believe that they hunted small dinosaurs and other reptiles along the floodplain. 

Meat-eaters like tyrannosaurs and Velociraptors all belong to a group of dinosaurs called theropods. The teeth that they used to rip apart their fleshy prey are complex and vary in size, shape, and in the anatomy of their serrated edges. 

“Dinosaur teeth are tough fossils and are usually preserved more frequently than bone,” study co-author and University of Southampton paleontologist Chris Barker said in a statement. “For that reason, they’re often crucial when we want to reconstruct the diversity of an ecosystem.”

In this new study, the team deployed several techniques to analyse the fossilized teeth because they were complex and they didn’t have complete skeletons to work with. They analyzed the species’ evolutionary history and used statistics methods and machine learning to help classify the specimens.

“Assigning isolated teeth to theropod groups can be challenging, especially as many features evolve independently amongst different lineages. This is why we employed various methods to help refine our findings, leading to more confident classifications,” study co-author and University of York PhD student Lucy Handford said in a statement. 

Their analysis suggests that spinosars, mid-sized tyrannosaurs and tiny Velociraptor-like theropods called dromaeosaurs were all present here about 135 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period.

[Related: New species of extinct marine reptile found with help from 11-year-old child.]

The collection of a local retired quarryman named Dave Brockhurst was also key to this discovery. Brockhurst has spent the last 30 years uncovering fossils from the nearby Ashdown Brickworks and has found specimens ranging from tiny shark teeth up to partial dinosaur skeletons. He has donated about 5,000 of his specimens to Bexhill Museum. 

Since theropods are exceptionally rare at the site, Brockhurst has only found 10 or so specimens in the area over three decades.

“As a child I was fascinated by dinosaurs and never thought how close they could be,” Brockhurst said in a statement. “Many years later I started work at Ashdown and began looking for fossils. I’m happy with tiny fish scales or huge thigh bones, although the preservation of the dinosaur teeth really stands out for me.”

Additionally, the East Sussex dinosaurs are older than those from some of the more well-known Cretaceous sediments found on the Isle of Wight. The tiny island in the English Channel is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that was once home to a “hell heron” called Ceratosuchops inferodios, and iguanadon with a bulky nostrils named Brighstoneus simmondsi, tank-like armoured dinosaurs called ankylosaurs, and more. 

[Related: T. rex was probably about as intelligent as a crocodile.]

These new discoveries indicate that there are still more paleontological discoveries on England’s mainland just waiting to be uncovered. 

“200 years after the naming of the first dinosaur, Megalosaurus, there are still really big discoveries to be made,” study co-author and University of Southampton paleobiologist Neil Gostling said in a statement. “Dinosaur palaeobiology is alive and well.”

The post Retired quarryman uncovers fossilized tyrannosaur teeth appeared first on Popular Science.

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According to an article by Sammy Herdman in Colorado Newsline, Colorado voters and policymakers remain concerned about environmental issues, signaling that conservation work in the state will continue despite potential changes in federal policy.

Fortunately for Colorado, progress toward mitigating climate change is statutory in the state. In 2019, the Colorado Legislature passed a law mandating the implementation of policies to achieve the state’s emission reduction goals, which include 50% by 2030, and 100% by 2050, compared to 2005 levels.

Federal priorities outlined in Project 2025 could threaten Colorado public lands that conservationists have fought for decades to protect, such as the Thompson Divide. However, many of the changes needed to reverse conservation policy and pollution standards would be difficult or time-consuming to pass.

For Herdman, the state doesn’t need to backslide in its progress. “Although the Trump administration received the mandate of most American voters — by a slim plurality — Coloradans have not given the mandate to renege on climate commitments, public lands protections, and regulations to protect clean air.”

• Conservation
• Environment
• Environmental Protection
• Public Lands
• Sustainability

Housing shortages are pushing teachers out of many communities, prompting school districts and developers to create innovative affordable housing solutions. From converted motels in Texas to large-scale developments in California, districts are leveraging surplus land and creative financing to keep educators local.

California leads with 6 completed teacher housing projects, 4 under construction, and 19 planned. The state has 75,000 acres of available district land — “the size of five Manhattans” — with 61 percent in areas where teachers face housing affordability challenges.

Projects range from Santa Clara's 70-unit development offering 80 percent market-rate rents to Fort Stockton's converted motel starting at $250 monthly. Private developers are also entering the space, with RBH Group's Teachers Village complexes combining housing with educational facilities in multiple cities.

While some projects face NIMBY opposition and financing challenges, demand consistently exceeds supply. As one California official noted: “We could have built more.” The initiatives appear effective at teacher retention - Baltimore's Miller's Court has housed 775 teachers since 2009, with many choosing to stay in the district long-term.

• Affordable Housing
• Education
• Collaboration
• Community Development
• Schools

Anyone who has recovered from a broken bone knows these nifty appendages have a remarkable ability to repair themselves. But even bones have limits. In cases of severe fractures or defects caused by tumors, surgeons will often implant bone grafts to act as a kind of temporary scaffolding to guide the bone toward repair. These grafts have historically come from parts of the patients’ own body or from a donor, which can limit their availability and increase the potential risk for surgery-related infection. Now, a UK-based scientist is attempting to modernize that approach by 3D-printing a new bone grafting material inspired by coral found in the ocean.

Swansea University researcher Zhidao Xia has developed and patented a 3D-printed biomimetic material that mimics the porous structures and chemical composition of coral and implements it as a bone graft substitute. Xia, who published his findings this week in the journal Bioactive Materials implanted the material on broken mice tibias and found it helped new bones grow in just two to four weeks. The 3D-printed material naturally degrades in the animals’ within 6-12 months leaving behind only healthy bones. Though the research didn’t test its effect on humans, Xia believes the new approach could help one day “bridge the gap” between limited natural bone grafts and less effective synthetic alternatives. 

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“Our invention bridges the gap between synthetic substitutes and donor bone,” Xia said in a statement. “We’ve shown that it’s possible to create a material that is safe, effective, and scalable to meet global demand. This could end the reliance on donor bone and tackle the ethical and supply issues in bone grafting.”

Currently, patients who require bone grafts typically can choose between real bone, sourced from their own body or that of a donor, or synthetic alternatives. Synthetics are often more readily available but they have downsides. They often take a long time to biodegrade which can result in poor bone integration or cause inflammation and other side effects. Coral, whose porous structure resembles the spongy structure of human bones, has previously been used as a grafting source but it too is in relatively limited natural supply. This new approach attempts to strike a middle ground. By 3D the coral-like materials, surgeons can quickly have access to an on-demand supply of grafting material. 

Xia and his fellow researchers tested the 3D-printed grafts on mice in laboratory experiments. The experiment showed the grafting material helped repair one’s defect within 3-6 months. It also triggered the formation of a “new layer of strong, healthy cortical bones,” in four weeks. Xia believes the approach could increase grafting material availability and lower medical costs if the technology is scaled up. 

The new coral material is just one of many ways 3D printing is impacting healthcare. Medical students and doctors have, for years, used 3D-printed replicas of bone organs in research and even during some consultations with patients. Dentists are already using the technology to create 3D-printed dental implants and teeth-straightening devices. More advanced “bioprinters” are also already being used to create entirely new organs based on human tissue samples.

The post 3D-printed, coral-inspired material can heal bones appeared first on Popular Science.