A quick summary of all the most important good news from last week.
Sugar-Free Chocolate: Swiss scientists have eliminated the need for sugar in chocolate. And that's not all. For the first time, the entire cocoa fruit is used in this new process.
Europe’s ‘Blue Heart’: A scandal over the construction of a hydroelectric plant at the source of the Una River erupted last month in Croatia. Plans to dam one of Europe’s last wild rivers were blocked last week in a major win for people power.
US Supreme Court: If you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who think the court now puts ideology over impartiality, you will be pleased to learn that Jim Kohlberg has committed $30m towards reforming the Supreme Court.
Three Sisters: 'Milpa' is an ancient Mayan farming tradition that mixes crops - typically maize, beans, and squash (the "Three Sisters") - to improve yields, reports Science. The benefits of plant mixing are well known, but new research suggests that intercropping also decreases pest damage: “The more we understand, the more we will be in a better position to come up with cool innovation solutions for agriculture.”
Inter-Connected World: Ten years on from the discovery of the Viking-age Galloway Hoard in Scotland, experts have now revealed that part of the collection came from around 2,600 miles away - originally from what is now central Iran and that it was therefore transported halfway around the known world more than 1,000 years ago.
Million Dollar Doorstop: An elderly woman in Romania was using a seven-pound rock as a doorstop for decades - which now turns out to be one of the largest known amber nuggets in the world.
South Korea People Power: South Korea’s lack of a plan to reduce emissions violates the constitutional rights of future generations, the country’s top court has ruled. The court said that the absence of legally binding targets to cut emissions between 2031 and 2049 breached the constitutional rights of future generations. It’s the first such climate litigation ruling in Asia.
Boldly Going: NASA has unfurled a solar sail in space for the first time. The objective is to harness the propulsive power of sunlight for interstellar travel.
Remarkable Marmosets: Marmosets can communicate with one another by name and know when they are being addressed, joining a very short list of species exhibiting such behaviour, and a first for non-human primates. The monkeys use specific calls, known as “phee-calls,” to call each other, which scientists say in a new study is a “high cognitive” behaviour pattern only previously observed in humans, dolphins and elephants.
Precision Fermentation: Cheese currently has the third largest climate footprint among major food products, so it's good news to discover a new animal-free cheese innovation that is good enough to have been selected by a Michelin-starred pizzeria.
Bye Bye Plastic Bricks: The Danish company is committing to an increased sustainability initiative that will see half of the plastics used in its bricks derive from renewable and recyclable materials, rather than fossil fuels - with the switch complete in its entirety by 2032.
New Porous Concrete: The green concrete integrates an unusual ingredient: discarded shellfish waste. When crushed, the shells’ shape enhances the porosity of the concrete and allows water to drain quickly rather than accumulate on the surface, thus helping to prevent floods.
Green Work: Going green isn't only good for the planet - it can also put some green in your pocket. The U.S. added 142,000 clean energy jobs last year, with employment in the emerging sector growing more than twice as fast as the rest of the energy industry and the economy overall, the Department of Energy said in an annual report.
Green Ammonia: World’s first green ammonia plant is now open for business in Denmark. The new plant is said to be capable of producing 5,000 tons of green ammonia per year, entirely from solar and wind energy - preventing 8,200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Gray ammonia production - which uses fossil fuels - is currently the norm around the globe, and accounts for about 1.2 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.
Approval Granted: The Australian government has approved plans for a giant solar farm that could deliver up to 6 gigawatts of green electricity to Singapore annually by the early 2030s, via 2,600 miles of submarine cable.
Celebratory Moment: Completing the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, crews just finished demolishing the last of four dams on the Klamath River on the Oregon-California border. It was an especially “celebratory moment” for tribal nations in the region who have been fighting for decades to restore the river and its surrounding ecosystem along the 400 mile stretch of the river.
Hydrogen or Battery? Germany's Stadler Rail has developed a fleet of train cars that can run on either hydrogen or battery power - or combination of both. The RS Zero is targeted at the one third of rail lines in Germany that remain unelectrified. The new trains should be a welcome zero-emissions addition to the country's rail transport system.
Way of The Shepherd: Yale Environment 360 has been running a contest to recognize the best environmental documentaries for over a decade, highlighting work that has yet to reach broad audiences. This year, a film about a Peruvian shepherd nabbed first place. Christian Cordova Aliaga, along with his 150 goats and a couple of sheepdogs, graze overgrown vegetation in California’s East Bay to prevent wildfires and fertilize the land. Head over to YE360 to watch Way of the Shepherd (9 mins.)
That's it. You are up to date.
Today's Articles
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