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“We can’t plead ignorance” on sustainability says panel of design experts
CategoriesSustainable News

“We can’t plead ignorance” on sustainability says panel of design experts

By Zarkon Group,

Architects need to listen to younger generations and take a collaborative approach to sustainability, according to a panel of design experts in this filmed talk hosted by Dezeen for developer Brookfield Properties.

The panel included Brookfield Properties director of design Pragya Adukia, architecture studio Foster + Partners senior partner Dan Sibert and architecture studio BVN strategy director Esme Banks Marr. The talk was moderated by Dezeen co-CEO Ben Hobson.

The discussion followed the publication of a report commissioned by Brookfield Properties and Foster + Partners, which surveyed workers’ thoughts on the importance of sustainability in the workplace.

The panelists discussed how younger generations are increasingly more invested in furthering sustainable practices in their workplaces, with the report finding that 93 per cent of people working in an “environmentally friendly office” felt happier in their job.

The panelists was made up of experts in architectural design and strategy

“We want to make sure that we’re hearing what people say, which is why we co-commissioned this report with Foster + Partners – to listen to what the younger generation at work was saying, to give them a voice around their own sustainability, ideas and goals,” Adukia explained.

“The idea of sustainability is really a community-based thing,” added Sibert. “[There’s] a generational shift. People are no longer interested in just sitting and letting it happen to them, they actually want to be involved in it.”

“Our approach has always been ‘this is what can be realistically achieved’, it’s not just a fancy hashtag or a strapline,” continued Adukia.

“Let’s look at the data points, that’s very strong evidence, and then talk about what can be achieved, how we can future proof it.”

The talk took place in the public square of the 30 Fenchurch Street offices in London

“People are more vocal about their beliefs and what they’d like to see, it’s a good idea to involve these people in bigger conversations, and then take on board what they want to see,” she added.

“We can’t plead ignorance, none of us can plead ignorance anymore” said Banks Marr, echoing the importance of listening to public opinion around sustainability.

“There are some baseline things that we need to fundamentally just get right in buildings, new and existing, first and foremost. Sounds quite simple, but a lot of people still fail to do it,” she concluded.

The panel discussed the importance of qualitative data and community feedback during the design process

The panel also discussed how approaches such as biophilic design could help lead to more engagement with the environment and green policy-making.

Defining biophilic design, Banks Marr said “it’s not [just] putting plants into a space. Biophilic design is a term that’s been used for such a long time and in lots of different types of ways, when actually it means all of your senses, your experience with the space and your connection to nature.”

“It’s a stepping stone, or a starting point, to taking a really ecological world view of things,” she added.

“If I’m in these concrete jungle cities that do not have any connection to nature, and I don’t experience that on a daily basis, it doesn’t live in my psyche. So how am I expected to care about it and create real change?”

“There’s a desire across the board, not just in the city, to make sure we’ve got spaces to live and breathe in,” Adukia concluded.

Similarly, the panel noted the importance of creating long-lasting and future-proofed spaces.

“We need to get ourselves into that mindset where we actually think about things for a much longer term, and think and design them so they will change over time,” said Sibert. “So, can the building be designed for multiple lifespans rather than a single lifespan?”

“One has to take the overall sense of why you’re building in a city like this,” he added.

“Why do we build where, what does it mean for the overall picture of carbon and regeneration? What’s possible, but why would you make these choices as clients?”

Co-CEO Ben Hobson moderated the discussion

To conclude the talk, Hobson asked each of the speakers what they believed the key challenges the industry needed to overcome were.

“I think one thing we could definitely get better at, which we’re perhaps not currently doing enough, is knowing when to invite the real experts to the table. We don’t have to know everything,” answered Banks Marr.

“Data is absolutely key,” Sibert added. “If we could allow ourselves to find both the right dataset for the purposes of the buildings we have, and also then make the way we manufacture it be database based, I think that would be a massive step forward for us as an industry.”

“Our more successful projects have been where we’ve worked collaboratively and transparently. For any change to be implemented, I think it needs to be taken on board by all of its stakeholders. And that’s not just as landlords or developers – tenants, individuals, everyone has to be on board vocal about what they want out of it,” Adukia concluded.

