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DHC | History, Entertainment & News on Instagram: "In 1971, design student Carolyn Davidson was paid just $35 to create the Nike “Swoosh,” a symbol inspired by motion and the Greek goddess of victory. Hired by Phil Knight while at Portland State University, she had no idea her design would become a global icon of athletic excellence. Years later, Nike rewarded her with company stock—now worth a fortune—securing her place in branding history.

👉 Join the community @dailyhistoryclips for iconic and famous footage that shaped our history! 🌍 

#Nike #NikeSwoosh #BrandingHistory #LogoDesign #GraphicDesign #PhilKnight #GreekGoddess #Victory #SportsBrand #MarketingHistory #IconicDesign #CarolynDavidson #SportsHistory #DesignInspiration"

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Discover the inspiring story of Carolyn Davidson, the design student who created the Nike Swoosh for $35 and went on to become a global icon in branding. From humble beginnings to unparalleled success, learn how her design transformed the sports industry.

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DHC | History, Entertainment & News (@dailyhistoryclips)

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Where design meets the users needs.

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Working with nature to find solutions to human problems.

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In Poznan, Poland, eight clams get to decide if people in the city get water or not

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They might be small, but these mussels shoulder tremendous responsibility.

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Is this the answer to our plastic problem?

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Meet The Plastic-Eating Worms | Planet Fix | BBC Earth Science

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Steps towards sustainability.

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Sustainable packaging - Sustainability - LEGO.com

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We’re introducing recyclable packaging across all areas of our business, from our core products to licensed products made by our partners. At present, 93% of our packaging by weight is made from paper, cardboard and other paper-based materials. We are reducing single-use plastic and introducing paper-based bags in all our LEGO® sets, and are working hard to make this transition across all our factories.

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Why do our products not last like they used to?

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A never-ending bulb sheds light on our disposable tech mindset

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Learn about the planned shortening of product lifespans, illustrated by the enduring story of a light bulb that never goes out.

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Material research for a new space age?!

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World’s first wooden satellite, developed in Japan, heads to space

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The world’s first wooden satellite, built by Japanese researchers, was launched into space on Tuesday, in an early test of using timber in lunar and Mars exploration.

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Keeping our structures standing.

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‘I make architects’ dreams come true’: Hanif Kara, the magician who makes impossible buildings stay up

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He has had a hand in some of the 21st-century’s most daring structures – including Zaha Hadid’s Phaeno science centre. We meet the Uganda-born engineer, who has just won architecture’s prestigious Soane medal

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Technological development leading to faster & stronger prints.

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New 3D printing method delivers stronger objects, 5 times faster

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A novel printing method crafts robust non-metallic materials in record time, 5 times quicker than traditional 3D printing.

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How Heinz have looked to tackle the refilling of ketchup bottles by some restaurants.

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Genius Heinz Commercial - Heinz Pantone Color to detect fake Heinz Ketchup

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Wildfire detection device wins this year’s James Dyson award.

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Nature-Based Early Wildfire Detection for Everyone

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Making recycling easier & more appealing.

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Statiegeld hoort niet in de afvalbak. Plastic flesjes ook niet. Daarom introduceren we de DoneerRing in Nederland. Een ijzeren ring rond vuilnisbakken waar mensen hun statiegeldflesjes in kunnen zetten, zodat anderen ze op een waardige manier kunnen verzamelen voor statiegeld. Deze ring is al in meer dan 100 Duitse steden geïnstalleerd, en altijd met enthousiaste reacties tot gevolg.

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Statiegeld hoort niet in de afvalbak. Plastic flesjes ook niet. Daarom introduceren we de DoneerRing in Nederland. Een ijzeren ring rond vuilnisbakken waar mensen hun statiegeldflesjes in kunnen zetten, zodat anderen ze op een waardige manier kunnen verzamelen voor statiegeld. Deze ring is al in meer dan 100 Duitse steden geïnstalleerd, en altijd met enthousiaste reacties tot gevolg.

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First test flight for plane fuelled by alternative oil source.

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Virgin Atlantic has been granted permission to operate the first transatlantic flight powered by 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (Saf).

The Civil Aviation Authority said it has approved the flight, which is due to take place from London Heathrow to New York JFK on November 28.

Saf is produced from sustainable sources such as agricultural waste and used cooking oil.

It cuts carbon emissions by up to 70 per cent compared with traditional jet fuel, but it is currently several times more expensive to produce.

Saf can currently be used in jet engines to a maximum blend of 50 per cent with kerosene without the need for any modifications.

We've issued Virgin Atlantic with a permit to fly a historic transatlantic 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel flight.

The work is part of our role in safely enabling the industry to embrace more sustainable practices and explore new technologies.

Hear more ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/qvaNUuoOPE
- UK Civil Aviation Authority (@UK_CAA) November 6, 2023

The CAA analysed various aspects of Virgin Atlantic's planned flight before granting the operating permit, including undertaking ground testing with an engine running on 100 per cent Saf.

CAA chief executive Rob Bishton said: 'As the UK's aviation regulator, it's important that we safely enable the industry to embrace more sustainable practices and push the boundaries of what's possible to create a greener aviation industry.

'This permit not only allows Virgin Atlantic and others to showcase their commitment to sustainability, but also serves as an example of how the industry is always exploring new technologies.

'Innovation and sustainability are vital areas of work, but they must go hand in hand with safety.

'This is a reminder that together we can drive change, reduce emissions and make the skies greener for generations to come.'

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: 'The world's journey to decarbonising flight starts here in the UK, with today's announcement helped by Government funding so people can continue to travel how they want, in a way that's fit for the future.

'By turning waste materials into the fuel of the future that will power our aviation sector, it's UK innovation that is leading the way with the world's first transatlantic 100 per cent Saf-powered flight.'

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said: 'The Civil Aviation Authority's permit to fly Flight100 marks a key milestone and a huge achievement for all the teams working towards this historic flight.

'Getting to this point has been more than a year in the making and taken radical collaboration across our consortium partners and Government.

'We're committed to using 10 per cent Saf by 2030, but to get there we need the Government to support the creation of a UK Saf industry. We know that if we can make it, we can fly it.'

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Virgin Atlantic to run transatlantic flight fuelled by cooking oil

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The Civil Aviation Authority said it has approved the flight, which is due to take place from London Heathrow to New York JFK on November 28.

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Prince William announces winners for 2023

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The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious global environment prize in history, designed to incentivise change and help repair our planet over the next ten years.

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Sea crane remains stable lifting at sea. 

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Sea crane remains stable lifting at sea. 

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How a crane’s design allows a stable lift at sea.

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A crane lifts packages at the sea with a parallel manipulator called a Stewart Platform. | Interesting Engineering | Interesting Engineering · Original audio

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30K views, 209 likes, 14 comments, 61 shares, Facebook Reels from Interesting Engineering: A crane lifts packages at the sea with a parallel manipulator called a Stewart Platform.. Interesting...

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Glastonbury Festival - Good for the environment?

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Glastonbury Festival - Good for the environment?

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How does a festival minimise it's environmental impact.

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How shipping is trying to do its bit to reduce carbon emissions.

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Tom SingletonTechnology reporter, BBC News

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Pioneering wind-powered cargo ship sets sail

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Inventors hope maiden voyage will help usher in new era of greener shipping.

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Reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere or providing a green light to keep using a finite resources?

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The Government has confirmed funding for two new carbon capture and storage projects in Aberdeenshire and the Humber (Photo: Simon Price/PA)

The Government has today confirmed funding for two new carbon capture and storage projects in Aberdeenshire and the Humber, bringing the total number of government-backed carbon capture projects to four.

Discussing the proposals in Scotland today, Rishi Sunak insisted that the schemes will create jobs, while also helping the UK on its transition to net zero.

However, the announcement has proved controversial, with the Prime Minister also committing to future oil and gas development in the North Sea.

While many scientists agree carbon capture has an important role to play in the global transition to net zero, there are also vocal critics of the technology, some of whom argue that the benefits of carbon capture have been overstated by fossil fuel producers using it as a smokescreen to continue polluting.

What is carbon capture?

Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) is the term given to a group of technologies that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants and factories, or remove CO2 directly from the air.

Carbon can then be stored deep underground in geological formations, usually at depths of one km. Alternatively, the carbon captured can be reused to create other products, however, there are not clear climate benefits to doing this.

What are the benefits?

Most scientists and policy experts agree that carbon capture does have an important role to play in the transition to net zero.

The UK's Climate Change Committee has described CCUS as a "necessity, not an option" as the country looks to hit net zero by 2050.

Esin Serin, a policy analyst at the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said there is a "growing evidence base that [CCUS] will be a key technology".

This is particularly true for what is known as "hard-to-abate" industries, such as steel, cement and iron, which are particularly difficult and expensive to decarbonise with existing technologies, she said.

With cement production, for example, Ms Serin said CCUS is "virtually the only technological option we currently have if we want to get deep emission reductions".

"Another dimension of it is removing existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere," she added. "Again that has been confirmed as essentially unavoidable if the world is to meet net zero emissions."

What do the critics say?

While most agree CCUS has a role to play in the transition to net zero, many believe its importance can be overstated and say the technology is being used to justify the continued burning of fossil fuels.

Domien Vangenechten, senior policy advisor at climate think tank E3G, said the role of CCUS during the next decade is "pretty negligible".

"There's a lot of other stuff that is a lot cheaper, provides a lot more benefits and can reduce emissions a lot more substantively," he said, referencing renewable power, energy efficiency savings and technologies such as heat pumps.

