Directed evolution: a Nobel prize winning innovation
Frances Arnold won the 2018 chemistry Nobel prize for her research on directed evolution. Directed evolution speeds up nature’s variation and selection process, and researchers use it to find the best enzymes for industrial applications. As Arnold summed it up: ‘In directed evolution we provide a new niche in the laboratory, so to speak, and
Sustainability is crucial for success, says Lux Research
Reductions in resource use, emissions, and waste production are key strategies for corporate success. Sustainability is crucial, says Lux Research, a Boston-based technology development and advisory company. Sustainability is crucial For a long time, the business community has belittled sustainability. It was supposed to be a hype that would go away. A marketing tool. But
Sustainable farming: a few development pathways
Recently, Knowable Magazine devoted an article to the question how far conventional agriculture is on the way to becoming more sustainable. The problem is: conventional agriculture pollutes too much (fertilizer runoff, toxic pesticides). But organic agriculture produces too little, meaning that in order to feed the world we would have to turn too many natural
Mycelium as a construction material
Quietly, industry is perfecting the art of using mycelium as a construction material. Mycelium is the invisible part of mushrooms: their ‘roots’ that consist of minuscule threads called hyphae. There is just one disadvantage to mycelium as a construction material: it cannot carry much weight. But then, buildings require many parts that don’t have to
Don’t waste the corona crisis
Crises are an opportunity to review our present structures and habits; and to create new ones. Many observers judge that we wasted the 2008 financial crisis: the mechanisms that caused this crisis were largely restored afterwards. Will we wisely use the opportunities handed to us by the corona crisis? The Guardian ran a provocative article
