Latest Posts
Speeding Up Carbon Sequestration in the Ocean
Scientists at Caltech and the University of Southern California have discovered that adding a common enzyme will make the slow part of the chemical reaction that sequesters carbon dioxide into the ocean go 500 times faster. They believe that, if they can scale this process up, it could make a real difference in reducing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Read more »
Food Choices Can Squander Environmental Resources
It is often estimated that about a third of the food produced for human consumption globally is lost or wasted. But an even bigger waste, which is not included in this estimate, may be through dietary choices that result in the squandering of environmental resources. Read more »
Plants Modified to Need 25% Less Water
Scientists led by the University of Illinois have discovered that a simple genetic tweak, which alters the expression of a single gene that is found in all plants, can improve how a crop uses water by 25% without compromising yield. Read more »
Street Layout Has a Big Effect on Urban Heat
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that the pattern of streets in a city can have a big effect on the strength of the local heat island effect which causes cities to be hotter than their surroundings. Read more »
New Superconducting Material Brings Nuclear Fusion Closer
Engineers at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have predicted that using a new superconducting material will allow nuclear fusion power to be supplied to the grid within 15 years. Read more »
New Filter Can Desalinate Sea Water and Extract Valuable Metals
Researchers at Australia’s CSIRO and Monash University and at the University of Texas at Austin have found a material which filter salt and ions out of sea water not only yielding safe drinking water but also recovering valuable metals such as lithium. Read more »
Regional Climate Mitigation Could Reduce Extreme Heat by 2-3°C
Modifying the properties of the land surface in highly populated areas and in agricultural areas could reduce extreme temperatures in those regions by up to 2 to 3°C. Read more »
Discovery Could Significantly Boost Solar Cell Efficiency
Researchers at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science have made a discovery that could lead to significantly boosted solar cell efficiency. Read more »
New Technique Could Save 95% of the Energy Used to Pump Fluids
Approximately 10% of global electricity consumption is for pumping water, oil, natural gas and other fluids through pipes. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria have discovered a technique which could reduce the energy required for this by up to 95%. Read more »
Edible and Biodegradable Plastic from Seaweed
An Indonesian company, Evoware, has developed a method of producing biodegradable packaging from seaweed. Read more »