The event was held at 30 Fenchurch Street, one of Brookfield Properties’ landmark office developments in the City of London.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen as part of a partnership with Brookfield Properties. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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Can we attract a greener future with rare-earth-free magnets?
CategoriesSustainable News

Can we attract a greener future with rare-earth-free magnets?

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Magnets made from rare earths have become ubiquitous in several high-performance technologies and products ranging from wind turbines, electric vehicles (EVs), consumer electronics, and robots. However, while rare earth elements are essential for critical infrastructure, China controls the bulk of the supply chain, making the magnets subject to geopolitical tensions.

Now, Niron Magnetics has developed a high-performance permanent magnet that is as strong as a rare earth magnet but does not use any rare earth elements. Instead, the company’s Clean Earth Magnet is produced using abundant and easily recyclable materials (iron and nitrogen).

Not only do Niron’s magnets exceed the performance of rare-earth-based magnets by up to 50 per cent, according to the company, but they also have a 75 per cent lower overall environmental impact. Additionally, the Clean Earth Magnet is stable over a wide range of temperatures and, helped by the company’s scalable manufacturing processes, can be produced at a lower cost than those made from rare earths.

Niron’s magnets were recently selected as one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2023, and TIME is not the only one excited by this technology. The company has forged commercial partnerships with companies like Volvo Cars, General Motors, Tymphany, and Western Digital.

Earlier this month, Niron announced an additional $33 million (around €30.4 million) had been raised, from investors including GM Ventures and Stellantis Ventures. This new financing will help the company scale its manufacturing capacity to support exclusive customer programmes and the first sales of its Clean Earth Magnet.

Replacing new rare earth elements is the goal of recent innovations that include the use of ferrite magnets in wind and tidal generators and the recycling of rare earth elements from products such as flat-screen TVs.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Space Caviar launches Non-Extractive Architecture directory
CategoriesSustainable News

Space Caviar launches Non-Extractive Architecture directory

By Zarkon Group,

Design studio Space Caviar and philanthropic initiative Re:arc Institute have launched an online directory to showcase and support architectural practitioners challenging traditional ways of practice.

The open-access Non-Extractive Architecture directory features more than 700 trailblazers worldwide who “prioritise social justice, material awareness and long-term thinking” in their work.

It has been launched by Space Caviar and the Practice Lab branch of Re:arc Institute in response to the growing awareness of the damage that construction is doing to the planet and is hoped to encourage more design that alleviates this.

Directory
The directory includes 727 studios

“As the scale and magnitude of the climate crisis we are collectively facing – and the central role the construction industry plays in accelerating it – become more evident, there is increasing awareness within the profession, especially among the youngest generation of the profession, that something must change,” said Space Cavier founder Joseph Grima.

“Our goal is for the Non-Extractive Architecture project to be an accelerator of this change,” he told Dezeen.

The directory is a continuation of Space Caviar’s existing work exploring the concept of Non-Extractive Architecture – a term it coined to summarise a style of architecture that prioritises conserving, rather than exploiting, the Earth’s resources.

Each practitioner a “useful part to a larger puzzle”

The studio released a book, Non-Extractive Architecture Vol 1, in 2019 and later began a year-long research residency with the non-profit private organisation V-A-C Foundation.

“The directory we are launching today represents the most ambitious phase of the project so far,” said Grima.

“We didn’t expect the book to receive as much attention as it did, and now sadly it’s out of print and quite difficult to get hold of,” he explained. “This is why we decided to go with an online directory – to keep it as democratic and open-access as possible and also to allow it to grow organically over time.”

The directory is divided into six themes, named Timeless Ways of Building, Material Origins, The Politics of Construction, The Long Now, Building as Last Resort and Systems Architecture.

Case study in the Non-Extractive Architecture directory
Dakar collective Worofila is one of the studios in the directory

According to Grima, the categories are intended to maximise the directory’s accessibility and help readers “take that first step of jumping in”.

“We intend to document the work of everyone who we feel is making a sincere effort to contribute to meaningful change in the way in which architecture will be practised in the future,” said Grima.

“This is not to say that their practice is necessarily devoid of critical weaknesses – it’s more that we feel their work contributes one useful part to a larger puzzle.”