An analysis by the Green Alliance think tank recently found that the £20bn the UK Government is set to invest in CCUS could instead be used to upgrade the energy efficiency of a quarter of Britain's housing stock, saving households around £9,000 each.

However, Ms Serin believes the time is right for governments to invest in CCUS, because waiting may be "locking us into a high carbon pathway" for certain sectors.

"There are areas where a renewable-based option should be prioritised, but for some industries that's just not technologically possible or is not the most cost-effective way, so CCUS should be the way to go," she said.

Last year, more than 700 UK scientists urged Mr Sunak to halt new oil and gas developments, warning that CCUS is "yet to be proved at scale".

Is carbon capture greenwashing?

Greenpeace has previously argued that CCUS is "often used for greenwashing by oil and gas companies so they can carry on polluting".

For many, these fears were likely confirmed today as the Government confirmed it was backing two CCUS projects on the same day it announced it would grant new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

A recent analysis by Greenpeace found that the oil and gas licences approved in the North Sea in the last two years produced as much carbon dioxide as the annual emissions of nearly 14 million cars, or the entire yearly emissions of Denmark.

Mr Vangenechten said that CCUS is "never going to mitigate the need to reduce fossil fuel production".

Ms Serin agreed CCUS should not be used as a "get out of jail free card" to keep digging for oil and producing other fossil fuels.

"We also need to think about the long-term investment signal, like prioritising carbon capture today over renewables could be sending the wrong signal and walk us into this polluting pathway of digging more oil that we didn't actually need," she said.

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The pros and cons of carbon capture - and how the technology works explained

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The Government has confirmed backing for two major carbon capture projects, but some fear the technology is being used as a smokescreen to allow the continued production of fossil fuels

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Do materials used in the surfing industry need to change?

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Tom Kay, the company's founder, said more brands had to invest in developing new ideas.

"Some of the press that's coming out around the toxicity of neoprene is extreme to say the least, horrendous, so if you knew that why wouldn't you change?" he said.

Last summer, Keep Britain Tidy's Ocean Recovery Project collected more than 1,000 discarded body boards on a handful of beaches across the South West.

It says cheap mass-produced boards can release thousands of tiny polystyrene balls into the environment when they break, posing a risk to wildlife.

Project manager Neil Hembrow said the number of dumped boards had been "disheartening".

But the industry says it is trying to become more sustainable and to educate surfers about how they can make their boards last longer.

Mark Dale, the chief marketing officer for Agit Global, a US company that makes the mass-produced board Wavestorm in Taiwan said their boards were not designed to be thrown away after a few uses.

He told the BBC: "The misconceptions about Wavestorm is that we are creating this mass of boards that are meant for landfill, but you can use a Wavestorm board for many years. We don't build boards as disposable boards here."

He added that their manufacturing process had been independently audited and each board made produced the equivalent of just 24kg of carbon dioxide,

Dr Greg Borne, a social scientist at Plymouth Marjon University, said he was hopeful about the industry's efforts to tackle its environmental impact.

He said: "It's a business and they are turning a profit but they are turning a profit now in a way that is starting to consider the sustainability factors."

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Surf champ Lucy Campbell says her sport must be greener

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Seven times British women's champion Lucy Campbell is calling for more environmentally friendly surfboards and wetsuits.

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How current economical & environmental climates have changed festivals.

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Glastobury raised its ticket prices to £335 this year due to supply chain costs (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty)

For many Britons, downing pints of warm lager in a muddy field while watching their favourite band play is considered an important rite of passage. However, the festival industry is become increasingly worried that a generation of young people are turning their back on the traditional British music festival.

Festivals are being forced to adapt to appeal to a younger generation that not only has less money to spend on entertainment, but is more concerned with prioritising health and wellness over hedonism and a weekend of heavy drinking.

With many young people having little interest in drinking, organisers are having to introduce other options to entice festivalgoers.

Parklife, which took place in Manchester's Heaton Park this weekend, found that one in three people were not intending to drink at the event, according to a recent survey of 3,000 respondents.

Sacha Lord, co-founder of Parklife Festival and the Warehouse Project, and the Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, said: "We're making a big splash this year. For the first time on our menus there's three different options for 0 per cent beer."

"Would that have happened 10 years ago? No," said Mr Lord. "You'd go to a festival to get absolutely wasted."

However, now: "No one wants to be seen in a corner throwing up all over social media. It's now about what you're wearing, how you're looking, are you having a great time."

Shifting public attitudes towards health and alcohol are also prompting a boom in a different type of festival, combining music with healthy living.

Love Trails, a music and trail-running festival based in south Wales, has grown year-on-year since it launched in 2017. The festival is expected between 3,000 and 3,500 people this year, up from 2,000 in 2019 before the pandemic.

The festival offers a variety of activities in the day, including running, hiking, wild swimming, yoga and kayaking, followed by music from artists such as High Contrast and Biig Piig in the evening.

Ollie Baxter, head of music at Love Trails Festival, attributes this growth partly to the "explosion" in running during the pandemic and the growth in social running communities.

While Mr Baxter said many Love Trail attendees were older festival goers who had grown out of heavy partying, he believed the popularity of such events would "continue to rise" as Gen Z and younger millennials "prioritise going out and getting drunk less".

" Festivals are always changing," according to John Rostron, CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals. "They're always a response to the individuals that run them, the audiences that go and other trends and changes that we have as a society."

However, nonetheless, the sector is experiencing a crisis thanks to the rising cost of living which means many younger people cannot afford to splash out hundreds of pounds on tickets. Festival promoters are worried about the impact declining ticket sales are having on a sector that was thriving before the pandemic.

Combined with this, rising supply chain costs are forcing many festival organisers to increase ticket prices at a time when many people have less disposable income.

Most notably Glastonbury, which returns to Worthy Farm later this month, was forced to raise the cost of a ticket from £265 to £335 this year, with co-organiser Emily Eavis blaming the "enormous rises in the costs of running this vast show".

"All the big festivals are seeing incredible ticket sales," Mr Lord said. "But with the cost of living coming in now, whereas back in the day someone might go to a festival three times during the summer period, they're now choosing that one big festival."

That means that for smaller festivals, many are having to cancel, with a string of them cancelling last year as they struggled to sell tickets.

Among those cancelling were This Is Tomorrow in Newcastle and Brainchild in Bentley, East Sussex. Earlier this week Otherlands, a festival due to take place in Perth, Scotland in August, also announced it would not go ahead due to low ticket sales.

"I think it's going to be a rocky road for the next two years. Certainly for the smaller boutique festivals," said Mr Rostron. "I think there's a concern at the moment for the smaller boutique festivals and that's really worrying as a sector because you need those smaller boutique festivals. It can give [grassroots artists] the platform that they need."

Many festivals have become much more reliant on payment plans, which allow festival-goers to pay off their tickets in instalments, Mr Rostron added.

However, he said young people were less likely to sign up to payment plans, partly because they have not joined festival communities and waiting lists, meaning they were less likely to be in the loop when such initiatives were announced.

"It's very hard being a young person. You have a lot less money coming in, your wages are probably lower when you're studying. So less disposable income and they're not in the system so to speak," he said.

This means that many young people who missed out on having their first festival experience during Covid are still unable to attend.

Mr Rostron said the industry was "beginning to realise this year just how severe [the impact of the pandemic] has been for young people".

He said hundreds of thousands of 18-year-olds had missed out on the opportunity of attending their first festival for the past three years because the majority were cancelled in 2020 and 2021, while many of those attending festivals last year had rolled on their tickets from 2019.

"It struck me when I talked to some university students a few months ago and they were in their graduate year and none of them had ever been to a festival," he said. "I feel awful that they didn't get to have those experiences or when they start to go to festivals they will be a very different age and in a very different way."

In a bid to lure more young people to festivals this summer - the second year without any pandemic restrictions, the Association of Independent Festivals is launching a campaign to give some youngsters who have turned 18 since September 2019 tickets to festivals such as Shambala, Kendal Calling and We Out Here for £18.

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How music festivals are changing thanks to broke, health-conscious Gen Z and millennials

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For many Britons, downing pints of warm lager in a muddy field while watching their favourite band play is considered an important rite of passage. However, the festival industry is become increasingly worried that a generation of young people are turning their back on the traditional British music festival.

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NASA reveals new look space suit for Moon landing.

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The big, puffy white moonsuits worn by Neil Armstrong and his fellow Apollo astronauts a half-century ago are out of fashion. Lunar haute couture now calls for something more form-fitting and comfortable for men and women.

Nasa on Wednesday unveiled the first prototype for a newly designed next-generation spacesuit specially tailored and accessorised for the first astronauts expected to venture back to the moon's surface in the next few years.

The latest in moon-wear was displayed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston during an event hosted for the media and students by Axiom Space, the Texas-based company contracted by Nasa to build suits for Artemis, successor to the Apollo moon program.

The Artemis 1 mission, the inaugural launch of Nasa's powerful next-generation rocket and its newly built Orion spacecraft on an uncrewed test flight around the moon and back, was successfully completed in December.

Nasa and the Canadian Space Agency plan to announce the four astronauts chosen to fly as early as next year on Artemis 2, another out-and-back mission.

That flight, if successful, will pave the way for a planned Artemis 3 astronaut expedition to the lunar surface - the first ever to the moon's south pole - later in the decade. It will be the first ever to send a woman to walk on the moon.

Nasa promises that subsequent Artemis missions will include the first person of colour on the moon.

The program, named for Apollo's twin sister from Greek mythology, is aimed ultimately at establishing a sustainable lunar base as a stepping stone to future human exploration of Mars.

Nasa chief Bill Nelson said the new spacesuits "will open opportunities for more people to explore and conduct science on the moon then ever before."

