Constructal Theory: 5 Designs Shaping the Future of Sustainable Engineering

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:38:26 GMT

photo@Flickr What Is Constructal Design and Can It Save The World? Take a look at a leaf, like the one above. Notice the elegant branching pattern of the veins. This is a constructal design. If you were to look at a river from an airplane, or the pathways in our lungs, these are also constructal designs. Scientists and engineers are beginning to realize that these forms can be explained and predicted by a universal theory of flow structures--constructal theory. Those who apply this understanding to design, are creating a new engineering and design science of constructal design. We at TreeHugger made a go of exploring constructal theory and its application to sustainability several years ago. Since then, more people have picked up the concept, and there is growing excitement that constructal design may hold several keys to developing a more sustainable world. We count down the top five potential wins for constructal design and sustainability. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Land Degradation Endangers Quarter of World Population

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:25:42 GMT

photo Josh Sommers @ Flickr Land degradation is the decline in soil, water, and vegetation quality - the very things we depend on for life. For the first time scientists have used satellite pictures and GIS software to assess the degradation of land over the entire Earth. They found that from 1981-2003, 24% of the globes land surface has been degraded, often in productive areas.

"Degradation is primarily driven by land management and catastrophic natural phenomena." said Dr. David Dent, one of the authors.

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How Science Really Works: The Interactive Flow Chart

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:47:52 GMT

flowchart of scientific inquiry, the real one is interactive We make a big deal on TreeHugger about citizen science, the idea that everyone can be involved in significant scientific work. We talk about evolution and its place in environmentalism. We span the worlds of art, science and culture in our attempt to define the undefinable sustainable world. Yet, how many people young and old are unfamiliar or intimidated by science itself? Do we all know what science really is, and how it really works? A fascinating interactive flow chart brings the creative, sometimes clumsy, and always dynamic process of science to life. In the process the flow chart creates a web resource that could very well change the way you think about science, and raise the level of scientific education throughout the world.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Crop Biodiversity A Cure for Ocean Dead Zones?

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:23:23 GMT

Photo Nicholas_T @ flickr Biodiversity is the variation of life within any system. High biodiversity is a trademark of ecosystems that are healthy, resilient to stress, and those that provide valuable ecosystem services like clean air, water, or food. Yet, when we farm, increasingly, we seem to plow under the diverse ecosystem and plant a monoculture (single species) in its place. The results lead to increased soil runoff, higher fertilizer requirements, and ocean dead zones. But there is a rather simple solution...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Fuel Made by Sun, Water, Carbon Dioxide, and Nanotechnology

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:38:27 GMT

photo felix @ flickr Trees use sunlight to forge carbon dioxide and water into a useful fuel. It is an elegantly simple strategy, using renewable energy and common non-toxic elements that has worked for millions of years. Why don't we do the same thing, and create fuel from the sun? Scientists are rapidly advancing our ability to work on the same scale as nature, but are we moving in the right direction? New research highlights the opportunities and some potential missteps of this exciting field.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Computer Model Shows How Landscape Architecture Can Fight Malaria

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:59:27 GMT

photo tanakawho @ flickr Malaria kills. It kills people, economies, and has inflicted untold pain and suffering throughout human history. Today malaria accounts for one third of all deaths worldwide for children under 5, and the vast majority in Sub-Saharan Africa. Professor Elfatih Eltahir and graduate students Arne Bomblies and Rebecca Gianotti presented research last December about a computer model that can help fight this devastating disease.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Knowledge Gap of How We -Fit In' is Greatest Threat to Environment

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:51:03 GMT

photo nicholas_t @ flickr We know that trees can increase the thickness of clouds with terpenes, and lizards can drink water from wet sand with their feet, but we have very little understanding of how we fit into the environment and how the environment fits with us. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) found that 60% of the ecosystem services (you know those things that provide clean air, water, and food) are being degraded or used unsustainably. But an even bigger problem is that we don't understand how these systems work, or why they are failing.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Moving Up: Climate Change Forces Species to Higher Elevations

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:20:19 GMT

photo xamad @ flickr Mount Kinabalu on the island of Borneo is a major center of biodiversity. The large range of elevation creates unique habitat conditions from lower to higher elevations, leading to a rich diversity of life. In 1965 three undergraduates set off to trap moths on the mountain, and unknowingly established the foundation for future studies of the impact of climate change. Forty-two years later Henry Barlow and Jeremy Holloway, two of the original three undergraduates assisted in a 2007 expedition back to the mountain, that for the first time has demonstrated climate change is affecting the distribution of tropical insects, the most numerous group of animals on Earth.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Leggy Fence Lizards Show Rapid Evolution

