Alarming images: smoke belching from the thick forests of the Amazon. Spanish firefighters battling flames across farmland. Blackened celebrity homes in Los Angeles and smoked out regional towns in Australia. … Read more
Our planet has arrived in unknown territory; all kinds of records are being broken. During four consecutive days in July 2023, Earth experienced the hottest day ever. And the North … Read more
Biocementation was one of the subjects at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2025. Researchers from ETH Zurich and École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) unveiled it. … Read more
Is artificial intelligence or AI a threat to mankind? Would AI ever be able to take over our computer systems? Could this system influence our behaviour without us being able … Read more
The choice between paper and plastic may seem simple at first glance, but there’s more to it than you might think. Paper packaging is becoming increasingly common in stores, supermarkets … Read more
In the Netherlands, the business case for wind turbines and solar panels keeps getting worse; writes Roy op het Veld on change.inc (in Dutch). The supply side of the energy … Read more
RethinkX’s Bradd Libby recently posted two useful articles on technological change. He distinguishes between partial and real solutions, or as he calls it ‘band-aid’ versus ‘bona fide’ or disruptive solutions … Read more
From November 25 to December 1, 2024, representatives from 175 countries gathered in Busan, South Korea; the fifth and final round of negotiations on a global treaty on plastics pollution. One of … Read more
Just a short while ago, people hardly knew about viruses as a medicine. In particular, this is true for bacteriophages (or phages, for short) – viruses that eat bacteria. Until … Read more
Pressure on the electricity grid gets heavier all the time. Many corporations and organisations aim to get more sustainable. But there are bottlenecks. Because at times, there is a glut … Read more
People must eat. The vast majority of what we eat originates from agriculture. But this produces roughly one quarter of global greenhouse emissions. Can we avoid that? Produce synthetic food … Read more
As researchers succeed in tagging oceanic predators, they discover new facts about the deep sea. Many animals dive very deep, even to where light doesn’t penetrate anymore. It’s indescribable, what … Read more
This month, Genetic Literacy Project contained an article by its editor, Jon Entine, on sustainable agriculture and its relationship to the use of glyphosate. Interesting to read. With a view … Read more
Water scarcity is becoming an urgent problem in more regions of the world. This presses on industrial facilities, for instance. Many of them need to reduce their water consumption – … Read more
PFAS is a generic term for a large group of fluor containing organic chemicals. They are being used as water repellents, like in non-stick pans, paper and coatings, packing materials … Read more
The World Health Organization says we’re currently losing to the bugs. Because resistance to antibiotics is increasing; and because there are too few new antibiotics in the pipeline. In The … Read more
The release of CO2 to the atmosphere has become a problem. So much so, that a nonsensical idea like direct air capture (DAC) has attained followers. And is even experimented … Read more
One of the avenues researched in the quest for the secrets of life, is the creation of a minimalist life form. What is life in its simplest form? Does it … Read more
The newest development in artificial intelligence (AI) is called ChatGPT. GPT is the acronym of generative pre-trained transformer. Meaning: a self-learning program fed with large amounts of texts that generates … Read more
Can climate change bring food crises? Consider the course of deviations in temperatures from annual averages in Germany between 1881-2021. This helps to understand the importance and seriousness of the … Read more
Renewable energy continues to grow spectacularly. Investments grow faster than in almost any other economic sector. Prices comes down all the time. It has such a success that a new … Read more
The booming demand for sustainable products is associated with increasing consumer consciousness of environmental problems. As a result, the biobased industry is thriving and companies are now opting for biomass-derived … Read more
Ben Rawlence’s book The Treeline makes us aware of our dangerous path as mankind. The climate is heating up and therefore the Northern treeline moves towards the North Pole. Ben … Read more
In Dutch newspaper NRC of July 23, 2022, Joost Smiers tackles the problem of the sky-high prices of medication. Do we still need Big Pharma? he asks. And he answers: … Read more
This year marks the 140th anniversary of the death of Charles Darwin. And the 163rd anniversary of the publication of his book The Origin of Species. Darwin is the most … Read more
