Everyone loves to visit the seaside, whether to enjoy the physical benefits of an exhilarating swim or simply to relax on the beach and catch some sun. But these simple life affirming pleasures are easily ruined by the presence of litter, which if persistent can have a serious negative impact on both the local environment … Read more
Scientists have found minuscule shreds of plastic everywhere – in rivers and lakes, at the bottom of the sea, on the tallest mountain on earth, blowing in the wind and moving through our food chain. Now they’re trying to find out how all this plastic is affecting human health. Plastic pollution is everywhere we look. … Read more
In the summer of 2014 a strange building began to take shape just outside MoMA PS1, a contemporary art centre in New York City. It looked like someone had started building an igloo and then got carried away, so that the ice-white bricks rose into huge towers. It was a captivating sight, but the truly impressive thing about this building … Read more
The inspiration to use Earth’s abundant supply of water as a source of hydrogen fuel is not new. But will it fuel the future? Meet two leading European innovators who are championing clean hydrogen as a key solution in building de-carbonisation strategies. Hans Marius Schuster comes from Germany’s car capital Stuttgart (one of the … Read more
By growing just one crop species in a field at a time, monocultures enable farmers to use machinery, increasing the efficiency of activities like planting and harvesting. But despite supplying the lion’s share of the world’s food, monocultures are amongst the most controversial features of today’s agriculture. Raising a single crop has drawbacks as … Read more
What to do with the non-biodegradable plastics used in food packaging and agriculture? Researchers are turning their attention to microorganisms, enzymes, earthworms and insects to break down plastics. Plastics are everywhere, and farms are no exception. Plastic sheets are spread on the ground as a form of mulch to suppress weeds. Plastic is also … Read more