All 12 Nasa astronauts who landed on the moon during a total of six Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972 were white men.

The outfits worn to the moon by Artemis astronauts will look very different from the bulky spacesuits of yore.

The Artemis 3 spacesuit prototype, made my US company Axiom Space. Photograph: Axiom Space Handout/EPA

Branded by Axiom as the "Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit," or AxEMU for short, the new suits are more streamlined and flexible than the old Apollo suits, with greater range of motion and variability in size and fit.

They are designed to fit a broad range of potential wearers, accommodating at least 90% of the US male and female population, Nasa said. They also will incorporate advances in life-support systems, pressure garments and avionics.

The precise look of the suits, however, remained a closely guarded trade secret. Those on display came with an outer layer that was charcoal gray with dashes of orange and blue and Axiom's logo on the chest - intended to obscure Axiom's proprietary outer fabric design.

The company said the suits to be worn on the lunar south pole by astronauts will be white because that is the best colour to reflect the harsh sunlight on the moon's surface and protect the wearer from extreme heat.

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Nasa reveals new spacesuit for Artemis moon landing

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The big, puffy white moonsuits worn by Neil Armstrong and his fellow Apollo astronauts a half-century ago are out of fashion. Lunar haute couture now calls for something more form-fitting and comfortable for men and women.

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Engineering award given to team developing solar energy cells.

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BBC Science Correspondent

Four pioneers behind the electricity-generating silicon solar cell have won this year's Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.

Martin Green, Andrew Blakers, Jianhua Zhao and Aihua Wang developed so-called Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell, or Perc, technology.

This transformed the efficiency of solar panels and is now built into 90% of all installations worldwide.

The team is to be honoured at a special ceremony later in the year.

The quartet will share a £500,000 award and a trophy, to be presented by the Princess Royal.

"Our winners did something wonderful, which was to increase the efficiency with which a solar cell converts light into electricity, and it was a really quite dramatic change," explained Lord Browne of Madingley, chairman of the QE Prize for Engineering Foundation.

"With their breakthrough we went from around 16-18% efficiency to something like 26%. That's a big jump," he told BBC News.

Today, solar uptake is rocketing as the world tries to move away from fossil fuels. Some estimates suggest that by the 2030s, solar will have more installed capacity than coal, oil, gas, nuclear and hydro put together.

Previous QE Prize winners

When Australian Martin Green started investigating solar energy following the oil crisis of the 1970s, solar cells were used largely just on satellites in space.

If you'd wanted to put that technology on your roof, it would have cost much more than your house.

But Prof Green's persistence kicked off a revolution. And with Drs Blakers, Zhao and Wang in his University of New South Wales laboratory, the team not only managed to drive up efficiency but do it in a way that became relatively straightforward to manufacture.

In a solar cell, photons - or particles of light - strike silicon atoms to free electrons and set up a current. Perc technology boosted performance by remodelling the rear of the cell to reduce the ability of electrons to recombine with atoms. It also kept many more photons in play.

Dr Blakers recalled: "Traditionally, the rear surface just had a layer of metal aluminium printed directly into it, and so that wasn't a very good reflector of light. And it also gobbled up any electron that went anywhere near the back surface.

"Replacing that crude back metal contact with a more sophisticated contact served both purposes and led to quite significant increases in cell efficiency."

The right properties for the rear surface were found in materials such as silicon dioxide, aluminium oxide and silicon nitride.

Industry started to pick up the Perc approach in 2012, and by 2018 it had become utterly dominant, with China positioning itself as the home of global production. Extraordinarily, one out of every seven panels produced worldwide is now manufactured by a single Chinese facility, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The country's supremacy can be laid directly at the feet of Drs Zhao and Wang and other Chinese students who studied in Prof Green's lab and then returned home to initiate manufacturing.

"We were among the first to start Perc production," said Dr Zhao.

"There are two provinces that do most of the manufacturing today. China dominates because of cost; it's so much cheaper to produce solar panels there," added Dr Wang.

Commercial cells typically have efficiencies - the amount of electrical energy that can be extracted from the input of sunlight - of 22-23%. The theoretical upper-limit is about 29%.

Prof Green is experimenting with "cell modules" in which materials are stacked on top of silicon and customised to collect the photons in the sunlight spectrum that might ordinarily be lost in a standard set-up.

"We hold the world record for efficiency in a cell module of 40.6%," he told BBC News. "But it's hard to see how this approach can be made cheap enough for commercial production. There's a lot of interest right now in a material called perovskite - a common mineral - but the cells use heavy elements, like lead. The cells also aren't as stable as silicon."

The IEA is expecting global solar capacity to almost triple over the 2022-2027 period. Currently, solar is providing about half of new-build electricity generation capacity worldwide.

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Queen Elizabeth Prize: Solar team wins prestigious engineering award

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BBC Science Correspondent Four pioneers behind the electricity-generating silicon solar cell have won this year's Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Martin Green, Andrew Blakers, Jianhua Zhao and Aihua Wang developed so-called Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell, or Perc, technology. This transformed the efficiency of solar panels and is now built into 90% of all installations worldwide.

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Scientist have a breakthrough with nuclear fusion.

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BBC News Climate and Science

A major breakthrough has been announced by US scientists in the race to recreate nuclear fusion.

Physicists have pursued the technology for decades as it promises a potential source of near-limitless clean energy.

On Tuesday researchers confirmed they have overcome a major barrier - producing more energy from a fusion experiment than was put in.

But experts say there is still some way to go before fusion powers homes.

The experiment took place at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California.

LLNL director Dr Kim Budil said: "This is a historic achievement... over the past 60 years thousands of people have contributed to this endeavour and it took real vision to get us here."

Nuclear fusion is described as the "holy grail" of energy production. It is the process that powers the Sun and other stars.

It works by taking pairs of light atoms and forcing them together - this "fusion" releases a lot of energy.

It is the opposite of nuclear fission, where heavy atoms are split apart. Fission is the technology currently used in nuclear power stations, but the process also produces waste that continues to give out radiation for a long time. It can be dangerous and must be stored safely.

Nuclear fusion produces far more energy, and only small amounts of short-lived radioactive waste. And importantly, the process produces no greenhouse gas emissions and therefore does not contribute to climate change.

But one of the challenges is that forcing and keeping the elements together in fusion requires very high temperatures and pressures. Until now, no experiment has managed to produce more energy than the amount put in to make it work.

How close is a fusion-powered future?

The amount of energy they've generated in this experiment is tiny - just enough to boil a few kettles. But what it represents is huge.

The promise of a fusion-powered future is one step closer. But there's still a long way to go before this becomes a reality.

This experiment shows that the science works. Before scientists can even think about scaling it up, it needs to be repeated, perfected, and the amount of energy it generates will have to be significantly boosted.

This experiment has cost billions of dollars - fusion does not come cheap. But the promise of a source of clean energy will certainly be a big incentive for overcoming these challenges.

The National Ignition Facility in California is a $3.5bn (£2.85bn) experiment.

It puts a tiny amount of hydrogen into a capsule the size of a peppercorn.

Then a powerful 192-beam laser is used to heat and compress the hydrogen fuel.

The laser is so strong it can heat the capsule to 100 million degrees Celsius - hotter than the centre of the Sun, and compress it to more than 100 billion times that of Earth's atmosphere.

Under these forces the capsule begins to implode on itself, forcing the hydrogen atoms to fuse and release energy.

On announcing the breakthrough Dr Marvin Adams, deputy administrator for defense programs at the US National Nuclear Security Administration, said that the laboratory's lasers had input 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target, which had then produced 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output.

Dr Melanie Windridge, CEO of Fusion Energy Insights, told the BBC: "Fusion has been exciting scientists since they first figured out what was causing the Sun to shine. These results today really put us on the path to the commercialisation of the technology."

Jeremy Chittenden, professor of plasma physics and co-director of the Centre for Inertial Fusion Studies at Imperial College London, called it "a true breakthrough moment".

"It proves that the long sought-after goal, the 'holy grail' of fusion, can indeed be achieved," he said.

This has been the sentiment echoed by physicists globally, who praised the work of the international science community.

Prof Gianluca Gregori, Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, said: "Today's success rests upon the work done by many scientists in the US, UK and around the world. With ignition now achieved, not only fusion energy is unlocked, but also a door is opening to new science."

On the question of how long before we could see fusion being used in power stations, Dr Budil, the LLNL director, said there were still significant hurdles but that: "with concerted efforts and investment, a few decades of research on the underlying technologies could put us in a position to build a power plant".

This is progress from when scientists used to say 50-60 years in answer to that question.

One of the main hurdles is getting costs down and scaling up the energy output.

The experiment was only able to produce enough energy to boil about 15-20 kettles and required billions of dollars of investment. And although the experiment got more energy out than the laser put in, this did not include the energy needed to make the lasers work - which was far greater than the amount of energy the hydrogen produced.

Clarification January 9, 2023 : This article was updated to remove that 'a lot' of nuclear waste is produced by Fission. The context around this paragraph was removed pre-publication therefore requiring this clarification.

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Breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy announced

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US researchers have overcome a major barrier to achieving low-carbon nuclear fusion.

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Embedding technology in everything!

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FIFA and Adidas, the official ball sponsor, presented the Al Rihla, a high-tech football with a 14-gram sensor inside that enables it to be tracked in real-time and pinpoint its exact location at any given moment of the game. This technological advancement was presented for Qatar 2022 with the idea of making the sport better and having even more fair decisions on the field.

