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🐧 Satellite images reveal that there are more Imperial penguins than scientists thought

There are more Emperor penguins than we previously thought. It shows in a new study where researchers from the British Antarctic Survey used satellite images to count the number of penguin colonies .In total, the researchers found 20 percent more colonies than they previously knew of. The colonies are quite small, so the number of Emperor penguins increases by 10 percent, the researchers believe. It is still a gratifying development and means that there are now close to half a million Emperor penguins.Counting penguins with satellite is not easy, so researchers use an indirect method. Instead of trying to see the penguins, the researchers are looking for bird droppings that are clearly visible against the white ice. Read the full article

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💧 Recyclable material turns salt water into drinking water in 30 minutes

Access to clean drinking water is a growing challenge for many communities. If we can find a scalable way to desalinate seawater, water scarcity would be a thing of the past in many parts of the world. This is not an easy task, but great progress has been made in the field in recent years.MOF, or metal-organic framework, is a material that is very promising, according to a study published in Science Advances . The material can filter pollutants from seawater and generate large amounts of fresh water with less energy than other desalination methods.MOF materials are extremely porous and can be spread to cover large areas. In fact, it is the material that has the largest inner surface of any known material. Unfolding, a single gram of the material can theoretically cover a football field. It is this complex internal structure that makes MOF perfect for capturing, storing and releasing molecules. New research on the material shows that it can function as carbon dioxide emission sponges and chemical sensors. Because they work so well to capture small molecules and particles, they are also excellent for purifying water.Ready in 30 minutesThe team behind the study used a MOF called PSP-MIL-53 and captured salt and contaminants in brackish water and seawater. Within 30 minutes, the material was able to reduce the total amount of solutes dissolved in the brine from 2233 parts per million (ppm) to below 500 ppm. Read the full article

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☀ Sharp increase in wind and solar power in the world

Solar and wind power accounted for 9.8 percent of the world's electricity production during the first half of 2020. This is an increase of 14 percent compared with last year. In total, wind and solar have generated 1,129 terawatt hours so far this year.At the same time, electricity production from coal power fell by 8.3 per cent during the same period. Coal power thus accounts for 68 percent of the total electricity production in the world.It shows figures compiled by the British think tank Ember from 48 countries. Many large electricity consumers such as the USA, China and India now get around ten percent of their electricity from solar and wind. The EU is doing even better and stands at 21 percent. Read the full article

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WIP: 🔋 Northvolt and the benefit of understanding the future

Peter Carlsson was Head of Sourcing at Swedish-Japanese Sony Ericsson. You know, back when Ericsson was making mobile phones. I had one of these.He did an excellent job, so companies on the U.S. west coast sought his services. Among them was Apple, who offered him a job to lead the production of the iPad.But he also went to a job interview at a small startup, yet to make a profit, who only had launched one product targeting a tiny luxury segment.You might have heard of it? Tesla.He said no to Apple, and joined the scrappy startup.“When I walked out from building after visiting Tesla, I had a strong gut feeling that here – here things will really happen,” he says in the book Batterirevolutionen (Battery Revolution.)His main task was to build up logistics for their next product, the Model S. It was still an expensive car, but one that was intended to show the world how amazing an electric vehicle can be.Seeing the future of batteriesTesla is not only an automaker. They are also an energy company, selling batteries to consumers, industries and governments, like the huge battery farm in South Australia.During Peter Carlsson’s time at Tesla, they also planned and started construction of the enormous factory in Nevada, called Gigafactory. In 2018 it produced 20 gigawatt-hours of battery cells. And it is enormous. Fully built it will have the largest footprint in the world and the second-largest volume.Elon Musk has said the world needs about a hundred of them.“We Read the full article

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Scrap the doomsday prophecies - we’re switching to a bright and sustainable future

