Sewage on cruise ships is cleaned onboard by bacteria and advanced filtration systems

There were more than 20 reported cruise ship outbreaks in 2025

A cruise ship outbreak is officially considered an outbreak when 3% or more of the people aboard a ship report being sick with gastrointestinal illness. It happens often enough that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a whole program just related to tracking such foodborne illness outbreaks.

The sewage of New York City

Residents of the five boroughs of New York produce 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater everyday. Seventy miles of sewer pipes, first built in the mid-1800s, feed the sewage to 14 wastewater treatment and recovery plants where the waste is treated back to viable, drinkable water. See what shouldn't go down the toilet here.

Track every cruise ship in real time, with itineraries and accident history

CruiseMapper is a live global tracker covering hundreds of vessels across major cruise lines. The site layers in port schedules, cabin-level deck plans, repositioning voyages, and a searchable database of 15 incident types—fires, groundings, virus outbreaks, drug smuggling, passenger deaths, and more.

Fecal transplants can help treat infections

Fecal transplants aim to transplant healthy gut bacteria into ill patients by transferring (literally) samples of human waste from a healthy patient to a sick patient. The technique has been shown to cure otherwise deadly Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections and is being studied for a range of other uses.

Technologies developed for the ISS have brought benefits to people on Earth

About 93% of water used onboard the International Space Station is recycled through filtration and purification systems that have since been used in regions lacking access to clean water. Treatments to mitigate bone loss and muscle atrophy in astronauts can also help aging adults.

View how cleanup crews respond to oil spills to minimize lasting damage

Oil floating on the surface can be pushed into booms with water hoses to contain the spill before being suctioned by vacuums, set on fire, or picked up by absorbent materials. In some environments, chemical cleaners can be used to disperse oil into smaller droplets that can dilute in the water, evaporate in the sunlight, or be consumed by oil-eating microbes.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

The canal carried germs as well as goods

In 1832, North America’s first cholera epidemic spread inland by way of the Erie Canal, carried by immigrants arriving on ships. Fearful towns barred passengers from disembarking, yet cholera, smallpox, and other diseases still traveled the waterway.

Watch students comically portray how plants can detoxify the environment

Through a series of processes that collectively make up phytoremediation, plants can take up pollutants from soil and water through their roots, then break them down, release them as less harmful gases, or store them within their cells. Any plants that sequester heavy metals or other toxins must be removed and managed after the environment is decontaminated.

Washing clothes is a significant source of global microfiber pollution

Synthetic fabrics shed millions of plastic microfibers during washing, which pass through wastewater treatment and end up in oceans, soil, and food chains. A single wash load can release several million microfibers, but washing with cold water can reduce this.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Cerebrospinal fluid flushes waste from your brain during sleep

Recent research suggests a nightly brain cleanup as an important purpose of sleep. Brain waves have been observed to work in lockstep with the brain’s blood flow and cerebrospinal fluid flow, allowing for a cleansing tide that washes away toxic waste.

A solar-powered device with googly eyes is pulling trash from Baltimore's harbor

Mr. Trash Wheel uses a conveyor belt to scoop debris from the surface of Baltimore's Inner Harbor before it reaches the Chesapeake Bay, and it runs on a combination of water current and solar power.

Integrated circuits are made with light and require significant purified water and chemicals

The nonstop operation of fabrication plants, which takes months to manufacture a wafer of hundreds of integrated circuits, strains local resources and generates significant chemical waste. Much of the electricity consumed is used to maintain clean room conditions within plants.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

The floating homes of Holland

Floating communities like Schoonschip in Amsterdam are offering a novel approach to combat climate change-induced flooding. With sea levels rising and storms becoming more intense, these floating neighborhoods are providing a sustainable flood defense solution. Learn how they work here.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

How often should you clean your water bottle?

Experts say a daily wash of a high-use bottle is key to keep away unwanted bacteria and odors. For a good clean, use water—as hot as 140 degrees Fahrenheit—mixed with soap, swirling the mixture in the bottle before letting it sit for 20 minutes. Learn more tips with this quick overview.

How massive cargo ships fight off modern pirates

Piracy on the high seas costs a reported $16 billion each year from either theft or damage incurred during an attempt to pirate massive cargo ships. This video breaks down several ways companies attempt to fend off would-be thieves. Pirate crews are...

Advanced forensic science has helped identify killed sailors decades later

When the USS Oklahoma capsized amid the attacks, hundreds of sailors were buried within the ship's hull. Officials have used advances in forensic science to analyze DNA and dental evidence to help identify nearly 400 sailors decades after the fact.

Some people smash Champagne bottles on ships for good luck

Long before Champagne existed, people performed good-luck rituals before setting sail. But since animal sacrifice is generally frowned upon these days, a new tradition developed before a ship’s maiden voyage: smashing a bottle of Champagne against the hull.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

'Shipping Out' can be viewed as a more recent example of subjective journalism

Later retitled "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," Wallace's essay details his existential experience on a cruise ship with biting wit. Arguably more Gonzo than New Journalism, Wallace laments the pressure to have fun in the commercialized cruise atmosphere that brings out feelings of dread more than pleasure.

Take an interactive tour through Australia's Great Barrier Reef

This adventure offers spherical panoramas of marine wildlife, including manta rays, loggerhead turtles, and bottlenose dolphins. The shipwreck of a luxury passenger vessel and coral reef systems are also explored with underwater audio recordings of the environment.

Water is naturally tinted with a slight blue, but sediments and organics can alter its color

The innate coloration comes from water absorbing red light in the visible spectrum more than green or blue, giving shallow waters in some parts of the Caribbean their turquoise hue. If sand is light, it can be churned up by turbulent water, clouding its appearance. Plankton and other organisms can color water by affecting how the rest of the spectrum is absorbed or reflected.

See where and how many microplastics are in the average human body

This diagram maps the extent to which microplastics have been found across human organ systems, tissues, and fluids. Beyond the locations shown, microplastics have also been found in the stomach, brain, and sex organs.

How Disney World keeps out mosquitos

Disney World may have been built on a swamp, but it's nearly free from the annoyance of mosquitos. That hasn't been an easy task; Disney has worked with engineers and pest specialists on minimizing the invasive bugs through a variety of different methods. This Reader's Digest article breaks down how they've successfully kept the park free from these unwanted guests.

Cremations are America's top choice for postmortem body treatment

Though this process is the most popular one, more Americans are becoming interested in "green" burials that don't involve slowly degrading coffin materials, toxic embalming fluids or emissions from crematoria.

The fish in sushi is usually frozen to eliminate parasites

Most raw fish contain parasites, but sushi restaurants and fish markets use “super freezers” to make the food safe for consumption. The United States Food and Drug Administration warns that frozen raw seafood can still contain parasites, depending on the type of fish and the conditions of the “super freezer.”

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

Watch the cumbersome, but necessary, precautions healthcare workers must take to care for and protect themselves while caring for Ebola patients.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.