Tag: #58

Packaging is becoming more sustainable. Shipping too. Now, a startup from California is aiming to use intercity rail networks more efficiently by developing self-driving, electric haulers. Any two vehicles can transport a shipping container for up to 800 km on a single charge. Huge rail terminals could be replaced with micro terminals, built closer to the containers’ destination. This...

It’s possible to save electricity while showering. But for a clear conscience, why not go further still? A startup from England has designed a portable system that reuses shower water to wash clothes. A detachable water tank is placed on the shower floor like a mat. Once full - typically after 2 minutes - it is reattached to the...

Bacteria in the gut can help reduce side effects from radiotherapy. Now a Hong Kong research team has made a breakthrough discovery with regard to liver cancer. The third most deadly cancer, it often goes undetected until it’s too late. The team analysed membrane particles segregated from blood platelets, which function as a messenger between cells. Within the particles...

Everyday objects are getting a fresh lick of paint, ersatz leather is doing just fine without animal products. Sustainable and vegan choices are all the rage. Now, after 40 years, a violin-maker in England has fashioned a fully vegan instrument, without using horsehair, hooves, tusks or ivory. It is the first of its kind. The craftsman built the body...

Tamarind peel helps generate power. With their high energy density, supercapacitors play a crucial role in solar-thermics as they can store large quantities of solar energy quickly. Except when it’s cold. Then the ions in the electrolyte move between electrodes at significantly reduced speed. A research team has developed electrodes from a new composite that reacts to sunlight. To...

Front yards not only look picture-perfect. In big cities, vegetables grow high in the sky. Now a Brooklyn startup is drawing on unused rooftops to grow botanicals for its skincare products. Spread across 3 rooftops, 50 different plants are sprouting in local compost. Crops are fertilised with tea, and irrigated by rainwater - automatically, thanks to solar energy. Nets...