Our world is changing. In just a fraction of humanity’s history, billions of people’s lives have fundamentally changed and improved. But it’s only the beginning. The exponential development we see in more and more technological areas ultimately affects the entire planet. Unfortunately, society is still behind the curve in terms of digitization and automation, and the more substantial problems we face as a species, the more we understand the need for those fields to grow and prosper. Scientists overwhelmingly agree that human activity affects the climate of our planet. As the average global temperature rises, some weather phenomena become more extreme. We have left the Holocene, the geological epoch that, over the past 11,700 years, has enabled us to develop civilizations and advanced societies thanks to a relatively stable climate. We now live in the anthropocene — the age of man. An age in which human activities are just as significant as other geological forces, such as volcanoes and altered solar activity. We have reached a time when we have become so powerful that we must also take responsibility for the planet’s health. We have become planetary caretakers. Coinciding with this enormous existential responsibility, we have also — through technical development — created tools that enable us to shoulder this responsibility. The two most important and powerful concepts in the world right now are exponential technologies and sustainability. Read the full article

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💉 Gene treatment has changed the lives of seven boys with muscle disease

Now we are beginning to see clear examples of how revolutionary gene therapy can be. Most recently, a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD, has been successful.Nine boys who suffered from this serious muscle disease received gene treatment and for most of them the results are very promising. One of the boys in the study could not take more than four steps up a flight of stairs without having to stop and rest. After the treatment, he can now run up the entire stairs.The treatment still has some side effects where the boys sometimes got a fever or problems with the kidneys. However, the researchers believe they have found a solution to the problems and it is now being tested. Read the full article

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🌴 Small trees can save the rainforest during dry periods

Dry periods are becoming more common in the Amazon and it is the end of many large trees that are sensitive to drought. But it does not have to mean disaster for the rainforest in general. Small trees cope with the drought much better and then get the chance to grow, research from the University of Exeter shows.This may sound completely natural, but it has not been clear that small trees actually survive drought better than large trees in the rainforest or that they can then quickly benefit from the increased sunlight. The researchers behind the study also believe that small trees that have survived severe drought are less susceptible to drought even when they have grown large.The discovery gives hope that rainforests can recover well from temporary drought, even if it may look hopeless at first glance."Conditions in the Amazon are changing due to climate change and the trees have to adapt to survive. Our research shows that small trees have a better ability than the larger trees to change their physiology when the environment changes, ”says David Bartholmew at the University of Exeter and one of the researchers behind the study.Read the full report here. Read the full article

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💡 Ebola can now be cured - this is how it works

In the midst of a chaos of violence and war, researchers and doctors in the Democratic Republic of Congo have conducted a clinical study of new drugs to try to combat the Ebola outbreak that has lasted for a year.On Monday, the study's sponsors, the World Health Organization WHO and the National Institutes of Health , announced that two of the experimental treatments appear to increase survival rates dramatically.We have previously reported on an experimental Ebola vaccine that has been shown to protect people from getting the disease. The treatments that have now been developed show that it is possible to cure people who have already been infected.Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director general of the Congo's Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who was in charge of the study, told Reuters that the results meant that "from now on we will no longer say that Ebola is incurable."The study, which aims to develop these treatments, started in November 2019. At that time, the treatments were given to a random sample of patients in four treatment centers in the eastern parts of the country, where the outbreak is at its worst.The treatments were one of four different variants: an antiviral drug called remdesivir or one of three drugs that use monoclonal antibodies. One of these, a drug called ZMapp, is currently the standard treatment for Ebola outbreaks. Read the full article

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🍩 Is the world ready for doughnut economics?

Oxford economist Kate Raworth marveled at the dusty and static models and graphs that economics students are forced to learn. How could economics from the 17th and 19th centuries be applied to the current situation? What worldview do economists bring to working life?She decided to create a new model that better reflected the role of the economy as it should be. The philosophy and the book Doughnut Economics came in 2017 and have attracted a lot of attention.Basically, the illustration is very simple: the doughnut's outer boundary is the planetary boundaries, that is, our planet's ceiling for climate change, ozone depletion, lack of biodiversity, chemical emissions, ocean acidification, and so on.The inner circle represents the social foundation, which we must fulfill in order to live a safe and just life: housing, food, water, gender equality, education, energy, justice, and so on.It is between these two circles - within the doughnut - that we must ensure that all people are present, and it is the task of the economy to ensure that this happens.According to Kate Raworth, this means, among other things, switching from a degenerative to a regenerative economy, where all resources are part of a circular cycle. Waste turns into fuel, which turns into energy, raw materials and food, and back into waste. She is, to say the least, critical of GDP and constant growth as the only signs of progress.Here's Read the full article

