Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: sustainability – Page 22

Researchers led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) have developed a new durable plastic that won’t pollute our oceans. The new material is as strong as conventional plastics and biodegradable, but what makes it special is that it breaks down in seawater. The new plastic is therefore expected to help reduce harmful microplastic pollution that accumulates in oceans and soil and eventually enters the food chain.

The experimental findings are published Nov 22 in Science.

Scientists have been trying to develop safe and sustainable materials that can replace traditional plastics, which are non-sustainable and harm the environment. While some recyclable and exist, one big problem remains. Current biodegradable plastics like PLA often find their way into the ocean where they cannot be degraded because they are water insoluble. As a result, microplastics—plastic bits smaller than 5 mm—are harming aquatic life and finding their way into the , including our own bodies.

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The fashion world is buzzing about a new material that’s changing the game: mushroom leather. Made from mycelium, this innovative textile is taking the industry by storm, offering a sustainable and stylish alternative to traditional leather.

But it’s not just about looking good — this fungal fashion movement is about embracing a more eco-conscious and cruelty-free approach to clothing production.

What makes mushroom leather so remarkable? It all starts with mycelium, the thread-like, dense cellular structure that forms the vegetative part of a fungus.

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A team of researchers from Jilin University, NYU Abu Dhabi’s Smart Materials Lab, and the Center for Smart Engineering Materials, led by Professor of Chemistry Pance Naumov, has developed a new crystalline material that can harvest water from fog without any energy input.

The design of the novel type of smart crystals, which the researchers named Janus crystals, is inspired by and animals, which can survive in . Desert beetles and lizards, for example, have evolved to develop that have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic areas and effectively capture moisture from the air. Water is attracted to the hydrophilic areas and droplets are accumulated and transported through the hydrophobic areas.

The findings are presented in the paper titled “Efficient Aerial Water Harvesting with Self-Sensing Dynamic Janus Crystals,” recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

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Researchers in Saudi Arabia have developed a solution to overheating solar panels that requires zero electricity. This development can also double as a method for atmospheric water collection, an important practice in dry regions, as relayed by SciTechDaily.

The research, led by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology professor Qiaoqiang Gan, is important because it addresses the problem of overheating solar panels in particularly hot and sunny regions, such as Saudi Arabia.

Researchers discovered that moisture from atmospheric water could serve as a coolant for the overheating panels. “This water can be collected by atmospheric water harvesting technologies,” Gan stated.

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Gwynne Shotwell discusses the transformative potential of SpaceX’s Starship program for space exploration and colonization, emphasizing its upcoming Flight 6, the importance of Starlink for revenue, and the integration of Tesla technologies for sustainable human habitats on Mars Questions to inspire discussion Launch.

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Animals and plants also live and thrive on public squares. This creates opportunities for greater biodiversity and well-being for the human population. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have studied at 103 locations in Munich how various factors affect flora and fauna.

They advocate a close examination of local conditions and a more nature-focused approach to the design of public spaces. Their results are published in Nature Cities.

Biodiversity is the foundation of functional ecosystems: diverse ecosystems are more stable and have greater resiliency to the effects of climate change. However, humans also benefit directly from having a wide range of plant and animal life in their surroundings.

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Uranus’s upper atmosphere has been cooling for decades—and now scientists have shown why. Observations from Earth have shown Uranus’ upper atmosphere has been cooling for decades, with no clear explanation.

Now, a team led by Imperial College London scientists has determined that unpredictable long-term changes in the —the stream of particles and energy coming from the sun—are behind the drop.

The team predict Uranus’ upper atmosphere should continue to get colder or reverse the trend and become hotter again depending on how the solar wind changes over the coming years.

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All-electric aircraft developer BETA Technologies has shared another important milestone in bringing its first two vessels to market. Most recently, BETA’s founder, CEO, and test pilot Kyle Clark took the production version of its ALIA eCTOL up for its first flight, as seen in the video below.

BETA Technologies is a fully integrated electric aircraft and systems developer based in Vermont. Three years ago, it debuted its first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the ALIA–250. That BETA vessel has since been renamed the ALIA VTOL and completed a piloted test flight transitioning mid-air this past April.

In addition to the ALIA VTOL, BETA has also been developing an electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) plane called the ALIA CTOL. To date, it has flown tens of thousands of test miles en route to evaluation flights for FAA certification. That aircraft is targeting full approval for commercial operations by 2025.

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“This paper shows a fun way to make carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals,” said Dr. Curtis P. Berlinguette. “We’ll need plastic on Mars one day, and this technology shows one way we can make it there.”

Can we use the planetary environment of Mars to help power a future colony on the Red Planet? This is what a recent study published in Device hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how current thermoelectric generators—which can operate in a myriad of environments—on Mars could convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuel and other chemicals that can be used for a future Mars colony. This study holds the potential to help scientists, engineers, and the public better understand how a future Mars colony could be managed and operated without constant need for resupply from Earth.

“This is a harsh environment where large temperature differences could be leveraged to not only generate power with thermoelectric generators, but to convert the abundant CO2 in Mars’ atmosphere into useful products that could supply a colony,” said Dr. Abhishek Soni, who is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and lead author of the study.

For the study, the researchers conducted laboratory experiments with a CO2 electrolyzer, which are powered by thermoelectric generators, and a hot plate and ice bath, which obviously provide a wide range of temperatures to see how the CO2 electrolyzer converts CO2 to useful chemicals. In the end, the researchers found when the temperature difference between the ice bath and hot plate was 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), the electrolyzer was still able to successfully convert CO2 to carbon monoxide (CO).

Continue reading “Harnessing Earth’s and Mars’ Temperature Extremes for CO2 Conversion into Fuels” | >