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Category: sustainability

How giant tropical trees transport water 70 meters to stay as drought-resilient as smaller trees

The giant trees of tropical forests are important allies in the fight against climate change because of their ability to store carbon, yet they are still poorly understood by science. However, a study published in the journal Science reveals a crucial survival mechanism: These trees, which exceed 70 meters (230 feet) in height, have no difficulty transporting water to their tops and are no more vulnerable than smaller trees.

They have developed internal adaptations that compensate for the challenges of transporting water to the highest branches. Furthermore, tests conducted during severe droughts showed that they did not experience a more pronounced decline in growth than smaller trees. This contradicts the hypothesis that very tall trees would be more susceptible to water stress.

Spontaneous current loops in a kagome metal point to hidden quantum order

Quantum materials, materials exhibiting physical behavior governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, have proved promising for the development of numerous advanced technologies, including quantum technologies, memory devices and solar panels. In some of these materials, electrons can collectively arrange themselves in unusual patterns, giving rise to states that cannot be explained by classical physics theories.

For more than two decades, theoretical physicists have predicted the existence of a loop current order in some quantum materials. This is a state characterized by tiny electrical currents circulating around microscopic loops inside a crystal, which would produce no measurable electric current flowing through a material.

These current loops were predicted to emerge when electrons spontaneously organize themselves into a less symmetrical pattern than the crystal itself, even if atoms remain in similar positions. While this phenomenon was widely studied and described by theorists in the past, it has so far proved difficult to observe experimentally.

Cyborg Luddite Steve Mann: Technology That Masters Nature Isn’t Sustainable

14 years ago, Steve Mann told me that technology that masters nature is not sustainable.

At the time, that sounded like the poetic caution of a man the media had nicknamed “the cyborg Luddite.” Today it reads like a weather report.

Steve is the person the IEEE named the father of wearable computing. He built the EyeTap decades before Google Glass, invented HDR imaging now sitting in the phone in your pocket, and was called the world’s first cyborg. So when he argues for using less, for choosing which technologies to embrace and which to walk away from, he is not speaking from fear of the machine. He is speaking from a deeper intimacy with it than almost anyone alive.

His core move was to refuse the framing everyone else accepted.

Not more technology. Not less technology. Appropriate technology. Balanced with nature instead of replacing it.

And here is the line that has aged into something close to prophecy:

Continue reading “Cyborg Luddite Steve Mann: Technology That Masters Nature Isn’t Sustainable” | >

Tandem solar cell sets 25.5% efficiency record with CIGS-perovskite design

A Berlin-based team from HZB and Center for the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has set a new record for a tandem solar cell. Using a combination of a CIGS semiconductor layer and perovskite, along with several optimized intermediate layers, the team converted 25.5% of sunlight into electrical energy. The previous record for this combination of materials and this size cell had stood at 24.6%.

The new record has been certified and is visible in the Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (the “Green Tables”) published in the journal Joule, which serve as the definitive ledger for the global photovoltaic community. To be included in this special “record table,” not only is high efficiency required, but also an area of more than 1 cm2. The well-known NLR table (formerly NREL), by contrast, lists only the maximum efficiency per technology, even if the cell has an area of 0.001 cm2.

Electrochemical research takes major strides towards harvesting a vital battery material

The supply of lithium—the battery material that keeps digital devices humming, EVs racing and renewable energy on the grid— will not meet even half the expected demand by 2040.

Ramping up production using old methods will create new problems, including environmental damage, pollution, cost and water scarcity. Unconventional ways must be found to fill this lithium gap.

One promising solution is electrochemical intercalation. Common in the world of batteries and supercapacitors, it’s when researchers apply electricity to insert ions between the layers of a different material.

Robotic bird helps uncover the mysteries of flight turbulence

A bio-inspired robotic bird capable of mimicking the key movements of kestrels is helping researchers unravel the mysteries behind the species’ exceptional hovering capabilities.

With atmospheric turbulence expected to worsen due to climate change, understanding how birds naturally cope with rough air could help engineers design small unmanned aerial vehicles that are safer, more efficient and fly more smoothly.

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs) are commonly used for applications including aerial photography, search and rescue, agricultural monitoring and package delivery, but are often grounded in turbulent conditions.

Some boreal forest species fail to recover even 100 years after clearcutting

Boreal forests are being clear-cut faster than some of their wildlife and plant species can recover, with a few failing to return even 100 years after harvesting, according to University of Alberta-led research.

The comprehensive global analysis looked at how clear-cutting—when all trees in an area are felled—affects birds, small mammals, spiders, insects, vascular plants, mosses and lichens in forests that are harvested for lumber or pulp and paper production. The researchers compared logged and unlogged areas over many decades, tracking how long it took to return to the biodiversity levels of a mature forest. The findings are published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

While some species came back within 30 years—soon enough to fall within the typical 60-to 80-year logging cycles—others won’t fit into that timeline, warns biologist Dr. Ellen Macdonald, a professor emerita in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences and lead author of the study.

MXene-polymer composite enables printed, eco-friendly device for energy harvesting and motion-sensing

Researchers at Boise State University have developed a novel, environmentally friendly triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that is fully printed and capable of harvesting biomechanical and environmental energy while also functioning as a real-time motion sensor. The innovation leverages a composite of Poly (vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) (PVBVA) and MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheets, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional TENGs that often rely on fluorinated polymers and complex fabrication.

TENGs are innovative energy-harvesting devices that convert mechanical energy into electricity using the triboelectric effect. They were invented by Prof. Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology and generate power through contact and motion between materials, making them ideal for applications like wearable electronics, IoT sensors, and self-powered devices.

This work, published in the journal Nano Energy and led by Ph.D. student Ajay Pratap under the supervision of Prof. David Estrada of the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering at Boise State University, showcases how additive manufacturing can produce high-performance, skin-compatible, and flexible devices for real-world applications in energy harvesting, wearables electronics, and human-machine interaction.

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