With launches like the Graphene Jacket and Squid Jacket, British apparel maker Vollebak has been exploring how high-tech materials can help change the face, function and future of outerwear and leisure apparel. Now it’s back to explore a different topic: how to prevent high-tech materials from simply filling landfills when they reach the end of their initial life cycles. The […]

Just like a tennis player might don a white shirt instead of a black one on warm summer’s day, researchers see great potential in dressing buildings in reflective white paints to keep them cool. A team of material scientists is reporting a major advance in this area, producing a new kind of super white paint that reflects almost all incoming […]

We’ve reported on several eye-catching floating architecture projects lately, including a “parkipelago” and a greenery-covered office. This solar-powered urban poultry farm is the most off-the-wall idea of the bunch though and, assuming it goes ahead as planned, will host roughly 7,000 egg-laying hens, as well as an area for growing food, in a harbor in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The building […]

When shrimp are processed at seafood plants, the resulting wastewater contains a lot of protein. Scientists have now devised a method of harvesting that protein, so it can be used to supplement animal feed or food for humans. First off, it should be noted that organic matter is already removed from shrimp-processing wastewater before it’s discharged back into the waterways. […]

Scientists are getting creative with new ways to produce fuels and electricity, but they can introduce their own problems too. Making biofuel from algae, for example, is showing promise, but it does create large amounts of toxic wastewater. Now, researchers in Australia have found a way to clean up that wastewater, with a simple and scalable electrical process. The study […]

A startup spun out of Australia’s Deakin University has leveraged its knowledge in organic chemistry and aerospace engineering to produce the world’s first recycled carbon fiber surfboard. Pitched as not just a way of preventing waste going to landfill, JUC Surf says it has overcome previous issues with carbon fiber construction to offer a board that performs just as well […]

Fireworks are a surefire way to create a spectacle of color and light, but research has revealed these dazzling displays could pose a health risk. A study that is said to be the first to look at the impacts of firework exposure on human cells and animals, has found a range of harmful toxins can linger in the air once […]

Mother Nature does what Mother Nature wants and in many scenarios, we can’t predict it. Especially with global warming causing extreme weather events, it is important to understand what weather is considered normal and what is considered out of the ordinary. But you don’t have to be a meteorologist to take note of some of the more obvious things about […]

Dust off your reusable totes, containers, and more — businesses may just resume accepting them soon following bans enacted during the coronavirus pandemic. A group of more than 100 health experts from four countries — including infectious disease doctors, scientists, professors, and epidemiologists — published a joint statement Monday, June 22 ensuring the public that using reusables during the coronavirus is […]

As July 1st and 4th approach, people in Canada and the US (respectively) may be thinking about setting off some fireworks. They might want to consider a more eco-friendly and reusable alternative, though, in the form of the Rammaxx rocket. Inspired by much smaller and simpler helicopter rocket toys, the 17-inch (178-mm) Rammaxx consists of a transparent tubular body with […]