“We hope it can accelerate the diversification of a profession”

Among the studios featured in the directory is Atelier Luma, a circular design lab based at Luma Arles that specialises in developing materials made from locally sourced bio-waste, various by-products and other under-valued materials.

Others include Field Architects, a nomadic studio that is developing ways to combine traditional and indigenous construction techniques with modern methods, and Dakar collective Worofila, which specialises in using local, low-carbon materials to create buildings best suited to their climate.

Atelier Aino – a French cooperative architecture workshop focused on retrofit instead of demolition – also features in the directory, alongside a women-led landscape design studio called ORU in Mexico that is dedicated to building resilience to climate change.

Grima said that the goal of the directory is to “accelerate a transformation in the profession by helping like-minded practitioners find one another and share knowledge”.

“We hope it can accelerate the diversification of a profession that is far too male, western-centric and inward-looking – we hope it can be a well-structured, easy-to-use and inspiring source of contacts for clients, curators, editors and conference moderators who otherwise tend to default to the same familiar names,” he explained.

Directory “can help inspire confidence”

However, he also hopes it can help motivate people who are “interested in approaching architecture differently”, particularly the younger and emerging generation of architects.

“It is a heavily regulated field, and the current modus operandi can seem inescapable,” he reflected.

“Seeing hundreds or thousands of other practices who have already found ways to question the prevalent assumptions about how design is practiced can help inspire confidence in the idea that it is possible to do things differently.”

The non-extractive architecture(s) directory is an ever-evolving resource and it is welcoming other contributions for its expansion.

Grima shared details of the Non-Extractive Architecture project in a talk with Dezeen in 2021 and also in a manifesto written for the Dezeen 15 festival.

“In the face of clear and present danger, we have no choice but to rethink the predatory principles (towards habitat, towards each other) that modern industrial economies are optimised towards,” Grima wrote in his manifesto.

The images are courtesy of Space Caviar.

Reference

Making soundwaves: AI analyses coral health through audio
CategoriesSustainable News

Making soundwaves: AI analyses coral health through audio

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The Global Coral Reef Alliance predicts there will be unprecedented and globally dangerous coral reef bleaching worldwide throughout 2023 and 2024 as the cooler La Niña weather pattern changes over to the warmer El Niño, releasing the excess global heat trapped in the oceans. 

Tracking those predicted changes, along with mitigation efforts, requires vast amounts of data. With a lot of coral reef monitoring relying on visual assessments, it is difficult to reliably compare the severity of environmental damage and the success of conservation efforts between different sites. 

French marine technology company Reef Pulse is using passive acoustics monitoring to standardise the assessment of coral reef health. By recording and analysing coral reef soundscapes, the company can identify the diversity of marine life living there, the health of the different species, the level of noise pollution, and seasonal reproductive activity. The system tracks all noise made by marine life, human activity, and the physical processes that come from weather, including rain, wind, and more.  

Combining digital signal processing with artificial intelligence (AI) analysis, Reef Pulse’s acoustic monitoring systems are completely passive. They do not affect the environment or wildlife, and monitoring is continuous with a system running for six months without needing a battery change. Acoustics tracking also helps quantify noise pollution, a problem that is increasingly recognised for its dangerous effects on surrounding environments.  

Reef Pulse provides custom reports for each site and visualisations of the data on dedicated websites. Once a baseline set of data has been recorded, the effects and efficacy of bioengineering conservation efforts can be easily and thoroughly tracked, making it easier for scientists to compare approaches and techniques between sites and their many variables.  

From turmeric to electrolysis, the importance of the world’s coral reefs to global biodiversity is reflected in the variety of innovations seeking to preserve, protect, and restore them – as spotted in the Springwise database.

Written By: Keely Khoury 

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We Are the Rare, Repeat Solar Customers
CategoriesSustainable News Zero Energy Homes

We Are the Rare, Repeat Solar Customers

By Zarkon Group,

Our solar story is a long one, and our most recent installers joked that they don’t usually have repeat customers. We love solar so much that we’ve installed it three times over the past decade and saved thousands on energy bills. If you’ve always thought it was out of reach for you, consider that the cost of panels has fallen from around $8 per watt in 2010 to $2 to $3 per watt today. This is still too expensive for many, but with declining costs, extension of the 30% solar tax credit, and accessible financing, solar is more affordable than ever.