A new Adidas Suspension System in the center of the ball hosts and stabilizes a 500Hz inertial measurement unit (IMU) motion sensor, which provides unprecedented insight into every element of the movement of the ball while making this technology unnoticeable for players and not affecting its performance whatsoever. The sensor is powered by a rechargeable battery, which can be charged by induction.

This allows the ball's location to be as exact as possible when judging goals, offsides, and many other plays, proving to be a helpful tool to add to the Video Assistant Referee or VAR. Fans started questioning why World Cup balls were being charged before the match, and this is due to the sensor inside only being powered by a small battery that lasts around 6 hours of active use.

Maximilian Schmidt, the co-founder of KINEXON, who developed and produced the sensor, described its operation and even claimed that it captures the ball at a rate of 50 frames per second whenever it is impacted. The sensor weighs 14 grams.

"Data is sent in real-time from sensors to a local positioning system (LPS), which involves a setup of network antennas installed around the playing field that take in and store the data for immediate use. "When a ball flies out of bounds during play and a new ball is thrown or kicked in to replace it, KINEXON's backend system automatically switches to the new ball's data input without the need for human intervention." Schmidt shared.

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High-Tech Footballs At The Qatar World Cup Need To Be Charged Before Matches - Here Is Why - Wonderful Engineering

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FIFA and Adidas, the official ball sponsor, presented the Al Rihla, a high-tech football with a 14-gram sensor inside that enables it to be tracked in real-time and pinpoint its exact location at any given moment of the game.

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Looking at alternatives for plastic.

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The Coca‑Cola Company's sustainable packaging journey crosses a major milestone this week with the unveiling of its first-ever beverage bottle made from 100% plant-based plastic, excluding the cap and label, that has been made using technologies that are ready for commercial scale. The prototype bottle comes more than a decade after the company's PlantBottle™ debuted as the world's first recyclable PET plastic bottle made with up to 30% plant-based material. A limited run of approximately 900 of the prototype bottles have been produced.

"We have been working with technology partners for many years to develop the right technologies to create a bottle with 100% plant-based content-aiming for the lowest possible carbon footprint-and it's exciting that we have reached a point where these technologies exist and can be scaled by participants in the value chain," said Nancy Quan, Chief Technical and Innovation Officer, The Coca‑Cola Company.

PET, the world's most recycled plastic, comprises two molecules: approximately 30% monoethylene glycol (MEG) and 70% terephthalic acid (PTA). The original PlantBottle™, introduced in 2009, includes MEG from sugarcane, but the PTA has been from oil-based sources until now. PlantBottle™ packaging looks, functions and recycles like traditional PET but has a lighter footprint on the planet and its resources.

Coca-Cola's new prototype plant-based bottle is made from plant-based paraxylene (bPX) - using a new process by Virent - which has been converted to plant-based terephthalic acid (bPTA). As the first beverage packaging material resulting from bPX produced at demonstration scale, this new technology signals a step-change in the commercial viability of the biomaterial. The bPX for this bottle was produced using sugar from corn, though the process lends itself to flexibility in feedstock.

Click image for fullscreen view

The second breakthrough technology, which The Coca-Cola Company co-owns with Changchun Meihe Science & Technology, streamlines the bMEG production process and also allows for flexibility in feedstock, meaning more types of renewable materials can be used. Typically, bMEG is produced by converting sugarcane or corn into bioethanol as an intermediate, which is subsequently converted to bioethylene glycol. Now, sugar sources can directly produce MEG, resulting in a simpler process. UPM, the technology's first licensee, is currently building a full-scale commercial facility in Germany to convert certified, sustainably sourced hardwood feedstock taken from sawmill and other wood industry side-streams to bMEG. This marks a significant milestone toward the commercialization of the technology.

"The inherent challenge with going through bioethanol is that you are competing with fuel," said Dana Breed, Global R&D Director, Packaging and Sustainability, The Coca-Cola Company. "We needed a next-generation MEG solution that addressed this challenge, but also one that could use second generation feedstock like forestry waste or agricultural byproducts. Our goal for plant-based PET is to use surplus agricultural products to minimize carbon footprint, so the combination of technologies brought by the partners for commercialization is an ideal fit with this strategy."

In 2015, Coca-Cola unveiled its first prototype for a 100% bio-based PlantBottle™ at the Milan Expo using lab-scale production methods to produce bPX. This next-generation 100% plant-based bottle, however, has been made using new technologies to produce both biochemicals that make the bottle and are ready for commercial scaling.

Since introducing PlantBottle™, Coca-Cola has allowed non-competitive companies to use the technology and brand in their products-from Heinz Ketchup to the fabric interior in Ford Fusion hybrid cars. In 2018, the company opened up the PlantBottle™ IP more broadly to competitors in the beverage industry to scale up demand and drive down pricing.

As part of its World Without Waste vision, Coca-Cola is working to make all its packaging more sustainable, including maximizing use of recycled and renewable content while minimizing use of virgin, fossil material. The company has pledged to collect back the equivalent of every bottle it sells by 2030, so none of its packaging ends up as waste and old bottles are recycled into new ones; to make 100% of its packaging recyclable; and to ensure 50% of its packaging comes from recycled material.

This innovation supports the World Without Waste vision, specifically the recently announced target to use 3 million tons less of virgin plastic from oil-based sources by 2025. The Coca‑Cola Company will pursue this 20% reduction by investing in new recycling technologies like enhanced recycling, packaging improvements such as light-weighting, alternative business models such as refillable, dispensed and fountain systems, as well as the development of new renewable materials.

In Europe and Japan, Coca-Cola, with its bottling partners, aims to eliminate the use of oil-based virgin PET from plastic bottles altogether by 2030, using only recycled or renewable materials. While the majority of plastic packaging material will come from mechanically recycled content, some "virgin" material will still be needed to maintain quality standards. That's why Coca-Cola is investing in and driving innovation to boost the supply of feedstock from renewable technologies as well as from enhanced recycling technologies. Enhanced recycling "upcycles" previously used PET plastics of any quality to high quality, food grade PET.

"We are taking significant steps to reduce use of 'virgin', oil-based plastic, as we work toward a circular economy and in support of a shared ambition of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050," Quan said. "We see plant-based plastics as playing a critical role in our overall PET mix in the future, supporting our objectives to reduce our carbon footprint, reduce our reliance on 'virgin' fossil fuels and boost collection of PET in support of a circular economy."

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain statements, estimates or projections that constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause The Coca‑Cola Company's actual results to differ materially from its historical experience and our present expectations or projections. These risks include, but are not limited to, the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business; an inability to realize the economic benefits from our productivity initiatives, including our reorganization and related strategic realignment initiatives; an inability to attract or retain a highly skilled and diverse workforce; increased competition; an inability to renew collective bargaining agreements on satisfactory terms, or we or our bottling partners experience strikes, work stoppages or labor unrest; an inability to be successful in our innovation activities; changes in the retail landscape or the loss of key retail or foodservice customers; an inability to expand operations in emerging and developing markets; increased cost, disruption of supply or shortage of energy or fuel; increased cost, disruption of supply or shortage of ingredients, other raw materials, packaging materials, aluminum cans and other containers; an inability to successfully manage new product launches; obesity and other health related concerns; evolving consumer product and shopping preferences; product safety and quality concerns; perceived negative health consequences of certain ingredients, such as non-nutritive sweeteners and biotechnology-derived substances, and of other substances present in our beverage products or packaging materials; damage to our brand image, corporate reputation and social license to operate from negative publicity, whether or not warranted, concerning product safety or quality, workplace and human rights, obesity or other issues; an inability to maintain good relationships with our bottling partners; deterioration in our bottling partners' financial condition; an inability to successfully integrate and manage consolidated bottling operations or other acquired businesses or brands; an inability to successfully manage our refranchising activities; increases in income tax rates, changes in income tax laws or the unfavorable resolution of tax matters, including the outcome of our ongoing tax dispute or any related disputes with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"); the possibility that the assumptions used to calculate our estimated aggregate incremental tax and interest liability related to the potential unfavorable outcome of the ongoing tax dispute with the IRS could significantly change; increased or new indirect taxes in the United States and throughout the world; changes in laws and regulations relating to beverage containers and packaging; significant additional labeling or warning requirements or limitations on the marketing or sale of our products; litigation or legal proceedings; conducting business in markets with high-risk legal compliance environments; failure to adequately protect, or disputes relating to, trademarks, formulae and other intellectual property rights; changes in, or failure to comply with, the laws and regulations applicable to our products or our business operations; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; interest rate increases; unfavorable general economic conditions in the United States and international markets; an inability to achieve our overall long-term growth objectives; default by or failure of one or more of our counterparty financial institutions; impairment charges; failure to realize a significant portion of the anticipated benefits of our strategic relationship with Monster Beverage Corporation; an inability to protect our information systems against service interruption, misappropriation of data or breaches of security; failure to comply with personal data protection and privacy laws; failure to digitize the Coca‑Cola system; failure by our third-party service providers and business partners to satisfactorily fulfill their commitments and responsibilities; increasing concerns about the environmental impact of plastic bottles and other plastic packaging materials; water scarcity and poor quality; increased demand for food products and decreased agricultural productivity; climate change and legal or regulatory responses thereto; adverse weather conditions; and other risks discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, which filings are available from the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

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one hundred percent plant based plastic bottle

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100% Plant-based Plastic Bottle - News & Articles

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The Coca‑Cola Company's sustainable packaging journey crosses a major milestone this week with the unveiling of its first-ever beverage bottle made from 100% plant-based plastic, excluding the cap and label, that has been made using technologies that are ready for commercial scale.

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Supermarkets change packaging to help reduce waste.

