Sustainable Brands A ‘sharkskin’ coating is the latest nature-inspired innovation helping reduce aircraft fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, by reducing frictional resistance. Industry efforts to improve the sustainability of air travel include everything from fuel-saving behavioral interventions for pilots and rethinking emissions-adding frequent-flyer programs to innovations around sustainable aviation fuels and carbon-labeled travel. But biomimicry, the study of natural design …
These nearly silent wind turbines have owl-inspired ‘feathers’
By Adele Peters, Fast Company Noise from wind turbines limits where they can be built. But a design that mimics the shape of owl feathers can make wind farms quieter and help renewable energy grow faster. [Photos: Michael J. Cohen/Getty Images, Khoa Nguyen/Getty Images] On a recent winter day on …
Bioengineering, Biomimicry Spawn Novel Solutions to Marine Plastic Pollution
Sustainable Brands Ingenuity from UK and US universities has led to the development of next-generation solutions to eliminating plastic waste — particularly, in tricky marine environments. As we well know, plastic has become one of the world’s most prolific polluters. According to the OECD, 22 million tonnes of plastic waste leaked into the environment in 2019 …
A ‘Whalecam’, Seals v. Sharks and Fish that Play Dead: it’s Planet Earth III
By Tara Conlan, The Gurdian A southern right whale filmed in the shallow waters of Península Valdés, Argentina in a shot from the series. Photograph: BBC Studios As a new series promises breathtaking footage obtained by groundbreaking technology, children are the new target audience. A detachable “whalecam”, remote underwater cameras operated …
New study finds strengthening protection of existing parks is crucial for biodiversity conservation
By Durham University, Phys.Org In a new study, bioscientists argue that strengthening the protection given to areas already protected under law or by local communities is as critical for safeguarding biodiversity as creating new protected areas. The research team, which included scientists from Durham University, National University of Singapore (NUS) …
No A/C? No problem, if buildings copy networked tunnels of termite mounds
By Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica “For the first time, it may be possible to design a true living, breathing building.” Part of the system of reticulated tunnels (egress complex) of a mound of Macrotermes michaelseni termites from Namibia. The mounds that certain species of termites build above their nests have long been considered to …
‘Why mine so close?’: the fight to protect the pristine Okefenokee swamp
An Alabama company wants to mine near the 440,000-acre Georgia swamp, but locals and scientists fear it could be irreparably harmed Humans, as a general rule, are rather unkind to swamps. They are disparaged as rotten places that must be drained, either literally, to make way for farmland and houses, …
New knowledge about our Earth’s most important biochemical reaction: A step towards increasing CO2 uptake in plants
Source: University of Copenhagen – Faculty of Science Imagine being able to grow plants that could absorb even more CO2 from Earth’s atmosphere and thereby help solve the world’s climate problems. Humans have selected, bred and optimized plants to increase food production and ensure for our survival for thousands of years. …
Hidden costs of global illegal wildlife trade
Source: University of Adelaide An international team of experts, including researchers from the University of Adelaide, has highlighted that the illegal and unsustainable global wildlife trade has bigger ramifications on our everyday lives than you might think. In a paper published in Biological Conservation, the team of researchers investigated the …
UN Biodiversity Conference Part 1
More on the other key UN Conference of the Parties, COP15 on Biodiversity, with many heads of state, Host China’s Xi Jinping, Emanual Macron, Prince Charles, Vladimir Putin and many others on the opening day, Kungming, China. Biodiversity and climate change caused by the same faulty finance! Hazel Henderson, Editor“ …