💡 Innovation
🪨 New method halves the cost of extracting lithium from rock
Researchers at MIT have developed a process that dissolves lithium minerals at room temperature instead of above 1,800 degrees. The method is estimated to cost half as much as today's extraction of lithium from hard rock. The process recycles its own chemicals, bringing waste close to zero.
🌾 Indian scientists have bred rice that handles both flood and drought
India has bred two rice varieties for opposite water problems. One yields nearly 50 percent more in flood years with no penalty in normal years. The other yields up to 35 percent more in dry conditions and grows in dry soil, without flooded paddies. The poorest farmers gain the most.
🔬 Most of what's inside the cell is invisible, a new laser method could change that
Today's cryo-electron microscopes reveal only about 10% of human proteins, and less than 1% inside living cells. A new technique sharply improves image contrast using a laser 100 million times brighter than the Sun's surface. Researchers estimate over 50% of the cell's proteins could become visible.
🦏 Satellites track animals from space to detect poachers in real time
When a poacher approaches, the animals flee in patterns that can be recognized, and tags on the animals pass the signal on so rangers can intervene. By 2027, six receivers in orbit will be able to receive data on animal movements in real time across the entire planet.
👕 Filter captures 97% of microfibres from the wash
Washing machines release large amounts of microfibres that end up in waterways and oceans. A filter fitted to the washing machine collects the fibres before they reach the drain. The filter captures 97 percent of microfibres and is now sold in more than 30 European markets and the UK.
🚰 Machine pulls water from the air - can produce 4,000 liters per day
Startup Atoco is preparing production of a machine that extracts water directly from the air using nanocrystalline materials. The container-sized prototype can produce up to 1,057 gallons of water per day and be installed at data centers, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure.
🏜️ New method turns desert into arable land in three years instead of a hundred
Researchers have developed a solid cyanobacteria inoculum that binds sand dunes and creates a foundation for vegetation within three years. The method achieves a survival rate of over 60 percent and shortens the formation of biological soil crusts from 15 years to one or two years.
🧲 Researchers have shrunk giant magnets to the size of a palm
The new magnets are as strong as today's most powerful research magnets, which weigh several tons and are the size of a room. The magnets draw less electricity than an LED bulb, compared to the power consumption of several thousand households for traditional magnets of the same strength.
🏗️ The tech builder taking on the construction industry's hundred-year problem
For a long time, the construction industry has become less productive each year. We get less housing for our money. Jonas Jonsson and his company ByggVesta are now setting out to solve that problem.