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(Image: Manchester Family / MEN)

Supermarket chain Lidl has announced it will be making a big change to its bottles of milk. The retailer is following in the footsteps of Aldi, M&S and Sainsbury's, who have already made the transition.

Lidl has said it will be banning green caps from all of its semi-skimmed milk bottles. Instead, these caps will be replaced with see-through ones.

The company said the move, carried out in partnership with its milk supplier Müller after a trial in September, will allow 60 tonnes of recycled high-density polythene to be turned into food-grade packaging in the form of milk bottles.
READ MORE: Marks and Spencer shoppers 'need' £6 gadget that lights up a room with zero electricity
Lidl will be replacing the green-coloured caps on bottles of semi-skimmed and organic fresh milk by November 21, according to The Grocer. Scott Davey, Lidl's senior buying director, said: "We remain committed to supporting our customers in helping them make more sustainable shopping decisions on a daily basis.

"Customer feedback during the trial was overwhelmingly positive and we are thrilled to be making this change permanent across Lidl stores. In addition, this move will help us achieve our goal of making more of the plastic we use circular and fit to be repurposed time and time again."
READ NEXT:
Richard Gorman, plastics and packaging director at Aldi, which announced it was scrapping green caps in an attempt to reduce plastic waste, said: "We know it's becoming increasingly important to our customers that their everyday products are environmentally-friendly, and we are constantly reviewing ways to become a more sustainable supermarket. By trialling clear milk caps we are making our milk bottles easier to recycle, so they can be turned back into new packaging."

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Lidl follows in the footsteps of Aldi and Sainsbury's with milk bottle ban

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Every single Lidl supermarket across the country will see the new policy in place

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Testing of a large capacity power generator utilising the renewable energy resource of wave power.

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The new €19.6 million ($19.2 million) project, called WEDUSEA, is co-funded by the EU Horizon Europe Programme and Innovate UK, and it aims to enable viable mass market wave energy technology, as per a press release.

"The world's largest capacity floating wave energy device"

Ocean Energy says its OE35 is the world's largest capacity floating wave energy device. The machine floats on the ocean's surface and utilizes a trapped pocket of air to generate electricity.

The lower part of the OE35 is open to the waves. When waves pass through that submerged opening, they oscillate and drive the trapped air though a turbine. The energy generated can then be exported from the OE35 to the grid.

"The innovative actions taken in this program aim to improve the efficiency, reliability, scalability, and sustainability of wave energy technology and reduce the Levelised Cost of Electricity of the technology by over 30%," said Myles Heward, Project Manager at the European Marine Energy Center, adding that "this will help to de-risk investments in wave energy."

Wave energy needed to improve energy security

As per the WEDUSEA project agreement, Ocean Energy will demonstrate a grid-connected 1MW OE35 floating wave energy converter at the European Marine Energy Centre Test Site in Orkney, Scotland. The project will carry out three separate test phases over the next four years.

WEDUSEA, our pioneering wave energy project, is being launched at null
- WEDUSEA (@WEDUSEAnews) ) October 18, 2022

"We are expecting WEDUSEAm to take away energy beyond state of the art by the collaboration of partners with a multi-disciplinary background and that it will contribute to the deployment of arrays of reliable wave energy devices to achieve the 1GW target for 2030 as presented in our Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy," explained Matthijs Soede from the European Commission.

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The 'world's largest capacity' floating wave energy device will be tested in Scotland over the next four years

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The new €19.6 million ($19.2 million) project, called WEDUSEA, is co-funded by the EU Horizon Europe Programme and Innovate UK, and it aims to enable viable mass market wave energy technology, as per a press release. Ocean Energy says its OE35 is the world's largest capacity floating wave energy device.

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Development of power generation by wind turbines.

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Its SG 14-222 DD prototype turbine at the Østerild test site in Denmark produced 359MWh - enough power to drive 1.8 million km in a mid-sized electric car - in a 24-hour period, the European manufacturer claimed.

The turbine has a nameplate capacity of 14MW. However, it has a power boost mode that can increase output up to 15MW.

Between 12.30pm on 6 October and 12.30pm on 7 October it was able to run for 24 hours with an average output of 14.95MW - producing 359MWh - a Siemens Gamesa spokeswoman explained.

The power utility company at the test site verified the power production figures, the turbine maker stated.

Siemens Gamesa has received orders - both firm orders and preferred supplier agreements - to supply its flagship offshore wind turbine for projects off the UK, Taiwan and the US.

It plans to begin full market deployment from 2024.

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Siemens Gamesa claims wind turbine world record

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Its SG 14-222 DD prototype turbine at the Østerild test site in Denmark produced 359MWh - enough power to drive 1.8 million km in a mid-sized electric car - in a 24-hour period, the European manufacturer claimed. The turbine has a nameplate capacity of 14MW.

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How one company's innovation is trying to clear the oceans of plastic waste.

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At twice the size of Texas, it is considered the world's largest zone of ocean plastics and is estimated to contain up to 1.8 trillion pieces of debris. But that number is decreasing quickly.

The Ocean Cleanup has made many great strides since it first introduced its trash-gobbling machines. It is currently transitioning from its System 002 barrier used in the beginning of its journey to a much larger System 003, which will also be more efficient in collecting plastic at a rate up to 10 times faster than System 002.

These new machines will be U-shaped and measure 8,200 ft ( 2,500 m) long. They will be towed by boats, using a 13-ft-deep (4-m) skirt to funnel plastic trash from the ocean into a chamber that will be emptied once back on shore.

In 2018, the organization described its machine as a giant Pac-Man. "Due to its shape, the debris will be funneled to the center of the system. Moving slightly faster than the plastic, the system will act like a giant Pac-Man, skimming the surface of the ocean," said a press release at the time.

The Ocean Cleanup has set a goal to reduce plastics in the oceans by 90 percent by 2040 through a two-pronged strategy. One is the development of System 003. (This newly developed system will also serve as a blueprint for the fleet of clean-up systems the non-profit plans to build in the future.)

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Watch as the Ocean Cleanup tackles the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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At twice the size of Texas, it is considered the world's largest zone of ocean plastics and is estimated to contain up to 1.8 trillion pieces of debris. But that number is decreasing quickly. The Ocean Cleanup has made many great strides since it first introduced its trash-gobbling machines.

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Making Tokyo 2020 greener.

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Airweave creates cardboard beds for athletes at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

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Athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will sleep on beds made from recycled cardboard and customisable mattresses designed by Japanese bedding company Airweave.

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How poor design & management can be very expensive.

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A defence source said: "It was no secret that the programme, that was originally contracted in 2010 and 2014, has had problems, which is why the MoD has intensified scrutiny and work to rectify the issues.

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Major design flaws in Army's new armoured vehicles, report shows

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A defence source said: "It was no secret that the programme, that was originally contracted in 2010 and 2014, has had problems, which is why the MoD has intensified scrutiny and work to rectify the issues.

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How Los Angeles protect their water supplies.

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Ninety-six million. That's how many black plastic 'shade balls' it takes to cover the Los Angeles reservoir. Why, you ask? Well, despite what has often been reported as the main purpose of these balls, the idea didn't actually start with just protecting the reservoir from evaporation.

In a new episode from Veritasium, Derek Muller investigates the story behind this wild idea.

"It looks absurd," Muller laughs in the video. "It's like we're in the world's biggest ball pit."

He's not wrong. Even from the middle of the reservoir, the boat where the presenter stands seems to be borne aloft not by the water below, but by the sea of spheres blanketing its surface.

Hiding below is some 12.5 billion litres of water ( 3.3 billion gallons), the same deposit where Muller's own drinking water comes from when he turns on the tap.

Yet despite their reputation for saving water, these balls were not put here just to reduce evaporation. The problem actually started with bromide, a natural substance found in salt water.

Bromide on its own is harmless to humans, but if some of this salty water creeps into the reservoir and undergoes ozone treatment with the rest of LA's drinking water, it can form the compound bromate. And bromate is a carcinogen.

The LA Department of Water and Power thought they were keeping tabs on these bromate levels, but for some reason, the carcinogen kept spiking when the water entered the reservoir. It turns out, when bromide and chlorine interact with sunlight, the reaction produces even more bromate than when the former interacts with ozone.

Originally called "bird balls", the solution was both odd and oddly perfect. Typically used around airports to stop birds from perching in nearby water, the black balls also turned out to be highly effective at keeping out sunlight.

"They knocked out the problem immediately," chief of LADWP Marty Adams told Muller in the video.

Adams also explains that their carbon black colour keeps each sphere working for up to ten years, with no toxic waste slipping into the water below. Even better, once these balls are placed on the reservoir, the treatment facility can use less chlorine for algae growth, which tends to thrive in sunlight.

And while evaporation was not the original reason these balls were used, they do in fact keep the water below much cooler.

"So for all of these reasons, shade balls reduce evaporation by 80 to 90 percent," Derek explains. "That's pretty significant for a dry climate like Los Angeles."

Between the savings in chlorination and evaporation alone, Adams says these balls will pay for at least half their original price, approximately a dollar per trio, by the time they are through with their task.

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Those 96 Million Black Balls in LA's Reservoir Are Not Just There to Save Water

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Ninety-six million. That's how many black plastic 'shade balls' it takes to cover the Los Angeles reservoir. Why, you ask? Well, despite what has often been reported as the main purpose of these balls, the idea didn't actually start with just prot

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Redesigning products with recycling and reuse in mind.

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Redesigning products with recycling and reuse in mind.

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IKEA's new scheme to reduce waste.

