Inspirational appetizers with curated news on startups, emerging trends and bleeding-edge research

HomeTags#50

Tag: #50

Sweet solution

Some packages are tricky to open. The earth, too, keeps important resources under lock and key. Now, joining this recycling approach, a research team from Cornell University is using bacteria to help extract rare elements from ore. These minerals are required, above all, to manufacture electronic products. To meet US needs alone, 71.5 million tonnes of raw ore are...

Absorbing development

Our appearance says a lot about us. But our blood can tell us more. A Californian startup is extracting menstrual blood from tampons in order to gain valuable information. Women can access the service by sending their used tampons for testing. At the lab, the blood is removed by machine and examined. The results provide information both on fertility...

Fruity addition

Fresh air, vitamin C and zinc are all good for our immune system. Fish, meanwhile, need clean water. Now, a university research team from Russia has hit upon an unusual link between tropical fruit and tilapia fish. Giving the fish pineapple peel powder as a feed additive boosted their disease resistance. For 8 weeks, 4 different groups of fish...

Coating’s new flame

They really can do everything: algae. We’ve seen them as plastic alternatives, vegan shrimp, even as a new kind of burger. Now comes an ecological fire retardant made from seaweed. As part of a recent competition, two students at Waterloo University, Canada, set about trying to extract biopolymers from algae. The biopolymers’ natural fire-resistant properties were strengthened by the...

Floating your boat

We know about the benefits of intergenerational living. Renting your flat out to holidaymakers is easy too. Now, a startup from the Netherlands is applying the same principle to sailboats. Using their website, part-time skippers can rent a boat to, say, explore Amsterdam’s canal system or take a romantic cruise along Europe’s coastline. Boat owners, meanwhile, can upload information,...

In a nutshell

Nature manages just fine without plastic. It even provides ingredients for alternative packaging, like popcorn. A 14-year-old girl from Gadwal, India, was struck by how many plastic bags were used for cultivating plants. So she prepared a dough out of discarded groundnut shells: a pot for her saplings. Now a startup has expanded her idea, creating a biopress machine...

Stay connected

Your headstart thanks to the newsletter

Sign up for our regular newsletter to receive the inspiration directly into your inbox on Fridays. Providing you with positive news on innovation and fresh perspectives that spark ideas. Not to forget – these cool topics make for warm-hearted conversations.

Editor's Picks