lauren

[solarpunkbusiness]

When hops are harvested every autumn in Germany's Hallertau region - the world’s largest hops-growing area about an hour north of Oktoberfest - for every one kilogram of material inside the cones that can be used to brew beer, there are 3.5 kilograms of wasted biomass from the rest of the plant. That's a ratio that's roughly 20 per cent usable product to 80 per cent waste.

Some of the hops waste can be used for fertilisers, and a portion can be sold to biogas plants to produce energy. But the majority is unusable for farmers, who may be forced to rent additional farmland to dump piles of the waste away from their crops. The piles can ferment and emit greenhouse gases - and sometimes catch fire.

“We saw a huge potential in sourcing locally and also using a waste stream that was neglected by basically most people," HopfON entrepreneur Mauricio Fleischer Acuña told The Associated Press.

[cognitivejustice]

When we think of sustainable materials, bamboo, cork, recycled stone and reclaimed teak often come to mind. These building and surface materials are used extensively in both residential and commercial projects, enough to solidify them as the eco-friendly future of established architectural practices.

But what if we went even further? Creative and experimental designers worldwide are embracing much more unusual sustainable materials in a wide range of projects, be these sturdy floorboards and insulating panels, or small-scale decorative elements such as lamps, trays, vases and other furnishings. With designs hailing from Singapore and Indonesia, as well as distant studios in Italy and Palestine, here are the materials of tomorrow.

Mogu’s mycelium floor tiles

Mushroom filaments may not seem like the sturdiest base for hardwearing floors, but the Italian designers behind Mogu would argue otherwise. Transformed into resilient tiles appropriate for luxury residences and even commercial spaces, the mycelium structure is topped with a layer of bio-based resin, granting it resistance to scratches and abrasions rivalling traditional flooring materials.

Orange peel and pine needles make up the sustainable lampshades by Caracara Collective

Turning orange peel into useable furnishings and décor pieces is no small feat, yet the people behind the circularity-focused Caracara Collective in Finland have mastered this singular art. Inspired by the abundance of the natural, inherently sustainable materials around them, the designers created a series of lampshades made of orange peel, as well as pine needles from discarded Christmas trees.

As the collective puts it: “It takes around 20 squeezed oranges to create one lampshade. In other words, each lampshade is the by-product of someone drinking two litres of orange juice.”

Markos Design’s Ostra lamp, made of discarded oyster shells

Discarded oyster shells are similarly repurposed on the island of Cyprus, transformed by Markos Design into Ostra, a ceramic-like biomaterial. Ostra is worked into statement lamp designs, naturally hardwearing thanks to the oysters’ high concentration of calcium carbonate, which also lends cement and concrete considerable strength.

[mindblowingscience]

Researchers at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) have achieved a significant breakthrough that could lead to better—and greener—agricultural chemicals and everyday products. Using a process that combines natural enzymes and light, the team from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed an eco-friendly way to precisely mix fluorine, an important additive, into chemicals called olefins—hydrocarbons used in a vast array of products, from detergents to fuels to medicines. This groundbreaking method offers an efficient new strategy for creating high-value chemicals with potential applications in agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, renewable fuels, and more.

Continue Reading.

[dangerclaw]

I was not expecting Odysseus to make a friggin’ Aeolus-powered jetpack

#short kings in stem

[genericpuff]

Genuinely curious as to if you asked permission to use Rachel’s characters and she said yes or if you just decided Lore Olympus is popular enough to make a fan comic of and are hoping you don’t receive a cease and desist? Can anyone create a remake comic of original content and just change what you don’t like about it and it’s considered legal if you say the characters belong to the original creator? There is plenty of disappointing media out there that could be remade. I understand you cannot use their characters for profit so is just posting it ok?

Yes, anyone can, because it's called fanfiction lmao Obviously in my case the term "fan" is being used loosely here as at this point it's more like "foe"fiction LMAO but the same principles apply. Unless I try to claim LO is my own creation or make a profit off Rekindled, I should be in the clear. If legal action was taken against me then it would set a precedent against all forms of fanfiction, rewrite, redraw, etc. content around LO which are all essentially doing the same thing Rekindled is doing. I think people tend to view Rekindled as somewhat of an "exception" that's vulnerable to legal action because it's an actual weekly comic put into practice in the same playing field as LO (though they're on massively different bases obviously LOL), but there's not much more separating it from the LO redraw accounts or even the genuine fan accounts that have learned how to draw in Rachel's style (and use it to make their own LO self-inserts and whatnot). I had the time and resources and experience to do what I do through Rekindled, but every redraw, rewrite, fanfiction, etc. account are making the exact same statement I am, whether intentionally or not - "I do/don't like the canon, but/so here's what I think it would be like if it went like this".