2010

Our first install was on a townhouse that Naomi owned. When Joe moved in, he was so excited about solar that he immediately dumped his life savings into twelve 230 W panels (today’s panels are typically over 400 watts) for the roof. We’re not sure this was the smartest move on his part, as we weren’t married yet, and he had nothing left in the bank. But he justified it as a sign of his commitment to the environment and the relationship.

The total system cost was $20,010. Joe paid $14,490, and the installer received an Energy Trust of Oregon incentive for the remaining amount. Because these were early days, we also received the 30% federal tax credit and $6,000 in state tax credits (that don’t exist anymore), which covered an incredible 75% of the total cost over a period of years. Back then, with more generous subsidies but lower performance, the investment took over 10 years to pay back. With today’s improved performance and lower costs, EnergySage finds that, on average, solar panels pay back in 8.7 years.

Image of solar panels on rooftops of main home and ADU - photo

7.2 kW solar system on our family home in North Portland.

2012

Two years later, we moved and weren’t in a position to put that much cash down, but our new home had a south facing roof that was perfect for solar. At that time, solar leases were all the rage, and that option ended up being the right choice for us. Through Sunrun (currently the largest solar installer in the US), we put down $6,000 (all of which we received back in state tax credits over 4 years) for 13 solar panels estimated to produce 3,257 kWh per year. We have the option to buy the panels from SunRun at the end of the 20-year lease.

Because we don’t need all the electricity our panels produce when the sun is shining, and we don’t have batteries to store it, about a third of the energy powers our all-electric home and the rest goes back to the grid and provides a credit on our utility bill.

 2016

Four years later, we built an addition, which gave us more roof space and room for more solar. We entered into another Sunrun lease, with an estimated 4,054 kWh of annual electricity because the panel efficiency increased that much in those 4 years.

Our now-combined 7.2 kW solar system provides about 60% of our energy needs, and that’s for an all-electric property with regular EV charging and six to seven people living on site. (We are a family of four and have a long-term tenant in an accessory dwelling unit as well as an addition that’s typically occupied by an exchange student or Airbnb guests.)

Combined savings

For at least half the year, our utility bill is only about $12, which is the cost of being connected to the grid. We get credit for our excess summer production, and our bill only exceeds the $12 connection charge for several months in late winter and early spring.

All of our efficiency and electrification efforts, combined with our solar panels, mean we spend a mere $850 per year on energy. That’s one-fifth the national household average and a staggering one-tenth the per capita average! Our solar panels saved us a whopping $7,300 in the 11 years since we installed the first set on this house.

We also subscribe to community solar for the approximately 40% of our energy needs that aren’t met by our rooftop panels, helping us achieve our carbon-free home and transportation.

Are You Ready?

In addition to the 8% of US homeowners who have solar, a recent survey found that 39% have seriously considered solar. If this includes you, you’ll need to first determine your roof viability, which depends on 1. the orientation of your roof (south- and west-facing work best) and 2. the  age of your roof (best practice says fewer than 10 years old so it can age with your panels). If your roof is older than 10 years, you can replace it at the same time you install solar. Many contractors offer both services. The Department of Energy presents a number of online resources to understand your roof’s solar potential.

If your roof is a good candidate, you’ll then need to determine how to pay for the panels. Given the average cost of rooftop solar is currently about $20,000 after tax credits, it’s not feasible for most folks to pay with cash. But there are diverse funding options:

  • Outright ownership: If you can swing it with cash, solar is a great investment with a reasonable payback period. This is the route we went for our first house. A home equity line of credit or cash-out refinance could also provide the funds.
  • Solar loan: Many solar companies now offer financing that requires little to no money down and potentially low interest rates with monthly payments that are offset by lower utility bills. You own the panels outright, receive the tax credits, and are responsible for maintenance.
  • Solar lease: If your state offers solar leases, sometimes called Power Purchase Agreements, a solar company could install, operate, and manage panels on your roof and take the tax credits. You commit to paying that company for the power produced by the panels. This is how we got the 28 panels on our current home.
  • Bulk purchasing and Solarize: It’s also worth checking if your area has a bulk purchasing program like Solarize, through which you could get a discounted install if a bunch of neighbors are also going solar. The nonprofit Solar United Neighbors organizes solar co-op programs for households to benefit from discounted pricing with bulk purchases.

