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Terraforming a Planet: Can Humans Stop Earth’s ‘Desertification’?

Could the sci-fi classic Dune offer solutions to climate change and desertification?

Today, planet Earth and civilization as we know it face a terrible crisis in the form of climate change. Thanks to the impact of urban sprawl, industrialization, commercial agriculture, and fossil-fuel emissions, we are experiencing a worldwide phenomenon of rising temperatures, rising sea levels, increased droughts and storms, wildfires, and “desertification.”

This last symptom refers to deserts expanding at their peripheries in response to diminished rainfall and hotter temperatures. Over time, this has the effect of destroying arable savannah and grasslands at the desert’s edge, which triggers drought, the destruction of farmland, and other vital infrastructure — not to mention the displacement of human populations.

Interestingly enough, this phenomenon also inspired one of the greatest works of science fiction ever: Frank Herbert’s Dune. Written in 1965, this novel remains one of the most influential works of modern literature, and not just within the science-fiction genre. Dune is one of the few works of science fiction that transcend genres, which is partly why it remains such a famous novel.

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👏 What an amazing year this has been for space!

NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems fully assembled NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion Spacecraft, and our launch and recovery teams are fully certified for NASA Artemis I, launching next year. Artemis I will be the uncrewed start of humanity’s return to the Moon! 🌕


Risen Energy Co. is planning to build a 45 billion yuan ($7 billion) integrated solar power factory in Inner Mongolia that’ll run on clean energy.

Japan’s EV war against China: Toyota to flood Chinese markets with affordable cars from next year

With affordability in its latest offering, Toyota wants to eliminate the only advantage that Chinese automobile makers enjoy: competitive prices.


Japan is a world leader in automobile technology. Apart from Germany, no one can compete in the automobile sector. And if you need any evidence to corroborate this fact, you need to look no further than Toyota, a globally loved automobile brand that has produced some of the best cars to date. And now Toyota is looking to aggressively dominate the Chinese electric vehicles (EV) market with some affordable cars from next year.

Toyota to launch an all-electric small sedan in China:

Toyota Motor Corp. has made plans to launch an impressive, all-electric small sedan in China late next year. It will turn to local partner BYD for key technology and create an affordable yet spacious EV for the Chinese market.

Who Needs Plants When You Can Harness Solar Energy With An Artificial Leaf?

The idea of a human-made device that can process solar energy to make usable fuels has been tantalizing researchers since the 1970s. There being no such thing as a free lunch, it is not so easy to engineer a device that mimics photosynthesis, which Mother Nature perfected a long time ago. Nevertheless, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab in California appear to have solved an important piece of the “artificial leaf” challenge.

Solar Energy & The Artificial Leaf Of The Future

The concept of the artificial leaf first crossed the CleanTechnica radar in the form of a card-sized photoelectrochemical cell, back in 2011. Instead of converting sunlight into electricity, the cell acts as a catalyst that deploys solar energy to break water into oxygen and hydrogen.

New EV charging station quickly powers four vehicles at once

Swiss tech company ABB has unveiled a new EV charging station that can rapidly power four electric vehicles at once — which could help make annoying wait times at stations a thing of the past.

The challenge: It typically takes less than five minutes to fill up a car’s tank at a gas station, and gas stations are everywhere in the U.S.

Depending on an EV’s battery and the type of EV charging station, it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours to fully charge the car, and because charging stations are far less common than gas stations, drivers regularly have to wait for ports to open up.

The US saw record wind turbine capacity installation in 2020

More wind power capacity was installed in the US than any other generating technology in both 2019 and 2020, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

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Annual US wind turbine capacity additions set a record in 2020, totaling 14.2 gigawatts (GW) and surpassing the previous record of 13.2 GW added in 2012. After 2020’s record year for wind turbine capacity addition, total US wind turbine capacity is now 118 GW.