A professor of solid and structural mechanics at the University of Trento in Italy has come up with a way of combining natural spider silk and artificial graphene-based nanoparticles to produce a lightweight material three times stronger than steel. What’s more, this material is spun naturally by the spiders themselves, bypassing the need for problematic manufacturing processes.
read more
This weekend, hundreds of thousands of people will take to the streets for the People’s Climate March, part of the biggest global protest ever to highlight the issue of climate change.
The march will take place in New York on September 21st, ahead of a major United Nations summit that is bringing together government leaders from around the globe to discuss this global emergency. Satellite marches will also take place in a variety of other locations around the world (see http://peoplesclimate.org/global/ for more details).
read more
In a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have proposed filling large valleys left by volcanic rock deep under the Atlantic Ocean with liquid carbon waste.
Estimates suggest that just one of these ‘vaults’ could potentially hold 40 years worth of waste from up to four coal power plants. However, according to National Geographic News, experts also warn there is a risk of earthquakes connected with storing carbon so close to the shoreline.
Multiple sites are being studied in and around the New York and New Jersey area and pilot programs for undersea carbon storage are underway in Iceland and in the Columbia River Valley.
read more