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🐯 The number of tigers is increasing in five countries

The tiger is an endangered species, but development is going in the right direction right now. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the number of tigers in India, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Russia is increasing.It is the result of the protection measures that the countries have taken since they promised to increase the tiger population by 50 percent from 2010 to 2025. It has been best for India and Nepal, where the number of tigers has doubled in the last decade.The biggest threat to the tiger now is hunting with snares that the tigers can get caught in and deforestation that reduces the tigers' habitat. But WWF and the countries where there are tigers continue to work to increase the number of tigers and the trend is positive enough.Recently, it was also Tiger's Day and the Panthera conservation project celebrated by publishing this video from their hidden camera in the tiger forests. Read the full article

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🍁 Artificial leaves suck carbon dioxide out of the air

In the fight against climate change, a group of researchers have invented an artificial leaf that absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and converts it into methanol, a fuel that is broken down into carbon dioxide and water.The invention has been inspired by photosynthesis, the conversion of sunlight by plants into chemically bound energy. In photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is bound from the air into simple sugar molecules, glucose, and oxygen is released. Instead of converting carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen, the artificial leaf should convert CO2 into methanol and oxygen.The Hearty Soul writes that according to the researchers, 72 percent of the carbon dioxide that is added in the process is converted to methanol. The synthetic leaf mimics the process of photosynthesis with the help of a photocatalyst called copper(I) oxide, in nature chlorophyll is the plants' photocatalyst. Copper(I) oxide is an inexpensive reddish powder that occurs naturally in a mineral called cuprite."I was trying to find a new way to mimic photosynthesis in nature, where leaves use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen," lead researcher Yimin Wu, a professor of technology at the University of Waterloo, told the Independent.The motivation is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, a greenhouse gas, and hopefully reduce global warming and to provide sustainable energy.The Read the full article

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⚡️ Construction of the ITER fusion reactor started in France

Fusion power is a dream that has existed for many years and is found in science fiction as well as in many city-building games on the computer. Soon, however, it can go from fiction to reality through the ITER project, International Thermonueclear Experimental Reactor. The project has just passed a new milestone in that the reactor has now begun to be built on site in the south of France .ITER is a collaboration between 35 countries and on July 23, the construction of the reactor began through a ceremony where French President Emmanuel Macron handed over the first components for the construction. Construction began as early as 2010, but it is only now that the reactor is starting to be installed on site in the building. If the schedule holds, the reactor will be put into operation at the end of 2025, but it will take another ten years before full capacity is reached in operation.The reactor is not only the world's largest fusion project, it is also the first reactor expected to be able to achieve self-combustion of plasma. The goal is for the reactor to generate ten times more heat than is added to it, many times more than any previous experiment. However, it is not a model for what commercial reactors may look like, but is only intended to prove that the concept works.If the experiment works as intended, it is only a matter of time before commercial fusion reactors become a reality. It will provide the planet with an energy source that is both emission-free and powerful. Read the full article

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🦠 One-minute coronavirus breath test invented in Israel

“We asked ourselves, since this virus is just like a nano-particle or a quantum dot with a diameter between 100nm to 140nm in terms of its size and electrical properties, can we detect it using methods from the worlds of physics, photonics and electrical engineering?" says professor Gabby Sarusi at Ben-Gurion University to Australian Jewish News.“We discovered that the answer is yes, this virus resonates in the THz frequency, and spectroscopy in these frequencies reveals it promptly.”It is a hand-held device which contains a chip with sensors to capture tiny particles from the breath. The chip is then read through a THz spectroscopy, and within a minute they can tell if someone has the coronavirus.This could have a significant effect on places where you need to test lots of people fast, like airports. Read the full article

