Highlights

Californian firm touts ‘mushroom leather’ as sustainability gamechanger

Vegan alternatives to leather could save more than just animals. The scientists behind fashion’s new latest must-have – the “mushroom leather” handbag – believe that mycelium, a material grown from fungi which can be engineered to look and feel…

02/12/2021 The Guardian

Zapping cow dung with lightning is helping to trap climate-warming methane

A Norwegian technology company has found a way to stop livestock slurry from releasing methane -- by zapping it with artificial lightning.

01/12/2021 CNN

“We grow meat from cells, they are just not connected to a cow”: Didier Toubia on the future of farming

Reducing the environmental impact of meat is becoming big business. The CEO of Aleph Farm explains why he is betting on lab-grown meat.

01/12/2021 New Statesman

A Cure for Type 1 Diabetes? For One Man, It Seems to Have Worked.

A new treatment using stem cells that produce insulin has surprised experts and given them hope for the 1.5 million Americans living with the disease.

27/11/2021 New York Times

Scientists invent popcorn-based home insulation material that’s waterproof and biodegradable

Popcorn could soon be used to create sustainable insulation for buildings, replacing the current non-biodegradable materials.

23/11/2021 The Independent

Portugal's power production goes coal-free long before deadline

Portugal shut down its last remaining coal plant over the weekend, ending the use of the polluting material for electricity generation and becoming the fourth country in the European Union to do so.

22/11/2021 Reuters

How Roundabouts Help Lower Carbon Emissions

An Indiana city has the most roundabouts in the country. They’ve saved lives and reduced injuries from crashes — and lowered carbon emissions.

20/11/2021 New York Times

French school bus experiment brings hope to Toulouse estates

Three sprawling housing estates on the edge of Toulouse are home to around 30,000 people, and they are considered to be amongst the poorest urban neighbourhoods in southern France. But each morning, from Monday to Friday, they are taking part in an…

20/11/2021 BBC

‘Great step forward’ for HIV treatment as long-acting jabs to replace daily pills

The NHS has been given the green light to offer people living with HIV the first "long-acting injectable" to keep the virus at bay. Charities have hailed the "incredible news" which offers an alternative to adults living with HIV who have to take…

18/11/2021 The Independent

Ten ways to confront the climate crisis without losing hope

The world as we knew it is coming to an end, and it’s up to us how it ends and what comes after. It’s the end of the age of fossil fuel, but if the fossil-fuel corporations have their way the ending will be delayed as long as possible, with as…

18/11/2021 The Guardian

Rare case of woman's body ridding itself of HIV

A woman from Argentina appears to have rid herself of HIV without drugs or treatment - the second documented case of its kind in the world. Doctors believe the patient's immune system cleared the virus on its own.

16/11/2021 BBC

We have reusable cups, bags and bottles: so why are our buildings still single use?

Embodied carbon - carbon produced during a building’s construction - urgently needs reducing, and reusing buildings could help.

11/11/2021 The Conversation