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, residential solar systems are eligible for a 30% tax credit through 2032. Your state may also offer additional rebates and incentives.

Cartoon image (evoking WWII) of soldier promoting solar panels. Text reads: Your tomorrow in in your hand today! Buy Victory Panels

Solar panels could be the victory bonds of the war on climate change. Image by Joe Wachunas.

To explore options, reach out to solar companies in your region. We recommend getting three bids in order to compare costs and proposed system design. A basic Google search will turn up lots of local contractors, so pay attention to reviews, and check if your state has recommended solar contractors like Energy Trust of Oregon’s Trade Ally network.

In addition to the decarbonization and financial benefits of solar, we love that our panels give us the independence of being our own energy producer. We’re more insulated from fluctuating energy costs and get the satisfaction of knowing that most of our energy is produced on our own property.

Plus, rooftop solar is fighting the climate crisis. What’s not to love?

 

Decarbonize your life logo

This article springs from a post by Naomi Cole and Joe Wachunas, first published in CleanTechnica. Their “Decarbonize Your Life,” series shares their experience, lessons learned, and recommendations for how to reduce household emissions.

The authors:

Joe Wachunas and Naomi Cole both work professionally to address climate change—Naomi in urban sustainability and energy efficiency and Joe in the electrification of buildings and transportation. A passion for debarbonization, and their commitment to walk the walk, has led them to ductless heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, induction cooking, solar in multiple forms, hang-drying laundry (including cloth diapers), no cars to electric cars and charging without a garage or driveway, a reforestation grant from the US Department of Agriculture, and more. They live in Portland, OR, with two young children.

 

Reference

AI turns the page on paper-based pharmaceutical compliance
CategoriesSustainable News

AI turns the page on paper-based pharmaceutical compliance

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Making drugs is big business. In 2022, the pharmaceutical manufacturing market was valued at $566.3 billion, and it is set to continue growing, being forecast to reach just shy of $1 trillion by 2030.

With peoples’ lives and health at stake, the industry faces particularly close regulatory scrutiny. But, while new pharmaceuticals may be at the cutting-edge of science, the compliance systems that underpin their production remain largely paper based. These paper trails are prone to errors, which can lead to higher costs and delays in getting life-saving drugs to patients.

US startup Leucine is looking to change this by riding the wave of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation to make pharmaceutical compliance less onerous. The company’s ‘AI-first’ platform acts as a digital twin of the manufacturing shopfloor, auto-generating digital records and providing insights into potentially compliance-compromising issues and their root causes.

The platform is underpinned by several solutions. Leucine10x is an AI co-pilot that provides critical insights, detects compliance and efficiency bottlenecks, and offers a chat function that helps teams make data-based decisions. The company’s workflow builder, meanwhile, streamlines the process of creating, reviewing, and signing off standard operating procedures that provide directions on how processes and tasks should be carried out. The platform further provides, immutable logbooks for recording events and actions, advanced data analytics, solutions for managing domain knowledge, and systems for detecting abnormal conditions.

There are two main uses cases for Leucine’s platform. The first is for executing compliant and error-free batch manufacturing of drugs (most drugs today are manufactured in batches). The second is for validating cleaning processes in labs to ensure compliance.

The startup recently received $7 million in Series A funding to scale up its platform.

Artificial intelligence is having an impact in several different areas of the pharmaceutical industry. Springwise has recently spotted an AI system for streamlining clinical workflow, a system using AI to detect cancer cells, and  algorithms that help to detect cardiovascular disease.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

Reference

Product Sustainability Framework launched by Finnish Design Shop
CategoriesSustainable News

Product Sustainability Framework launched by Finnish Design Shop

By Zarkon Group,

Retailer Finnish Design Shop has launched a tool to individually assess and rate the sustainability of more than 20,000 design products featured on its online store.

