Date archives "November 2018"

These Scientists Have Discovered How To Use Electricity To Make Protein From CO2


In a lab in Finland, inside tiny lab equipment roughly the size of coffee cups, researchers are turning CO2 into food. The process–which can run on renewable energy, and requires only a small amount of water and nutrients–could eventually be used in a home appliance to make protein at home, or a production facility in a desert that could supply nutrition in the middle of a famine.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40446692/these-scientists-have-discovered-how-to-use-electricity-to-make-protein-from-co2

Making graphene out of wood for degradable electronics


It seems like there’s a new graphene breakthrough coming out of the James Tour lab at Rice University almost every month. Over the last few years, the researchers are responsible for developing a graphene-based de-icing coat for plane wings, a carbon material that can filter radionuclides out of water, and using graphene nanotubes to build better batteries. Now, the team has managed to make graphene out of wood, by blasting a piece of pine with a laser beam.

https://newatlas.com/laser-wood-graphene/50705/

How a Free-For-All on patents could help build a sustainable future


To sustain the the population of 9.7 billion expected by 2050 the world is going to need innovations that make careful use of available resources, both human and environmental. Key industry sectors such as energy, water, agriculture and transport are already under pressure to move to more sustainable methods of production and consumption. However, there are barriers in the way.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/how-an-open-approach-to-patents-could-help-build-a-sustainable-future-a7738041.html

These New Devices Promise to Fight Pain without Opioids

Terri Bryant was working at a cheese factory in 2000 when she injured the delicate, rubbery discs between her spinal bones. That was the start of her chronic pain. Two years later, she had back surgery and started regularly taking fentanyl, a powerful prescription opioid medication. Her pain persisted even after a second surgery in 2009.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608256/these-new-devices-promise-to-fight-pain-without-opioids/