An article in Chemical and Engineering News calls our attention to the struggle to control weeds. Will we be able to control weeds in the future? Will the EU, that … Read more
For a long time, biology held that mutation rates are random. Biologists assumed that mutations occur anywhere in the genome, in principle at the same rate everywhere. That some mutations … Read more
A number of powerful people has embarked on a mission to defy death. The most recent among these is Jeff Bezos, former CEO of Amazon and one of the five … Read more
We often assume that ecosystems existed in a pristine state when Western researchers first encountered them. But new research now undermines this concept of pristine nature. Ever since mankind existed, … Read more
The recent RethinkX project expects the ‘20s of this century to show revolutionary developments. Driven by stepwise changes in five key sectors of the economy: energy, transport, information, food and … Read more
Over the past few years, the RethinkX project has made the case for yet another revolution to come. Based on major leaps forward in many technologies; in particular in the … Read more
Under the skin we are still Darwinists. Meaning that all living creatures are in a state of competition with each other. The strong drive out the weak, that’s how progress … Read more
A new book by journalist Don Saladino draws our attention to the unification of eating habits across the world. It carries major dangers for our food crops. The genetic variation … Read more
The Conversation recently devoted attention to the opportunities of genetic technology for warfare. Sure, there are international agreements overseeing (and restricting) such opportunities. But technology evolves all the time. Nations … Read more
Thought that genetic modification (gene transfer) was artificial? Just done by human researchers? New research now reveals that gene transfer is quite a common event even among higher plants. And … Read more
Ten years ago, last month, a tsunami struck the West coast of Japan. It flooded the Fukushima nuclear reactor. This resulted in a partial meltdown and a hydrogen explosion, that … Read more
In the column ‘There is no such thing as an individual’ we mentioned the influence of the microorganisms in our bodies on our development. But biologists have already gone much … Read more
In a small clinical study conducted in April and May 2020, British scientists investigated the effect of inhalation of nebulised interferon-beta-1a (SNG001) on the development of COVID-19 in patients. The … Read more
Animal tests are a controversial issue. On the one hand, many people object to actions that deliberately damage animal welfare. On the other hand, we need these tests in order … Read more
Our lifestyle greatly promotes the outbreak of pandemics like Covid-19, and this could have devastating consequences. Unless we take action. Says a new report by IPBES, the Intergovernmental Platform on … Read more
Modern biologists are waging a fierce debate on the meaning of the concept of the individual. Definitions of well-known phenomena like symbiosis and parasitism need to be rephrased. The debate … Read more
In Europe, most people seem to have lost their belief in improvement. A concept of dreamers. But improvement takes place all the time; and the odd thing about this is … Read more
This book is what a review should be all about: lengthy (365 pg), thorough, several tables and hundreds of references. Overall, this is a complete book on a highly relevant … Read more
We met Wijnand Schonewille many times at biobased economy conferences – we, the late Paul Reinshagen and I. And we talked, because Wijnand had refreshing ideas and innovative views. He … Read more
In the neoliberal climate that has reigned the past two decades, better efficiency was the ultimate goal of economic policy. So important that it could hardly be challenged. Competing concepts … Read more
The Waltzing with Nature manifesto is a logical sequel to the recent books by the authors, Alle Bruggink and Diederik van der Hoeven. Particularly to their latest book Naturally! Of … Read more
In the 100th year of his life, James Lovelock wrote an important book: Novacene, The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence. A book that astonishes by the broad view of the author. … Read more
Biobased Press published its manifesto ‘Waltzing with Nature’ on May 1, 2020. In this manifesto, we testify to the importance of science for solving mankind’s major global problems. Like … Read more
At present, the world is under the spell of a new influenza virus, Covid-19. One region after another goes into complete lockdown; in particular to prevent the virus to spread … Read more
Reading the book Naturally! Of course. How nature always keeps surprising us (in Dutch) by Alle Bruggink and Diederik van der Hoeven was a great pleasure to me. Even stronger, … Read more