The retailer’s Product Sustainability Framework intends to support customers in making sustainable design purchases by scoring every item it sells according to a fixed set of criteria tailored specifically for design products.

Scores are determined through a survey directed towards the product manufacturers. The tool assesses five main categories: social responsibility, eco-friendly production, climate impact, sustainable materials, and circular design.

“Each category contains sustainability claims, for which the manufacturer can respond with either yes or no. In total, there are 69 claims,” Finnish Design Shop CEO Teemu Kiiski told Dezeen.

“Manufacturers answer each claim per product, and these claims are based on laws, international agreements, and initiatives.”

This often complex information is assessed and then rated. To make it understandable and comparable for customers, products are badged on the website with one, two or three green leaf symbols, representing good, very good or excellent.

A more detailed breakdown of the product’s score is included in the accompanying sustainability description.

Centenniale coffee table
Nikari’s Centenniale coffee table scored full marks in the climate impact category. Photo is courtesy of Nikari

Explaining why the retailer launched this product-specific framework, Kiiski told Dezeen: “The first reason is the growing demand from customers and professionals for sustainability information regarding the design brands and products. This demand isn’t limited to Finnish Design Shop but extends to the entire design industry.”

“The second reason is that, as a retailer, we have limited means to influence the sustainability of the entire value chain of the products we sell,” he added.

“Through the framework, we can communicate our expectations for product sustainability to manufacturers and guide them towards enhanced sustainability. Simultaneously, we can establish a sustainability standard for the entire industry and lead the way in sustainability matters.”

Puffy lounge chair
A puffy lounge chair by HEM scored highly in the eco-friendly production category. Photo is courtesy of HEM

The specific criteria for each product were developed over two years with Ethica, a Finnish circular design expert partner. They rely on the accuracy of the data supplied by each of their suppliers. “We validate it based on our own data, expertise, and experience,” says Kiiski.

While Finnish Design Shop places a high trust in its suppliers to provide it with accurate information regarding their sustainability practices, it also conducts random spot checks.

“We require product manufacturers to be capable of substantiating the authenticity of each sustainability claim,” Kiiski said.

“We do not conduct audits, and this framework is not a standard, certification, or similar entity; rather, it represents our own criteria for sustainable design.”

Vaarnii's 001 pine stool
Vaarnii’s 001 pine stool achieved 10/10 in the sustainable materials category. Photo is courtesy of Vaarnii

Some of the 24,000 products on the Finnish Retail Shop website don’t have a rating, which means they haven’t yet been assessed or they do not meet sufficient sustainability standards.

Products that score poorly on the Product Sustainability Framework could eventually be removed from the portfolio.

“If some products or manufacturers do not meet our minimum sustainability criteria over time, we have the option to remove them from our selection,” Kiiski said.

However, the retailer believes this could also serve as an incentive.

“The PSF also serves as an incentive for further sustainability improvement, and we hope it signals to the whole industry that sustainability must be taken seriously, leaving no room for irresponsible actions anymore,” Kiiski added.

He is hopeful of the change that the Product Sustainability Framework will bring.

“The framework and its sustainability claims inform our suppliers about what can be expected from their sustainability practices today,” Kiiski said.

“Sustainability is a hot topic in our industry, but finding concrete data on it can still be a challenge,” he added. “The Product Sustainability Framework is our answer to this.”

“Essentially, it’s a 69-step list on how manufacturers can enhance their sustainability. The fact that over 110 manufacturers have participated so far indicates a need for concrete actions.”

Artek lamp
The A805 floor lamp by Artek reached full marks in the circular design category. Photo is courtesy of Artek

The Product Sustainability Framework is part of Finnish Design Shop’s sustainability strategy. Launched during Helsinki Design Week in September 2023, visitors had the opportunity to explore an installation explaining the framework (pictured, top) and its criteria through five sample products.

Last year, the retailer unveiled a logistics centre in a forest that was designed to enable “a more sustainable future”. It has previously provided the furniture for a pop-up restaurant in New York made from recycled packaging.

The photography is courtesy of the products’ manufacturers. Main image courtesy of Finnish Design Shop.

