In nature, life and death sometimes go hand in hand. So discovered writer and photographer Mark Seth Lender as he witnessed polar bears devouring a Beluga whale that washed ashore in Hudson Bay, Canada one summer day.

Mitt Romney's energy plan promises more energy production through opening more areas to offshore oil and gas drilling, building the Keystone XL pipeline, and speeding up drilling permits. The environmental priorities of Congressman Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential pick, seem closely aligned with Romney's. Navin Nayak, the League of Conservation Voters head of campaigns, tells host Steve Curwood that Rep. Ryan has ties to the oil and gas industry and has voted against renewable energy subsidies during his reign in Congress.

Grades are in, and Massachusetts leads the pack on energy conservation efforts. Living on Earth's Jeff Young looks into the state's history of efficiency initiatives, including some started by the Mitt Romney.

The peacock is notorious for its unique mating display, where it raises up its ornate eye-spotted tail and shakes. Now, new research tells us humans can't quite experience the full show. Christy Perera reports.

The invention of the Internet revolutionized the world. Now, a new type of network -- a chemical internet -- could fundamentally transform the chemical world we live in. Host Steve Curwood talks with Bartosz Grzybowski, professor of chemistry at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who created a chemical internet called Chematica which he believes could change how drugs are made.

Over the span of a lifetime, the world's population has tripled and consumption has become a way of life. David Suzuki reflects on these changes in his book "The Legacy: an elder's vision for our sustainable future." He tells host Steve Curwood that the path to a sustainable future is to stop elevating economy over ecology and to start imagining a brighter future.

King County in Washington wants to be among the first regions in the nation to tap wastewater to use for energy in buildings. Ashley Ahearn of the public media collaborative Earthfix describes how it would work.