A Jordanian-Canadian architect designs a tent to help refugees. Astronauts farm in space! And which rechargeable batteries are really the most eco-friendly? It's Earthy Thursday, our weekly take on news relating to the environment, Earth, and science. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Could a tent really provide you with water, energy, and shelter? It's a work in progress but Jordanian-Canadian designer and architect Abeer Seilkay thinks hers can! 1 Million Women takes a look at the startling new shelter design, which could help refugees from around the world weather harsh climates and scarce resources.

If humans are ever going to start living in space long-term they're going to have to figure out how to be sustainable first. Fortunately, astronauts aboard the International Space Station have made significant progress in that department, eating food grown in space for the first time this past summer. You can read more about the story at Discover.

In our power-hungry society batteries are an indispensable resource. Naturally, our inclination is to prefer (for both cost and ecological reasons) batteries which recharge and can be used more than once. But which rechargeable batteries are best? Grist's Geraldine C. takes a look.

Social engineering might seem a deeply unnatural and fundamentally human phenomenon, but the truth is that humans are far from the only animals to engage in such efforts. Writer Esther Inglis-Akell discusses how honeybees, one of the most studied examples, use biochemistry to alter their own biology and behavior.

A lot of effort has been made to combat California's devastating drought, from limiting water usage to developing new technologies to make said water usage more efficient. But it could well be that things are only going to get worse. This article at Wired argues that a greater ecological disaster is just over the horizon.