Colorful bio-engineered bacteria could end fashions obsession with toxic dyes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The dye in your jeans, and most of your clothes, comes from countries whose dead rivers run red and blue, but now there’s a way to put an end to it, for good. Throughout the fall of 2012, Marie-Sarah Adenis and Thomas Landrain toiled...
“Green” concrete could help cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Concrete is a huge contributor to global green house gas emissions, so finding new ways to curb those emissions helps in the bigger battle against climate change. In an age where we can 3D print houses and entire communities using a range of different...
Food breakthrough lets researchers grow fish meat on demand
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the Earth’s population and its appetite for protein grows this latest breakthrough will help alleviate famine and hunger. We are on the cusp of a food production revolution, one that could eradicate global famine and let us make food, of all types, from...
Coffee without the coffee beans, “Molecular Coffee” has arrived
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we find new ways to produce food coffee isn’t immune, and now a company has found a way to make great tasting coffee but without using beans. Food production is going through a revolution. Take the animal out of meat, and you’ve got...
All new UK homes will be off the gas grid by 2025 says UK government
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As countries try to hit their emissions targets fossil fuels are under fire, now the UK government is calling time on domestic gas supplies. Connecting new homes to the UK’s gas grid could be banned after 2025 as the UK government, just like many...
Aleph Farms serves up the world’s first lab grown steak
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF By 2050 there will be an estimated 10 billion people on the planet, producing our food in new ways will let us alleviate hunger and feed them all. Over the past couple of years I’ve been watching the rise of vertical farms, that produce...
Emirates boss says future aircraft will be windowless
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Windows on airplanes add upto 50 percent to the weight of the aircraft, and reduce their structural integrity, so people want to get rid of them. Would you want to fly eight hours or more on an airplane with no windows? Absolutely you would I...
A powerful battery breakthrough from MIT could usher in electric planes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The airline industry is one of the world’s heaviest polluters and it’s getting worse as air travel increases, electric aircraft will reverse that trend. Over the past year or so I’ve been discussing the eventual emergence of fully electric aircraft and sky taxis, such...
IBM breakthrough uses AI to make blockchain more energy efficient
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mining blockchain uses up an extraordinary amount of electricity, equivalent to an entire country, so companies are trying to fix the issue. Proof of Work (PoW), the common consensus mechanism that secures Bitcoin and numerous other cryptocurrency blockchains, has given the technology a reputation for...
Virgin Atlantic completes world’s first biofuel trans Atlantic flight
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The global airline industry is one of the world’s heaviest polluters, and new clean sources of fuel are vital in helping the industry become more sustainable. First Alaskan Airlines flew an aircraft using nothing more than wood pellets, but now Virgin Atlantic has gone...
Scientists make biodegradable plastic from sugar and carbon dioxide
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Plastic has turned into the scourge of the environment, and companies are tripling their efforts to find viable environmentally friendly alternatives. Society is producing more waste plastic than ever before and it’s polluting our oceans and contaminating our drinking water. By all accounts by...
Scientists produce smart windows that generate their own electricity
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The use of glass is increasing around the world and scientists are trying to find new ways to enhance its properties. Recently we saw new research that lets windows turn into mirrors at the flick of a switch, and now researchers from the Institute...
Scientists use electro-charged nanoparticles to create liquid mirrors
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to apply new properties to glass, such as liquid mirrors, could help companies reduce their air conditioning bill and help homeowners improve their privacy. Researchers from Imperial College London in the UK have developed a new material that can turn a transparent surface into a...
Biodegradable plastics made from “Tree glue” could hit the shelves in five years
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today plastics are the scourge of the environment so now companies around the world are racing to create environmentally friendly alternatives, and plastics made from true glue could be near the top of the list. Plastic’s fall from grace in the past couple of...
New omniphobic material reduces maritime fuel consumption by upto 80 percent
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s ships use huge amounts of energy and fuel to move through the water because of the amount of drag on their hulls, this new coating could reduce fuel use by between 40 and 80 percent. Shipping is one of the most polluting industries...
Milk and dairy products without the cow, Perfect Day re-invents dairy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The way we produce food today is, for the most part, hugely wasteful and has a huge impact on the environment, vertical farms, clean meat, and now other “animal free” products are starting to disrupt the status quo. Over the past year we’ve seen...
One in a billion enzyme that breaks down plastic found in Japanese dump
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When they were developed plastics were a wonder material, but their environmental legacy is proving devastating, now a fluke discovery is giving people hope that today’s plastic scourge can efficiently be broken down and recycled. We’re increasingly being told that plastic is a horrible,...
Google reportedly mulls investing in a hypersonic tunnelling boring company
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There is a race on to increase the speed of boring tunnels by at least ten fold, and if it can be achieved it will change the economics of energy generation and transportation. Google announced recently, quietly, very quietly, that it’s carrying out research...
Chinese scientists unveil a new material that heals itself like human skin
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Up until now most self-healing materials have either been hard, or soft, and that narrows their number of applications, this new material is the first to have the best of both worlds. Imagine a smartphone, or window, that can heal from cuts and scratches...
ORNL’s new super fast ultrasonic dryer uses 70 percent less energy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tumble dryers account for more than 4 percent of the world’s energy consumption, so cutting that figure by 70 percent could be a big deal. Forget heat, drying laundry in the future is all about cranking up the volume. At least, that’s how the folks at...