Reference

No more needles: AI detects diabetes from your voice
CategoriesSustainable News

No more needles: AI detects diabetes from your voice

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: According to the World Health Organization, about 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to the disease every year. Testing of blood glucose levels can spot pre-diabetes, a condition where blood sugar is high but has not yet developed into the full-blown illness. However, this test is not always easy to access – especially in the developing world where diabetes is most prevalent.

Now, research from Klick Health suggests that a very simple test involving speaking a few sentences into a smartphone could reliably determine whether a person is developing diabetes. The study, published recently in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, outlines how researchers created an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can determine whether an individual has Type 2 diabetes using around 10 seconds of a voice recording and basic health data.

Researchers asked non-diabetic and Type 2 diabetic participants to record a phrase into their smartphone six times daily for two weeks. Signal processing was used to analyse 14 acoustic features from the recordings, and the researchers found that Type 2 diabetes causes detectable changes in the voice, and that these vocal changes are different for men and women.

The technology has the potential to remove barriers to testing, such as cost and time, allowing much earlier and more widespread testing.

Diabetes is not the only disease that can be detected using non-invasive methods. Springwise has also spotted a method for detecting malaria using a smartphone and a toilet seat that can detect kidney disease.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Illuminating agriculture: UV light revolutionises rice farming
CategoriesSustainable News

Illuminating agriculture: UV light revolutionises rice farming

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Rice is an essential crop for nearly half of the world’s population. Traditional rice cultivation involves planting seedlings in flooded fields, which presents many environmental challenges, such as methane emissions and water scarcity. Direct Dry Seeded Rice (DDSR) is a more sustainable practice where rice seeds are implanted directly into the soil rather than being grown as seedlings and transferred to flooded fields. But it comes with challenges such as increased weed management and reduced crop performance. But now, startup BioLumic believes that ultraviolet (UV) light could make DDSR more viable.

BioLumic’s UV Light Signal Recipe platform uses targeted light spectrum exposure to regulate the genetic expression in seeds and young plants without needing genetic modification, chemical inputs, or time-intensive breeding. BioLumic’s approach optimises rice seeds for DDSR production by activating preferred plant traits, including uniform and early seedling growth, weed competitiveness, and drought tolerance. The company’s methods are scalable, quick to implement, and do not require expensive facility expansion or large input costs. 

Other crops that have undergone BioLumic’s light treatments have already shown improved quality, resilience, and greater root growth. And during trials conducted in the US, yields were also increased by 15 per cent for corn and 12 per cent for soybeans. The hope is that similar results can be achieved for rice – a staple for more than 3 billion people.

BioLumic is focusing its attention on the Indo-Gangetic region in India and recently received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help the company rapidly deploy its UV treatment technology, in a project that will run from this year until mid-2026. 

UV light has been proven to be an effective tool in maintaining and cultivating plants. Springwise has spotted many innovations using UV to their advantage like robots and UV light that protect strawberries and grapevines, as well as a system that uses crop waste and UV light to generate renewable energy.

Written By: Anam Alam

Reference

Could ‘biosolar leaves’ be the future of protein production?
CategoriesSustainable News

Could ‘biosolar leaves’ be the future of protein production?

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Agriculture and related land use represents around 17 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, global demand for protein is set to rise significantly by 2050, along with the growing population. Meeting this will require innovative approaches to efficiently scale protein production. One such approach is that developed by startup Arborea, which grows microalgae and phytoplankton on solar panel-like structures.

Arborea designed the panels to be placed on buildings, where they absorb CO2 and produce oxygen. The company claims that they do this at a rate equivalent to 100 trees from the surface area of just a single tree. At the same time, the organic biomass produced by the organisms can be harvested and used as additives for plant-based food products.

The company’s Biosolar Leaf technology mimics the function of a real leaf, using CO2 and sunlight as feedstock. But unlike real leaves, the system is able to self-regulate and indefinitely maintain ideal growth conditions with minimal energy inputs – and it doesn’t require fertile land or agricultural feedstocks.

Arborea was spun out of Imperial College London, with grant funding and support from Imperial’s SynbCITE, a synthetic biology and engineering biology industrial accelerator.

Improving food production while reducing carbon emissions is the subject of a number of recent innovations spotted by Springwise. These include an in-house mycelium production system for producing food additives and using acorns as a protein source.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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