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✋ Vietnam stops illegal animal markets

Vietnam is an important transit and destination country for several illegal animal products, including elephant ivory, rhinoceros, pangolin shells and tiger parts. It is now hoped that a new directive will work to combat wildlife trafficking in the country effectively.Some of the main points of the directive are that:Imports of live or dead wildlife, eggs, larvae, parts and derivatives of wildlife are stoppedMarkets and shops where illegal animal products are sold are closedNo citizen, especially government officials, may illegally hunt, trade, kill, own, consume or advertise protected wildlife or illegal animal productsThe Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will cooperate with relevant authorities to monitor wildlife in captivity, including by ensuring that wildlife is legally acquired and that a minimum level of hygiene is met.A database of plantations and facilities will be establishedThe Ministry of Public Security will strengthen law enforcement, in particular against cross-border organized crimeThe Ministry will cooperate with relevant authorities to monitor the illegal trade in wildlifeThe Ministry of Defense will strengthen customs and border controlRead more at Viet Nam News . Read the full article

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🚀 Mars in 4K

This story requires few words, because the pictures say it all!The footage from ElderFox Documentaries YouTube Channel has been viewed nearly 9 million times at the time of this post.  They summarize the footage below:A world first. New footage from Mars rendered in stunning 4K resolution. We also talk about the cameras on board the Martian rovers and how we made the video.The cameras on board the rovers were the height of technology when the respective missions launched. A question often asked is: ‘Why don’t we actually have live video from Mars?’ Although the cameras are high quality, the rate at which the rovers can send data back to earth is the biggest challenge. Curiosity can only send data directly back to earth at 32 kilo-bits per second. Instead, when the rover can connect to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, we get more favourable speeds of 2 Megabytes per second. However, this link is only available for about 8 minutes each Sol, or Martian day. As you would expect, sending HD video at these speeds would take a long long time. As nothing really moves on Mars, it makes more sense to take and send back images. Credit: NASANew: Mars In 4K Credit: ElderFox Documentaries Read the full article

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🐳 "Space station" underwater will give researchers a home in the sea

Marine scientist Fabien Costeau (grandson of the legendary marine scientist Jacques-Yves Cousteau) plans to build a research laboratory on the seabed off Curaçao in the Caribbean. The laboratory will be called Proteus and with an area of ​​370 square meters, it will be ten times as large as the only underwater laboratory that exists today.Proteus gives researchers the opportunity to work underwater for several weeks in a row without having to spend hours on decompression to avoid scuba diving after each dive.Fabien Costeau hopes that Proteus will inspire others to also build research stations in the sea and draw more attention to marine research . Because even though 71 percent of the earth's surface is covered by oceans, we have only explored around five percent of the oceans.If everything goes according to plan, Proteus should be ready within three years. Read the full article

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🌾 Rock dust - a fantastic solution to several environmental issues

By spreading dust from basalt rock over crop fields, carbon dioxide is drained from the air and the crops will become more nutritious. According to a group of scientists, we not only need to cut our carbon emissions, we also need to remove already existing CO2 from the atmosphere to turn the tide of the climate crisis. Thus, rock dust can be an effective solution - and the method also has other positive side effects.Spreading the dust from basalt rock (a by-product from the mining industry) over fields can drain billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, says a study published in Nature. Soils mixed with basalt absorb carbon from the air more effectively. Even though soils naturally absorb carbon dioxide, the process is accelerated by basalt being rich in calcium and magnesium. In addition the crops gets more nutritious and the soils pH-value improves. Basalt is a very common bedrock element and sometimes it forms beautiful and spectacular pillars. Photo: Jonathan Larson / UnsplashBy mixing soil and rock dust the alkalinity increases. This, in itself, is a huge advantage since our soils and waters are often exposed to acidification. Carbon dioxide is dissolved from the air into ions, such as hydrogen carbonate ions, which reverse acidification in the soils - but ultimately even in the water systems. The carbon-sequestering ions flows with rainwater and is transferred to the oceans by drainage systems or natural runoff.-The Read the full article