Topics

Dr Keywan Riahi said the first step in limiting global warming should be curbing energy demand. Image credit - Dr Riahi

12 October 2018

Climate actions that lift people out of poverty are often most cost-effective

The most cost-effective climate change actions are also those that could help us achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as ending poverty and hunger, according to Dr Keywan Riahi, director of the energy program of the International Institute Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, who says the first step should be to cut our energy demand.

Dr Helbich hopes his research will help urban planners to design neighbourhoods that promote good mental health. Image credit - Dr Helbich

health | interview

10 October 2018

Studies linking green space to lower suicide risk are ‘just a snapshot’

Research suggests that where we live can affect our mental health but Dr Marco Helbich, an urban geographer at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, believes these studies only offer a limited snapshot of our lives. Using a smartphone app and register data, he is tracking people through their daily routines and their residential history to see whether mental health is affected by where we live, work and socialise. His findings could change how we design our cities.

Researchers are using computer simulations to estimate how 11 different species of extinct archosaurs such as the batrachotomus might have moved. Image credit: John Hutchinson

environment | ict

09 October 2018

Models of dinosaur movement could help us build stronger robots and buildings

From about 245 to 66 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Although well-preserved skeletons give us a good idea of what they looked like, the way their limbs worked remains a bigger mystery. But computer simulations may soon provide a realistic glimpse into how some species moved and inform work in fields such as robotics, prosthetics and architecture.

The hardest part about recycling used nappies is opening them. Image credit - Wagga Wagga City Council 2010-2018

environment

08 October 2018

Scientists want to use dirty nappies as a source of raw materials

Thousands of soiled nappies that were destined to clog Italian landfill sites or incinerators are being redirected to a recycling plant that is turning them into streams of high quality raw materials, in a new process that it is hoped will be replicated around Europe.

The infrastructure for turning seaweed into a sustainable alternative for livestock feed, chemicals and energy is still in its infancy. Image credit - MacroFuels

environment | industry

05 October 2018

Seaweed-powered trucks - hope or hype?

Seaweed has long been touted for its potential as a sustainable ingredient for biofuels, green chemicals and biodegradable materials, but scaling up production to industrial levels in a way that maintains its environmental credentials is proving a real challenge for scientists.

Prof. Eva Hevia says that bi-metallics make it possible to use water in chemical reactions - the holy grail for chemists. Image credit - Prof. Hevia

interview | frontier research

04 October 2018

Sustainability is a 'top priority' for chemists

A group of chemicals known as bi-metallics could help the pharmaceutical industry become more environmentally friendly by cutting the amount of energy used to produce drugs, according to Professor Eva Hevia from the University of Strathclyde, UK, who says that sustainability is a top priority for chemists.

Kidney disease often lacks symptoms until it is at an advanced stage. Image credit - Kristoffer Lindskov Hansen, Michael Bachmann Nielsen and Caroline Ewertsen, licensed under CC BY 4.0

health

02 October 2018

Tissue engineering is no quick fix for kidney disease, but early intervention can help

Recent advances in kidney research have yielded dramatic headlines touting scientists’ ability to grow kidneys in the lab. But some experts worry that hype about tissue engineering is excessively raising patients’ hopes.

New ways of recycling and reusing products will reduce the amount of waste going into landfill. Image credit - Flickr/ Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

monthly focus

01 October 2018

Turning trash into treasure

Dumped waste, from used nappies to industrial by-products, have long wound up in landfills and can take hundreds of years to decay. In October we speak to the scientists figuring out how to keep such items in use to reduce rubbish and create a so-called circular economy. We learn about new efforts to mine industrial waste for the rare metals that go into making aircraft parts, pacemakers and bicycle gears, and find out about the culture shift needed to develop a zero-waste society. We also speak to the researchers building a biorefinery to turn soiled nappies into fertilisers and raw materials, and look at whether seaweed could become the next plastic.

Magnetic fields are among the techniques being developed to extract metal particles from slags (stony waste matter). Image credit - Slag heap at Rammelsberg / Goslar by B.Nunold is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

industry | environment

01 October 2018

Discarded waste could be a treasure trove of rare metals

Miners could soon be scouring mounds of industrial waste to extract rare metals that are needed for products such as electronics, pacemakers, aircraft parts and bicycle gears.

Cosmic dust is too cold to be captured by optical telescopes, so visual images of galaxies don't give the full story of conditions. Image credit - The Hubble Heritage team, picture is in the public domain

space

27 September 2018

Cosmic 'dustpedias' could reveal new types of galaxy

Measuring the vast quantities of cosmic dust in interstellar space may be a key to unlocking various mysteries of the cosmos, including how the grains form and whether new types of galaxy are obscured by the particle clouds.