Science
Greenhouse gasses are not our friends but a electrocatalysis reactor can recycle a common one to produce liquid fuel solutions with renewable electricity which is amazing! The machine uses carbon dioxide and spits out formic acid.
We’ve been hearing about the hole in the ozone layer since the 80s. Man made chemicals caused it and there was a substantial push for those chemicals to be taken out of production. Which is great. The hole this year is the smallest it’s been in the thirty years! But it has nothing to do with human effort.
Construction trucks are cool. There’s just something weirdly fascinating about them although the allure of the eDumper isn’t a mystery. This is a giant dump truck that runs on electricity and never needs to be plugged in. It works with regenerative braking and this article breaks down that concept.
Some good news from the world of plants. The Great Sundew, an endangered species native to parts of England, is getting a second chance in the wild as a new conservation effort has started up. Might be worth noting that despite it’s gentle name, these little guys are carnivorous.
There are many ideas for things we can do on the ground to help lesson the damage of climate change, many of which are already in development or being used today. That being said, there’s still room for radical solutions like dumping sulfate particles into the stratosphere, called stratospheric aerosol injection, to protect us from the sun. Science fiction sounding? Yes but it’s a real suggestion.
Not having to do laundry ever again is the future we all want. And bonus, less laundry is better for the environment. There are a couple of brands that offer clothes that can last without a tumble in the wash but are they really better and do they actually work? As it turns out, the answer is yes.
Science needs help again. This time in counting butterflies. Which is about as whimsical and lovely as one can get to be honest. A giant migration of butterflies has caused scientists to ask the public for help in counting millions of them in the UK. You can join the Big Butterfly Count and help out!
Summer is hot. It’s SO HOT. And only going to get hotter so it’s important to dress for the weather but what’s better for you, black or white clothes? Not sure? Check out this neat little article about the the matter. Turns out, the answer depends.
Plastic waste is a huge problem because we rely on the material for many, many things. Not just grocery bags and packaging either. Medical equipment, tech devices, inexpensive textiles, etc. The list is really endless. One day we may be able to dispose of plastic the same way we do food waste, with bacteria. Plastic eating bacteria isn’t here yet but it’s looking better and better for our future.
Building videos are really popular on YouTube. People love watching things get made be they models or cakes. It’s a wholesome, relaxing pastime to be honest. There’s no drama, no tension and something nice to look at in the end. Get that same energy by watching Seeing 2020, the live stream from NASA of the next Mars’ rover build.
No one likes to be hot. Or cold for that matter. We like to be comfortable. Comfort burns a lot of energy which isn’t great but maybe in the future we won’t need it to achieve the temperatures we want. Recent experiments have revealed a process that can cool and heat with no external power.
We’ve been using satellites for a lot of things, including monitoring things here on the surface. Can they be used to help track plastic and assist in clean up efforts though? The answer is yes! But it’s sort of difficult.
Reading the news can be scary. Our practical minds know that headlines are meant to pull us in and articles are written with bias. In a perfect world we’ll do our research but sometimes we just don’t have the time. When it comes to science articles, Science Feedback is the site that sorts out the news so you know what to trust.
Climate change is something that we tend to think about in future terms. Which is to say we have to do something now because tomorrow (many years from now) will be bad if we don’t but this isn’t the case. Climate change is hurting us right now and people are not really so aware of that but they should be.
So what if you want to whisper a secret to your buddy across the room? Right now you probably get their attention and then mouth it or text them. But in the future, the answer could be freaking lasers! Researchers from MIT who clearly spend time and money on mad scientist ideas, have developed a system that can transmit sound through lasers.
