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Category: sustainability

Sustainable memristors from shiitake mycelium for high-frequency bioelectronics

Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the structure of the brain, offers advantages in parallel processing, memory storage, and energy efficiency. However, current semiconductor-based neuromorphic chips require rare-earth materials and costly fabrication processes, whereas neural organoids need complex bioreactor maintenance. In this study, we explored shiitake (Lentinula edodes) fungi as a robust, sustainable alternative, exploiting its adaptive electrical signaling, which is akin to neuronal spiking. We demonstrate fungal computing via mycelial networks interfaced with electrodes, showing that fungal memristors can be grown, trained, and preserved through dehydration, retaining functionality at frequencies up to 5.85 kHz, with an accuracy of 90 ± 1%. Notably, shiitake has exhibited radiation resistance, suggesting its viability for aerospace applications. Our findings show that fungal computers can provide scalable, eco-friendly platforms for neuromorphic tasks, bridging bioelectronics and unconventional computing.

Citation: LaRocco J, Tahmina Q, Petreaca R, Simonis J, Hill J (2025) Sustainable memristors from shiitake mycelium for high-frequency bioelectronics. PLoS One 20(10): e0328965. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.

Editor: Ye Zhou, Shenzhen University, HONG KONG

Caputo & Guest Launches Direct-to-Consumer Platform, Bringing Chef-Quality Organic Mushrooms Straight from Farm to Table

At a time when consumers are demanding greater transparency, cleaner ingredients, and locally sourced food, Caputo & Guest is delivering a powerful alternative to mass-produced imports: premium mushrooms grown entirely in the U.S., using a proprietary, manure-free cultivation process.

How Mushrooms That Eat Plastic Can Help Fight Pollution

Long before there were trees, the Earth was overrun by giant mushrooms. Fungi first showed up over a billion years ago as three-metre-tall fungus fingers that dominated the landscape, while plants have been around for a paltry 700 million years debuting as scruffy shrubs. A billion or so years on, the humble ‘shroom is an unlikely champion in the war against plastic waste thanks to the discovery of a plastic-eating mushroom.

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The Marvellous Plastic-Eating Mushroom

Fine-tuning cobalt for cleaner chemical transformations

Finding alternatives to precious metals in chemical manufacturing may be less like sourcing a substitute and more like tuning an instrument already in hand.

Yokohama National University scientists have found that an earth-abundant cobalt catalyst can selectively hydrogenate nitrogen-containing compounds when the balance between metallic cobalt and cobalt oxide is carefully tuned. Their findings could allow for more sustainable approaches to chemical manufacturing that do not depend on precious metals.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Students develop electric car that captures particulate matter while driving

VENTRA is a new sustainable concept car developed by the student team TU/ecomotive. The electric vehicle captures particulate matter generated by tires and brakes while driving, encourages a more sustainable driving style and produces less particulate matter itself. With this concept, the students aim to raise awareness of the dangers of particulate matter and inspire the industry to develop new solutions.

The students are focusing on a form of vehicle emissions that often receives less attention. Although electric cars do not produce exhaust emissions, fine particles are still released while driving because of wear on tires, brakes and the road surface. “No exhaust emissions does not necessarily mean no emissions,” says team manager Tim Spencer. According to him, the problem may be greater with electric cars because they are generally heavier and exert more force on the tires when accelerating.

Pressurized wind tunnel experiments could help wind farms generate more power

The world needs more wind energy. But anyone designing new wind turbines or trying to squeeze more power out of existing ones faces a stiff challenge when testing new approaches. That’s because the atmosphere is a tough place for a controlled experiment.

Some researchers use wind tunnels to conduct tests, but tests of scaled-down wind turbines in traditional wind tunnels can differ widely from field conditions. (Wind turbines are the largest rotating machines ever made.) The problem hampers not only the development of better wind turbines but also our understanding of basic questions like how much power to expect from a turbine when winds change direction.

In a new open-access paper published in PNAS Nexus, researchers closed the gap between experiments in the field and the lab by using a highly pressurized wind tunnel to simulate the flow physics of the atmosphere. With this approach, the researchers determined how the turbine’s alignment and its tip speed relative to the wind influence the power it generates, offering new insights into how to get more power from existing wind farms.

Researchers Borrow Chipmaking Technology To Build Better EV Batteries

Researchers used nanoscale manufacturing techniques from the semiconductor industry to design a copper current collector that helps lithium build up evenly during battery charging.

Electric vehicles could travel farther on a single charge if their batteries could store more energy without getting bigger or heavier. A promising alternative, known as an anode-free battery, eliminates materials such as graphite that normally store lithium during charging, saving weight and space.

Lithium instead deposits directly onto thin copper foil, where repeated charging and discharging can cause it to build up unevenly into sharp, branching spikes called dendrites. The protective layer over the lithium also becomes unstable, reducing battery performance and shortening its lifespan.

Tesla Builds First Cybercab Using In-House Battery Materials

Tesla’s push to bring its battery supply chain under one roof just hit a major milestone on the factory floor. The first production Cybercab powered by cathode battery materials produced entirely in-house has officially rolled off the assembly line at Gigafactory Texas.

The milestone was confirmed by Tesla’s official Robotaxi account on X, which posted: “First Cybercab made using our in-house cathode material – from the first cathode plant in the Americas.”

The breakthrough represents the culmination of a multi-year effort to master dry-cathode 4,680 battery manufacturing. Not only does Tesla’s dry cathode process cut battery costs, but producing the raw active electrode powder domestically takes vertical integration to an entirely new level.

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