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IKEA is reinventing its furniture to be sold again and again

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The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

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Repairability Index

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Our electronic devices take a serious environmental toll, and one of the best ways to mitigate that is to use them for as long as possible before replacing them. But it's hard to know how long a new gadget will last if you're unsure how easy it will be to fix. Now, companies are going to have to start coming clean about that - in France, at least.

In a world first move last month, France began requiring makers of certain electronic devices, including smartphones and laptops, to tell consumers how repairable their products are. Manufacturers selling these devices in France must give their products a score, or " repairability index," based on a range of criteria including how easy it is to take the product apart and the availability of spare parts and technical documents. While France won't be enforcing use of the index with fines until next year, some companies have already begun releasing scores for their products.

The repairability index represents part of France's effort to combat planned obsolescence, the intentional creation of products with a finite lifespan that need to be replaced frequently, and transition to a more circular economy where waste is minimized. But it also has global implications. Repair advocates say that the index will serve as a litmus test for other nations weighing similar regulations, help consumers make better choices, and hopefully incentivize companies to manufacture more repairable devices.

"It's a big step in the right direction," said Ugo Vallauri, the co-founder of Restart Project, a London-based repair advocacy organization and member of the European Right to Repair Campaign.

In recent years, electronics of all shapes and sizes have become more difficult to fix due to a combination of design choices and software locks that often require proprietary manufacturer tools to get past. The cost and complexity of repair means that many consumers don't even try to fix old electronics, instead discarding them for new ones that take additional energy and resources to produce. In 2020, the French government estimates that only 40 percent of broken electronic devices in the country were repaired.

To boost that percentage higher, France passed an anti-waste bill last year mandating that electronics manufacturers make a repairability index visible on their products. The index, which initially applies to smartphones, laptops, TVs, washing machines, and lawnmowers, is presented as a score out of 10, with a higher number indicating a more repairable device.

Manufacturers grade their products using worksheets that integrate five criteria: availability of technical documents to aid in repair, ease of disassembly, availability of spare parts, price of spare parts, and a wild-card category for repair issues specific to that class of products. All of the information that went into calculating the index must also be made available to consumers at the time of purchase.

Eventually, France intends to expand the score to other classes of consumer products. By 2024, the repair index will transition to a "durability index" that not only tells customers how repairable a product is but also describes its overall robustness.

While the repairability index became an official requirement on January 1, many manufacturers are slow-walking its implementation, according to Vallauri. "There wasn't really enough time to enforce it in early 2021," Vallauri said, explaining that some of the scoring criteria were only agreed on toward the end of last year.

But a trickle of scores are starting to emerge. The French spare parts business Spareka is publishing repairability indices as it receives them from manufacturers, and so far, its website includes scores for Asko washing machines, Samsung TVs, OnePlus smartphones, and more.

The scoring system has its limitations. Vallauri explained that the indexes were developed through an intensive stakeholder process that involved input from manufacturers as well as consumer advocacy organizations. Ultimately, this led to some compromises. For instance, as Adèle Chasson of the French repair advocacy organization Stop Planned Obsolescence noted in a blog post, laptop and smartphone makers can get a "free point" by providing consumers with information about different types of software updates, such as security updates or system upgrades - information that may not have anything to do with how fixable the device is.

Perhaps more concerningly, manufacturers are going to be self-reporting their scores, and it is unclear whether there will be rigorous governmental oversight to ensure all the math is being done correctly.

"Certainly we have seen manufacturers abuse this kind of scoring system in the past," said Kyle Wiens, CEO of the repair site iFixit, which helped advise the French government on the development of the index. (In fact, France's index took inspiration from the repairability scores iFixit has been assigning products for years.) But Wiens also suspects that competition will help keep greenwashing in check: Apple, for instance, could call out Samsung if its competitor comes out with a dubiously high repairability index for a flagship smartphone.

"Any time you have something like this, you'll see competitors pushing back on each other," Wiens said.

Repair advocates across Europe are watching the rollout of the French index closely in the hopes that it will soon be spread beyond France's borders. In November, the European Parliament voted in favor of developing laws that mandate E.U.-wide repairability labeling. Vallauri said that the E.U. is still "probably a few years away" from repairability scores appearing at every shop in every member country, but that draft legislation is expected to emerge this year. The fact that France chose to go first with its own score, he said, "shows that it's possible" and represents "a good learning opportunity for other countries that can now build on what the French lawmakers created."

The repair community is equally interested in seeing how the French scoring system impacts both consumers and manufacturers.

In September, the French government published the results of a study that looked at how 140,000 online shoppers responded to a beta version of the repairability index that included all of the final criteria except for price of spare parts. It found that customers tended to avoid purchasing laptops with a repair index compared with laptops lacking one. Project manager Laurianne Vagharchakian, a behavioral sciences researcher with the French government, attributes this to the fact that study's average repairability index, at 5.4 out of 10, was probably "not very motivating and attractive" to potential buyers. Other research suggests that consumers prefer products with labels indicating a longer lifespan over competing, shorter-lived products, and that in some cases, they may be willing to pay much more for the more durable product.

If repair scores start influencing consumer behavior across France as these findings suggest they will, manufacturers are likely to feel pressure to make devices easier to fix. Both Vallauri and Wiens highlighted the importance of the French repair scores being mandatory for potentially forcing a sea change in how products are made.

"We think that the moment something becomes a requirement, it's no longer really a problem for a manufacturer," said Vallauri. "They just have to deal with it as one of their variables in bringing a product to the market. So the more some manufacturers choose to make products more repairable, it will motivate others, if nothing else for fear of missing out, to improve their practices. "

This story has been updated to clarify that the Restart Project is a member of the European Right to Repair Campaign.

Will Biden deliver on climate? Get weekly analysis of federal climate policy action in the first months of Biden's term.

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Why France's new 'repairability index' is a big deal

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Our electronic devices take a serious environmental toll, and one of the best ways to mitigate that is to use them for as long as possible before replacing them. But it's hard to know how long a new gadget will last if you're unsure how easy it will be to fix.

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"Using the KarTent at festivals to avoid a multiple of garbage is an excellent solution from a creative as well as an ecological point of view."

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Development in sustainable fuel in the aviation industry. 

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Development in sustainable fuel in the aviation industry. 

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Dr Joerg Au, Chief Engineer - Business Aviation and Engineering Director Rolls-Royce Deutschland, said: "Sustainable aviation fuels have the potential to significantly reduce the carbon emissions of our engines and combining this potential with the extraordinary performance of our Pearl engine family brings us another important step closer to enabling our customers to achieve net zero carbon emissions."

The highly efficient Pearl 700 combines the Advance2 engine core, the most efficient core available across the business aviation sector, with a brand-new low-pressure system, resulting in an 8% increase in take-off thrust at 18,250lb compared to the BR725 engine. The engine offers a 12% better thrust-to-weight ratio and 5% higher efficiency, while maintaining its class-leading low noise and emissions performance.

It brings together innovative technologies derived from the Rolls-Royce Advance2 technology demonstrator programmes with our experience from the Rolls-Royce BR700, today's leading engine family in business aviation. This includes a highly-efficient 51.8" blisked fan, a high pressure compressor with a market-leading pressure ratio of 24:1 and six blisked stages, an ultralow emissions combustor, a two-stage shroudless high pressure turbine and an enhanced four-stage low pressure turbine that is one of the most efficient and compact in the industry.

For high-res images please see here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rolls-royceplc

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Rolls-Royce conducts first tests of 100% sustainable aviation fuel for use in business jets

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Dr Joerg Au, Chief Engineer - Business Aviation and Engineering Director Rolls-Royce Deutschland, said: "Sustainable aviation fuels have the potential to significantly reduce the carbon emissions of our engines and combining this potential with the extraordinary performance of our Pearl engine family brings us another important step closer to enabling our customers to achieve net zero carbon emissions."

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Increasing Solar power collection with Bifacial panels.

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As Britain's greenest energy company, our sun parks generate electricity from the ultimate free power source - the sun. Whatever the weather, solar energy is generated when photons from the sun create a flow of electricity in the solar panel, which is why you'll sometimes see them referred to as photovoltaic panels.

The technology used in solar power has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. One particularly exciting development is bifacial solar panels - we'll soon be using this technology in our hybrid energy parks.

But what is a bifacial solar panel and why is it better than the ones we're all familiar with? To find out more about this latest generation of solar panels, who better to ask than Ecotricity's Head of Generation, Steve Ellis ...

Steve, what exactly is a bifacial solar panel?

"Most people know what a solar panel looks like. It either sits flat on a surface (like a roof) or up on frames in a sun park in order to face the face the sun more directly, and generates electricity from sunlight hitting the side that's facing upwards.

The new bifacial panels in our sun parks don't have a frame covering the back. Instead, they have a second side that's able to generate electricity, this time from the reflected light that comes from underneath the panel rather than direct from the sun."

Bifacial solar panels infographic

The exact amount of extra energy generated depends on the ground beneath the solar panels. More sunlight reflects off lighter ground - just think of how bright the glare is off snow on a sunny day. Here in Britain, we keep the grass short in our sun parks in order to get the maximum possible amount of reflected light."

How much energy do today's solar panels generate?

How long do solar panels last?

The structure of the solar panel - how it's put together - makes a difference. Essentially, there are 2 types of polycrystalline - blue tint in colour, slightly cheaper as they tend to be less efficient, and monocrystalline - black colour and a bit more expensive due to improved efficiency.

As for their actual useful life, that's a good question. When our planning permissions are given, we build sun parks to last for 25 years - but there's evidence to show that solar panels will generate clean electricity for much longer as long as the panels are looked after."

Do bifacial solar panels cost more?

How long does it take solar panels to pay for themselves?

