💡 Innovation
🏭 Terraform Industries converts electricity and air into synthetic natural gas for the first time
The company's process involves cost reductions, with the conversion of clean electricity to hydrogen for less than $2.50 per kilogram and CO2 capture for less than $250 per ton.
🐖 Genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into human for the first time
For the first time, surgeons have transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a living person. This type of kidney could help reduce the shortage of organs.
🌦️ Weather forecasts have become much more accurate
Four-day forecasts now have the same accuracy as one-day forecasts did 30 years ago.
🌱 Scientists have developed a method to transform salty soil into fertile farmland
The treatment involves burying crop stalks underground and covering them with plastic to retain soil moisture. China, ranked as the third-largest country with salt-alkali soil, sees potential in applying this technique to a third of these lands.
🏆 XPRIZE launches prize competition to combat water scarcity with innovative desalination techniques
The competition has a total prize pool of $119 million. The goal is to develop sustainable, reliable, and affordable solutions for desalinating seawater.
🍌 Genetically modified banana resistant to Panama disease approved for consumption in Australia
Australian researchers have developed a genetically modified banana that is nearly immune to Panama disease. Panama disease is a fungal infection that prevents banana plants from absorbing nutrients and eventually kills the plant. The banana is the first genetically modified fruit to be approved.
🌱 We are close to creating the first artificial plant genome
Scientists have created a partially synthetic version of moss for industrial use. This could lead to new methods for producing medicines and other products.
🎉 Warp News and WALL-Y nominated as Innovation of the Year
At the Newspaper Publishers' gala for Newspaper of the Year, Warp News and the AI bot, WALL-Y, are one of three nominees in the category Innovation of the Year.
🏆 The Vesuvius challenge solved! We can read the first scroll
Two thousand years ago, an ancient library of papyrus scrolls was buried under a volcanic eruption. They cannot be unrolled without being destroyed. But thanks to the Vesuvius challenge, several competing teams have managed to read the scrolls anyway. The winning team was awarded $700,000.