913,527 articles

2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: BYD and its affordable EVs

By designing a better battery, BYD has pulled ahead in the global electric vehicle race. Its affordable and versatile cars are making EVs far more accessible, and could ultimately help countries including China to dramatically reduce emissions from transportation. Intro BYD has come a long way from its early days manufacturing mobile phone batteries and cheap gas cars. Now the top EV...

2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Twelve and its electrochemical reactor

Twelve is converting carbon dioxide emissions into sustainable jet fuel. It recently launched the first commercial-scale production facility for sustainable aviation fuels in the US.  Intro Twelve is commercializing a process that breaks down and reforms carbon dioxide into nearly any chemical that is currently produced by fossil fuels. The company is already using it to make a...

2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Ørsted and its offshore wind factories

Offshore wind power has tremendous potential to help the world meet its climate goals. Former fossil-fuel company Ørsted is leading the charge to unlock that potential by building massive offshore wind farms in Europe and installing some of the first turbines in US waters. Intro Clean-energy company Ørsted is helping offshore wind reach the gigawatt scales needed to make a dent in...

2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Fervo Energy and its geothermal power plants

Fervo Energy is commercializing a geothermal technology that could significantly expand the regions that could tap into the steady, carbon-free energy source, by creating or widening cracks under the surface to allow water to more easily circulate underground. These enhanced geothermal plants could become an increasingly critical source of clean electricity as grids grow greener, helping to...

2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Climeworks and its carbon-sucking fans

To prevent catastrophic global warming, we must remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in addition to eliminating fossil fuels. Climeworks is pioneering one of the most promising approaches: direct air capture, in which giant machines suck carbon out of the sky. Intro More than any other company, Climeworks is putting direct air capture (DAC) on the map. Climate models indicate that...

2023 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Commonwealth and its compact tokamak

Commonwealth Fusion System’s approach to fusion builds on decades of research—and comes after decades of disappointment within the industry. Yes, the company’s first commercial reactor is still nearly 10 years away, but if it works, the climate benefits will be profound. Intro Commonwealth Fusion Systems hopes to be the first company to take nuclear fusion from the lab to the...

AI drones to help farmers optimize vegetable yields

For reasons of food security and economic incentive, farmers continuously seek to maximize their marketable crop yields. As plants grow inconsistently, at the time of harvesting, there will inevitably be variations in quality and size of individual crops. Finding the optimal time to harvest is therefore a priority for farmers. A new approach making heavy use of drones and artificial intelligence...

Tracking the bacteria behind life-threatening sepsis in premature babies

A new study into sepsis in neonatal babies has uncovered the secrets of the bacteria’s success in causing this life-threatening condition. Using genomic sequencing, they have found how certain strains of bacteria that usually live harmlessly on the skin can evade control measures by colonizing babies’ guts. This will provide new ways to control this threat to babies’ health.

Insect cyborgs: Towards precision movement

Insect cyborgs may sound like something straight out of the movies, but hybrid insect computer robots, as they are scientifically called, could pioneer a new future for robotics. It involves using electrical stimuli to control an insect’s movement. Now, an international research group has conducted a study on the relationship between electrical stimulation in stick insects' leg muscles and the...

History of black corals rewritten

Scientists from Queensland Museum Network and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution have rewritten the history of black corals, revealing their origin on the continental slopes (250–3,000 meters deep) 437 million years ago.

Graphene oxide reduces the toxicity of Alzheimer's proteins

A probable early driver of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of molecules called amyloid peptides. These cause cell death, and are commonly found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Researchers have now shown that yeast cells that accumulate these misfolded amyloid peptides can recover after being treated with graphene oxide nanoflakes.