Can you use bifacial panels on a roof?

In a domestic setting, you don't need planning permission for single face panels because they sit flat but with bifacials you'd need to have them about 4 metres above your roof!"

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Ecotricity explains Bifacial Solar Panels

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As Britain's greenest energy company, our sun parks generate electricity from the ultimate free power source - the sun. Whatever the weather, solar energy is generated when photons from the sun create a flow of electricity in the solar panel, which is why you'll sometimes see them referred to as photovoltaic panels.

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Using design & manufacturing to improve the lives of animals.

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Prosthetics are simply amazing. Not only do they give human beings back their independence and mobility, but animals are also benefiting from them too.

Here are 13 great stories of animals getting back on their feet, fins, and wings thanks to their new prosthetics.

What are animal prosthetics made of?

Animal prosthetics can be made from various materials depending on the design and need for the prosthetic. For example, some prosthetic limbs can be made from plastic or titanium either molded or more usually, 3D printed.

Other prosthetics, like new tails for alligators and fins for dolphins, can be created using rubber.

What are some interesting examples of animal prosthetics?

So, without further ado, here are 13 interesting examples of animal prosthetics. This list is far from exhaustive and is in no particular order.

1. This vet gave a parakeet prosthetic wings

After its owner overzealously clipped its wings, this vet gave a tortured parakeet a new lease in life. The parakeet kept repeatedly falling to the ground after the unfortunate event.

The twelve-week old parakeet called Wei Wei was given a set of new artificial feathers and, within hours, was back in the air once more. The vets at The Unusual Pets Vets in Brisbane, Australia performed the novel feathery-fix earlier this month.
RELATED: BRAIN-CONTROLLED PROSTHETICS ARE PROGRESSING FASTER THAN WE COULD IMAGINE
The prosthetic wings were donated to the veterinary surgery and were cleaned, sterilized and dried before being used. The base of each clipped feather was cut to allow the entry of a wooden toothpick attached to the new feathers which were then glued into place.

2. This quadriplegic cat was given titanium 3D printed legs

After suffering from a serious case of frostbite, this cat was given a set of 3D printed titanium legs to get back on its paws. The cat, called Dymka, is now the world's second recipient of such artificial animal limbs.

Dymka was found shivering in the snow by a passer-by when she was taken to a local veterinary clinic to save her life. Veterinarians and researchers from Russia's Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) rapidly moved to save her life and limbs.

After amputating the damaged parts of her legs, the team took CT scans of her limbs using x-rays. These scans were then used to design the prosthetic limbs prior to them being grafted to her leg stumps.

3. This vet has given thousands of animals prosthetic limbs

A vet from Sterling, Virginia, Derrick Campana, has given thousands of animals another shot at life by giving them prosthetic limbs. Campana creates braces and other artificial limbs to help give his patients back their mobility and quality of life.

"His practice, located in Sterling, Virginia, sends out kits to veterinarians and pet owners so they can cast molds of their patients or pets. Once the casting kits are returned, Campana crafts a personalized brace, or prosthetic, out of thermoplastic material. " - Animal Ortho Care, msn.com.

4. This eagle was given a prosthetic beak

A bald eagle, called Beauty, lost most of its beak when it was shot by a poacher. Three years later a group of researchers worked tirelessly to design and create a new prosthetic beak for Beauty.

Being key to its survival, the new beak has allowed the eagle to once again feed itself. Normally birds like this, that need to be hand-fed, are typically euthanized.

5. This elephant was given a new prosthetic foot

A fifty-year-old elephant called Motala lost his foot when he accidentally stepped on a land mine. Thankfully, the elephant lives in Thailand which is one of the few countries in the world with a dedicated elephant hospital.

After being treated for his wounds, his carers designed and created an artificial prosthetic replacement for his lost foot.

6. This dolphin was given a new prosthetic tail

After losing 75% of its fin from a necrotic disease, this dolphin was given a new one. Bridgestone, the company famed for making car tires, helped design and create the new tail fin for the unfortunate C etacean.

Fuji, the dolphin's name, is now the first dolphin in history to receive such a prosthetic fin.

7. This horse was given a new prosthetic leg

A horse, called Riley, lost one of its hindlimbs after it started to deteriorate after being treated with a contaminated metal plate. Because of the injury, the mare was scheduled to be euthanized by its owners.

But the sanctuary staff decided to try something different and gave her an artificial limb instead.

8. This tortoise was given a set of wheels to get around

Tuly the tortoise lost one its forelimbs when it was chewed off by a rat as the tortoise was hibernating. Thankfully, there was a happy ending as Tuly was given a toy tractors wheel to replace its lost limb.

9. This cat received tow new leg after a combine harvester accident

Oscar, the cat, appears to have used up a few of its nine lives after a horrible encounter with a combine harvester. The wounded Oscar was found by a passer-by who took him to a local vet.

After a series of x-rays were taken, two prosthetic limbs were created for Oscar before he was returned to his owners.

10. This homeless received a new home and a new leg

Cassidy the dog was found wandering the streets alone underweight and less one rear leg. One local family found Cassidy and decided to them a new home.

Not only that but after some research, they found a facility that could create a prosthetic limb for the dog.

11. This stork received a new beak too

A stork called Uzonka had their beak badly damaged by an unknown animal abuser. Thankfully after a series of surgeries, Uzonka was given a new prosthetic beak to replace their old damaged one.

12. This alligator received a new prosthetic tail

An alligator called Mister Stubbs, lost a large portion of its tail during a fight with another alligator. After being discovered in an illegal shipment of exotic animals a team of experts gave Mister Stubbs a new 1-meter long rubber prosthetic tail.

13. This tiger received a new prosthetic hip

And finally, this unfortunate tiger received a new prosthetic hip after suffering from a serious case of arthritis. Called Girl, the tiger underwent a three-hour procedure back in 2011 to receive the new hip that was originally designed for dogs.

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13 Animals Given a New Lease in Life with Prosthetics

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Prosthetics are simply amazing. Not only do they give human beings back their independence and mobility, but animals are also benefiting from them too. Here are 13 great stories of animals getting back on their feet, fins, and wings thanks to their new prosthetics.

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Skilled hauliers carry huge 220ft rotor blades through tiny villages

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Mirror, signal and one heck of a manoeuvre: Skilled hauliers negotiate huge 220ft rotor blades through tiny villages and narrow roads

Haulier company P. Adams Schwertentransporte shared the astonishing images

The Luxembourg transporters carried the 25-tonne blade through country lanes

The blades are attached to a platform which can pivot according to the roads

Incredible photos show how a team of hauliers carried a 220 wind turbine blade on the back of a moving truck.

Luxembourg-based P. Adams Schwertentransporte shared the astonishing images of the 25-tonne blade being manoeuvred around narrow country roads.

The transport company, which operates across Europe, posted the images on their LinkedIn page, prompting incredulity online at the impressive feat of engineering.

They wrote: 'Finishing the year with a set of 67m rotor blades on a challenging route.'

Many have even accused the company of Photoshopping the pictures.

The images show the huge blade being held aloft at an angle by the lorry as it makes its way through the quiet streets and villages.

The hauliers deliberately avoid cities and have to ensure power lines are temporarily taken down in order for them to pass through safely.

Unlike the rest of the turbine, the blade cannot be disassmbled and has to be transported in one part.

It cannot travel horizontally because of the turns on the narrow roads so is therefore secured at an angle between 20 and 45 degrees.

The blade is attached to a platform that allows it to move up and down or side to side according to the direction of travel, in order to evenly distribute the weight on the winding roads.

The record for the longest blade transported in this way was broken in 2016 when a 290ft turbine was carried through Denmark.

Wind farms needing the blades for their turbines are often located in the countryside, far from the manufacturing plants that produce them.

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Skilled hauliers carry huge 220ft rotor blades through tiny villages

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Haulier company P. Adams Schwertentransporte shared the astonishing images The Luxembourg transporters carried the 25-tonne blade through country lanes The blades are attached to a platform which can pivot according to the roads Incredible photos show how a team of hauliers carried a 220 wind turbine blade on the back of a moving truck.

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Bamboo Tower Pulls Drinking Water Out of Thin Air

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Designer Arturo Vittori says his invention can provide remote villages with more than 25 gallons of clean drinking water per day

smithsonianmag.com

In some parts of Ethiopia, finding potable water is a six-hour journey.

People in the region spend 40 billion hours a year trying to find and collect water, says a group called the Water Project. And even when they find it, the water is often not safe, collected from ponds or lakes teeming with infectious bacteria, contaminated with animal waste or other harmful substances.

The water scarcity issue-which affects nearly 1 billion people in Africa alone-has drawn the attention of big-name philanthropists like actor and Water.org co-founder Matt Damon and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who, through their respective nonprofits, have poured millions of dollars into research and solutions, coming up with things like a system that converts toilet water to drinking water and a "Re-invent the Toilet Challenge," among others.

Critics, however, have their doubts about integrating such complex technologies in remote villages that don't even have access to a local repairman. Costs and maintenance could render many of these ideas impractical.

"If the many failed development projects of the past 60 years have taught us anything," wrote one critic, Toilets for People founder Jason Kasshe, in a New York Times editorial, "it's that complicated, imported solutions do not work."

Other low-tech inventions, like this life straw, aren't as complicated, but still rely on users to find a water source.

It was this dilemma-supplying drinking water in a way that's both practical and convenient-that served as the impetus for a new product called Warka Water, an inexpensive, easily-assembled structure that extracts gallons of fresh water from the air.

The invention from Arturo Vittori, an industrial designer, and his colleague Andreas Vogler doesn't involve complicated gadgetry or feats of engineering, but instead relies on basic elements like shape and material and the ways in which they work together.