There is definitely plenty of media out there that could be remade, and a lot of them are by the fanfiction writers out there who are filling that niche within their respective fandoms. LO is the one I want to do because it's the one that interests me and compels me the most to rewrite.

Not to mention, it's already a bold statement in and of itself to say that I'm "using Rachel's characters", a statement that likely wouldn't hold up in court LMAO Her "characters" are literally just stylized self-insert versions of public domain figures. She did not write The Hymn to Demeter. She did not create Hades, or Persephone, or Hecate, or any of the other characters she writes about. She does not own an entire religion or its deities. The only thing that she really "owns" is the licensing rights to the name "Lore Olympus", and while the style of LO is very unique and identifiable, you can't trademark/copyright a style because that uproots the entire foundation of what art is (ironically no one has had an original idea SINCE the Greeks, we all just learn and adapt our styles based on other artists that we get inspired by and learn from).

Shit, there are series completely unrelated to LO that get harassed or otherwise warned that they could cross into "legal territory" with LO just because they're Greek myth comics. Punderworld, Theia Mania, H x P Ficlets, all of these are comics that also tackle the H x P myth, and while they aren't attempting to do the same thing as Rekindled (as they exist on their own terms) it's really disappointing when I see people talk about these comics purely through the scope of Lore Olympus as if LO invented Greek myth. If WT/Rachel tried to pull rank over the story's "characters", they'd be picking a fight with every other Greek myth comic, book, movie, etc. and they oughta know that's not a fight they're gonna win lol

So everything beyond LO's branding is, in and of itself, fanfiction. Rekindled is just another level deeper by being fanfiction of a fanfiction. As long as I'm not profiting off Lore Olympus' namesake or distributing my work with the misconception that I created LO, it's legally fine. Morally, I'm sure it doesn't exactly make me a saint to do it, it definitely took a lot of hubris for me to say "yeah I don't like how you wrote your story enough that I felt the need to rewrite it completely" and I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking doing so is icky. There are certain lines I won't cross - I don't use the general LO hashtags because my content is very critical and my work isn't really for the fans, I don't encourage anyone to "show Rachel" what I do here because none of what I do here is obligated to be seen by her (and I know it wouldn't be in her best interest to see it anyways, she's literally said that she doesn't like criticism so why tf would I wanna show her a comic that exists to criticize her work lol), and I'm not planning on posting it to Webtoons because that's Rachel's territory. I don't want to overstep both in the legal sense and in the moral one. I think it's more than enough for me to just post my stuff here for the people who are seeking it, and not profit off it or directly affiliate it with LO/Rachel beyond crediting.

All that said, in a moral and legal sense, what I'm doing is literally the basis of fanfiction, and I wouldn't be going to such lengths and spending this much time every week putting out episodes every week if I never cared about LO and how it made us all feel, even if some of us don't love it as much as we used to.

[juliaknz]

WERNER SOBEK HAUS R128, 2000 Stuttgart, Germany Image © Zooey Braun, Roland Halbe

[maegalkarven]

I love this image of Gortash from the Emperor's story.

Look at him.

Look at his smug ass. He came to ruin both the Empreror and Stelmane's lives and is so proud of that.

[drugsforaddicts]

I think I might’ve teared my tutor a new one…

[vilecrocodile]

i know its silly to keep harping on that basketball pump IV needle person but their "survival is survival" statement pisses me off so bad. its such a misinformed concept of even just the mechanics of basic animal survival. humans are not a solitary predator species. humans are social apes and survival is something we do collectively. thats how come we humans are so good at "survival" via things like sanitation and proper tool use and standarized methods for treating illness and injury. making iv needles by sharpening a basketball pump on a rock is a good example of survivalist innovation in a specific moment but it is NOT a basis for a functioning society that effectively nurtures and protects its injured, elderly, and vulnerable members to the fullest extent it can.