At first glance, the 30-foot-tall, vase-shaped towers, named after a fig tree native to Ethiopia, have the look and feel of a showy art installation. But every detail, from carefully-placed curves to unique materials, has a functional purpose.

The rigid outer housing of each tower is comprised of lightweight and elastic juncus stalks, woven in a pattern that offers stability in the face of strong wind gusts while still allowing air to flow through. A mesh net made of nylon or polypropylene, which calls to mind a large Chinese lantern, hangs inside, collecting droplets of dew that form along the surface. As cold air condenses, the droplets roll down into a container at the bottom of the tower. The water in the container then passes through a tube that functions as a faucet, carrying the water to those waiting on the ground.

Using mesh to facilitate clean drinking water isn't an entirely new concept. A few years back, an MIT student designed a fog-harvesting device with the material. But Vittori's invention yields more water, at a lower cost, than some other concepts that came before it.

"[In Ethiopia], public infrastructures do not exist and building [something like] a well is not easy," Vittori says of the country. "To find water, you need to drill in the ground very deep, often as much as 1,600 feet. So it's technically difficult and expensive. Moreover, pumps need electricity to run as well as access to spare parts in case the pump breaks down."

So how would Warka Water's low-tech design hold up in remote sub-Saharan villages? Internal field tests have shown that one Warka Water tower can supply more than 25 gallons of water throughout the course of a day, Vittori claims. He says because the most important factor in collecting condensation is the difference in temperature between nightfall and daybreak, the towers are proving successful even in the desert, where temperatures, in that time, can differ as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

The structures, made from biodegradable materials, are easy to clean and can be erected without mechanical tools in less than a week. Plus, he says, "once locals have the necessary know-how, they will be able to teach other villages and communities to build the Warka."

In all, it costs about $500 to set up a tower-less than a quarter of the cost of something like the Gates toilet, which costs about $2,200 to install and more to maintain. If the tower is mass produced, the price would be even lower, Vittori says. His team hopes to install two Warka Towers in Ethiopia by next year and is currently searching for investors who may be interested in scaling the water harvesting technology across the region.

"It's not just illnesses that we're trying to address. Many Ethiopian children from rural villages spend several hours every day to fetch water, time they could invest for more productive activities and education," he says. "If we can give people something that lets them bemore independent, they can free themselves from this cycle."

About Tuan C. Nguyen

Tuan C. Nguyen is a Silicon Valley-based journalist specializing in technology, health, design and innovation. His work has appeared in ABCNews.com, NBCNews.com, FoxNews.com, CBS' SmartPlanet and LiveScience.

Read more from this author

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This Tower Pulls Drinking Water Out of Thin Air

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smithsonianmag.com In some parts of Ethiopia, finding potable water is a six-hour journey. People in the region spend 40 billion hours a year trying to find and collect water, says a group called the Water Project.

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Home-testing kit for breast cancer wins Dyson prize

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Screening requires women to attend hospitals or medical facilities and undergo what can be for some an uncomfortable and costly procedure. As a result, it is estimated that 40% of women skip their regular mammogram, resulting in one in three cases being detected late, leading to a lower chance of survival.

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Home-testing kit for breast cancer wins Dyson prize

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Screening requires women to attend hospitals or medical facilities and undergo what can be for some an uncomfortable and costly procedure. As a result, it is estimated that 40% of women skip their regular mammogram, resulting in one in three cases being detected late, leading to a lower chance of survival.

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The Ingenious Design of the Aluminum Beverage Can

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Structural Design

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Architect Rafael Viñoly has completed a ring-shaped road bridge that stretches across a lagoon on Uruguay's southern coast (+ slideshow).

Laguna Garzon Bridge was designed by Viñoly - a Uruguayan architect based in New York - to replace a raft crossing connecting the cities of Rocha and Maldonado.

The concrete structure is raised above the water on cylindrical piles and provides a crossing for up to 1,000 vehicles each day. The road is bracketed by a pair of pedestrian walkways.

The ring-shaped structure frames a circle of water, creating a "lagoon inside a lagoon" where people can swim, fish or sightsee.

Instagram photos reveal impact of Viñoly's super-tall skyscraper on New York skyline

Rafael Viñoly explained: "The concept of the Puente Laguna Garzon was to transform a traditional vehicular crossing into an event that reduces the speed of the cars, to provide an opportunity to enjoy panoramic views to an amazing landscape, and at the same time create a pedestrian place in the centre."

Viñoly is perhaps best known as the designer of London's Walkie Talkie building, which was nicknamed Walkie Scorchie after the glare from its curvy glass facade melted the bodywork of nearby cars.

The construction of the Laguna Garzon Bridge - which used over 450 tons of formed steel, 40,000 metres of post tensioned cables and 3,500 cubic metres of concrete - has also proved controversial, provoking protests from environmental groups.

"The rotunda also signals the terminus of the National Route 10," said Viñoly.

"I accepted to design the bridge on the condition that Route 10 - a federal highway that has been the main access to the beach resorts along the Uruguayan coast and one of the most destructive planning drivers of the territory - be downgraded to local jurisdiction in order to better control the development process."

The Laguna Garzon Bridge took 12 months to complete and opened in late 2015. It is located near popular resorts Punta del Este and José Ignacio - home to a new development of concrete holiday homes by Adamo-Faiden.

"It is an iconic architectural piece that will be a catalytic factor in driving the development of Rocha's coastline," said Argentine developer Eduardo Costantini, who invested 80 per cent of the $10 million (£7 million) construction costs. Costantini is also behind the nearby Las Garzas development.

Rafael Viñoly Architects is currently working on a super-tall skyscraper in Manhattan scheduled for completion later this year and a pair of residential towers in Chicago.
Project credits:
Architecture: Rafael Viñoly
Construction: Saceem
Collaborators: MTOP, Las Garzas Blancas, Dirección Nacional de Vialidad, Uruguayan State

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Circular bridge by Rafael Viñoly spans Uruguay lagoon

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Architect Rafael Viñoly has completed a ring-shaped road bridge that stretches across a lagoon on Uruguay's southern coast (+ slideshow). Laguna Garzon Bridge was designed by Viñoly - a Uruguayan architect based in New York - to replace a raft crossing connecting the cities of Rocha and Maldonado.

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Technological Development

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Crop scientists over the years have learned a great deal about how plants grow above the ground, but much less is known about roots and their soil interactions.

Now, a Cornell project funded by two separate three-year grants will develop worm-like, soil-swimming robots to sense and record soil properties, water, the soil microbiome and how roots grow.

A $2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant led by principal investigator (PI) Taryn Bauerle, an associate professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will focus on the plants and soil perspective.

Meanwhile, a $750,000 NSF National Robotics Initiative grant to PI Robert Shepherd, associate professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering, will develop the soil-monitoring robots.

The project will focus on maize, with the ultimate goal of incorporating factors related to root growth to improve breeding efforts and soil management that directly affect food productivity and security.

"We plan on developing new tools so that we can tap into the below-ground environment of plants and soil in a way that allows us to shine light in a black box of plant and soil interactions," Bauerle said.

"This is really the next frontier in plant biology," said project co-PI Michael Gore, Liberty Hyde Bailey professor and professor of molecular breeding and genetics in the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of SIPS. By quantifying below-ground characteristics, the researchers may then identify relationships with above ground characteristics, Gore said.

To acquire those measurements, the team will develop 1- to 2-foot worm-like robots that emulate how a bore drills into the ground, combined with a peristaltic motion that mimics how worms move through soil.

"The front loosens up the dirt and the back pushes forward and presses that dirt into a wall of a tunnel," Shepherd said. They plan for one robot to collect continuous data up and down an entire row of maize.

The team will experiment with a number of sensors and strategies. A robot's ability to push through soil can reveal such properties as soil density and compactness. Robots will also be fitted with small temperature and humidity sensors.

Fiber optic cables could provide a slew of measurements, including direct imaging of roots to measure growth and angles. The team plans to employ "AquaDust" developed in the lab of project co-PI Abraham Stroock, the Gordon L. Dibble '50 Professor in the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the College of Engineering. AquaDust fluoresces in different wavelengths based on the amount of water in the soil.

Fiber optics could also allow measurements of excitation and emission wavelengths of soil microorganisms and root chemistries, including carbon compounds exuded by plant roots. "We should be able to determine roughly what chemicals and organisms are prevalent at the root surface and surrounding soil," Shepherd said.

By quantifying root features, soil properties, compounds, microorganisms and water, the researchers may then use predictive models to combine the below- and above-ground characteristics to predict such things as grain yield and stress tolerance, Gore said.

Another goal of the project will be to evaluate how plants might respond to effects of climate change, such as water availability. Measurements of root growth, factored in with environmental data, can provide insights into how roots grow based on external conditions, such as droughts.

Since soil is not a good medium for wireless transmission, the researchers will test prototypes that record data in memory, to be retrieved later. They may also be able to experiment with acoustic communication through soil and wires that run along a row of corn plants. At the end of the project, the researchers hope to showcase live demonstrations of prototypes in a cornfield.

Preliminary work was made possible by seed funding from a Cornell Initiative for Digital Agriculture grant.

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Worm-like, soil-swimming robots to measure crop underworld | Cornell Chronicle

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Crop scientists over the years have learned a great deal about how plants grow above the ground, but much less is known about roots and their soil interactions. Now, a Cornell project funded by two separate three-year grants will develop worm-like, soil-swimming robots to sense and record soil properties, water, the soil microbiome and how roots grow.

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Technological Development

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Technological Development