[jadynwaymire1997blog]

[solarpunkbusiness]

Mycotech: The Indonesian Startup Biofabricating novel materials from mushrooms

Called Mycotech Lab, the company was inspired by tempeh, the traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans, and came up with its own technology to grow its ethical and carbon-friendly mycelium-based materials. 

Mycotech Lab decided to experiment with the fermentation process used to make tempeh to make a new fabric out of the complex root structure of mushrooms, otherwise known as mycelium. It was a lengthy trial-and-error process that kicked off in 2016, but “finally, we found one mushroom with a mycelium that can be made into binding material,” said Erlambang Ajidarma, head of research at the startup, in conversation with Reuters. 

The final product, developed with fungus grown on sawdust that then gets scraped off and dried and cut into different sizes, is Mylea, a fibrous but tough material that acts just like the real thing. It’s waterproof, pliable, durable, and most importantly, is far more sustainable than existing plastic-based synthetic leathers or carbon-intensive real leather made from hide. 

Mycotech also uses natural dye extracted from roots, leaves and food waste in the region to colour their leather alternative, which again is a process that is far less polluting than traditional tanning processes used for real cowhide that leaves behind solid and liquid waste that contains chromium and other hazardous compounds.

Since its inception, Mycotech has managed to grow its client base with no marketing budget because the demand for sustainable alternatives has grown alongside awareness of the damaging effects of animal-based materials in the fashion industry. 

We the Fungi

Bio Binderless Board | Sustainable non-adhesive binder board from Mylea™ byproduct to meet modern architectural and design standards

Biodegradable Solid-Composite | Utilizing mushroom mycelium that grows and is shaped into desired form and utilities.   

[fishyartist]

Please learn what the Luddite movement actually was and why it failed I’m begging

[nuadox]

A new study has shown that an mRNA vaccine protected mice against deadly intestinal C. difficile

- By Nuadox Crew -

Researchers have developed an mRNA vaccine targeting Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile), a severe intestinal pathogen responsible for about 30,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

This new vaccine showed promising results in mice, offering protection from severe illness and death after exposure to lethal doses of the bacteria.

Unlike conventional vaccines, the mRNA version triggered a broad immune response, including antibodies and T cells. Vaccinated mice survived, experiencing only mild symptoms, and maintained immunity for six months.

While the vaccine has yet to be tested on humans, early studies in rhesus macaques suggest it might also elicit an immune response in primates.

However, more research, including testing on "dirty mice" with more naturalistic immune systems, is needed before moving to human trials.

Header image: Clostridioides difficile pathogen. Credit: National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

Read more at Science News

Scientific paper: Alameh, M., Semon, A., Bayard, N. U., Pan, Y., Dwivedi, G., Knox, J., Glover, R. C., Rangel, P. C., Tanes, C., Bittinger, K., She, Q., Hu, H., Bonam, S. R., Maslanka, J. R., Planet, P. J., Moustafa, A. M., Davis, B., Chevrier, A., Beattie, M., . . . Zackular, J. P. (2024). A multivalent mRNA-LNP vaccine protects against Clostridioides difficile infection. Science, 386(6717), 69–75. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn4955

Other recent news

Israel at COP29: Israel will showcase 20 climate-tech firms at the COP29 Climate Conference in Baku,Azerbaijan. These companies offer solutions in fields such as emissions, pollution, and carbon capture.

Revolutionary Super Polymer: Researchers at Osaka University have developed a new type of polymer that is unbelievably tough and endlessly recyclable.

Hubble's Galactic Masterpiece: The Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled a stunning image of NGC 5248, a spiral galaxy located 42 million light-years away.

Brain-Controlled Bionic Limbs: Advances in brain-controlled bionic limbs are inching closer to reality, offering new possibilities for individuals with mobility impairments.

[antirepurp]

there is a small part of me that's morbidly curious about the shitshow that is early and unsupervised sonic archie but i feel like not only am i gonna be off-put by the art and character designs bc im not a fan of either of those but also the wackiness is incidental and i'd have to drudge through whatever the hell else is going on to get there and idk if that's worth my time

[tarastaubs1979blog]

[saraqazi]

Sara Qazi, in her interview with The Boss Magazine, discusses the burgeoning hemp housing market and its potential to revolutionize the construction and real estate industries.