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:41:50 GMT

Fence lizard in camouflage - you can't see me! photo: Tracy Langkilde The world is a rapidly changing place these days, and one strategy to deal with change is to evolve. In the southeastern United States our native fence lizards are evolving... into a fitter species. It took Charles Darwin over 20 years to complete -on the origin of species' and even then only because Wallace was poking about with similar ideas. Yet it has only taken the fence lizards 68 years (38 generations) to evolve new behaviors and longer hind legs. What has caused this rapid evolution of long legged lizards?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Harnessing Molecular Motors: Nanotechnology and Biology Meet to Redefine 'Lab on a Chip'

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:25:04 GMT

photo Hey Paul @ Flickr If the electric Mini can have motors in its wheels why can't science geeks get molecular motors in their labs? After graduating college I spent a good three years of my life moving small volumes of fluid from one tube to another, then injecting those small volumes of fluid into a -lab on a chip'. This lab on a chip still needed a lab, as it had to go on a large machine that then pumps buffer through the chip to wash it before it could relay any useful data. All of this effort was to get a better understanding of RNA, but similar set ups are used for detecting biological weapons, food spoilage, and environmental contamination. The future, as they say, is on the -lab on chip'. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned that researches at the University of Florida (UF) have taken the first steps in getting rid of all of that fluid transfer, and letting life lift the heavy load itself. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Agriculture Sustainability Metrics Need Work: Can You Help?

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:34:45 GMT

photo Venex_jpb @ flickr How important is sustainable agriculture? It is expected that by 2050 the world's population will need a doubling of agriculture productivity. Can we meet this demand without destroying the systems we depend on for life? Are the current methods of food production sustainable? If you asked Bill Mollison or Michael Pollan I would suspect they could point to many problems of our current agricultural system. As we have shown on TreeHugger they could also point to many solutions. The tough part comes when you have to make a policy decision that impacts global food supply, you don't want to make the wrong choice. The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture is an unlikely gaggle of industry giants, nonprofit organizations, and conservation groups that are working to build a set of metrics in order to guide agriculture into a sustainable future. They just released a report on these metrics, and by the looks of it they have a lot of work left to do. A column this week in the New York Times by Aaron E. Hirsh left me wondering if the gap in these metrics can be filled in by you?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Wildlife Land Management Needs Sustainable Vision to Control Disease Outbreaks

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:33:33 GMT

Where do the Buffalo Roam? Is a question many in the West are trying to answer. Wild herds of American Bison (commonly called Buffalo), once roamed the great plains in the tens of millions as part of a complex, sustainable and highly productive ecosystem. As most people know, due to extensive hunting by the 1880's only 500 bison remained. At the time, Teddy Roosevelt in an effort to save the species from extinction helped concentrate the remaining herds into Yellowstone National Park. Today, there are an estimated 3,000 wild bison still concentrated in and around Yellowstone. But these emblematic beasts are under the gun yet again. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

MIT Solar Concentrator Improves Solar Cell Efficiency and Design Options

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:29:27 GMT

Imagine if every window in a skyscraper was a solar concentrator. MIT Solar Concentrator Innovation: More Bang for your Buck Solar concentrators do what you might expect, concentrate solar light. Usually they are large mirrors or other devices, but the goal of any solar concentrator is to concentrate the light that falls on a large area to a smaller one. The idea is that the (usually cheap) solar concentrator increases the efficiency of the (usually expensive) solar cell, getting more energy for input of money. Recent advances in this technology have focused around better performance of the solar cell, like the IBM's solar cell cooling technology, but not this time. The MIT solar concentrator, devised by a group led by Marc Baldo at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, takes advantage of recent advances in laser technology and materials science to develop a 'window' that concentrates solar light that would normally pass through a window, and pushes (some) of the light to edge of the glass. The concentrator passes the first test in that it is cheap to produce, and it may even be effective at increasing efficiencies of existing solar cells.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

6 Extreme Weather Projections for the U.S.

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:12:55 GMT

Extreme Weather More Common 500-year floods and microbursts have only recently entered my vocabulary. Extreme weather events have entered our national consciousness, altered our landscape, and are currently changing our thinking about global warming. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research recently released a scientific analysis of the extreme weather changes we can expect in the future. The study focuses on the U.S. specifically, and the related NOAA release provided six projections for the near future.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Glass Breakthrough May Lead to New Sustainable Materials

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:53:34 GMT

Photo by Duke LeNoir via flickr Glass is a Molecular Traffic Jam Is glass a liquid or a solid? An article published today in Nature Materials provides evidence that glass is actually more like a 'traffic jam'. It turns out the atoms in a glassy solid would 'like' to form a crystalline solid, or regular structure, but just aren't able to get organized enough. Instead the atoms loosely organize themselves into groups or relationships shaped like an icosahedron. If you tried to stack many of these icosahedral shapes together in 3 dimensions you would not be able to form a solid surface where all the sides touch, a requirement for a crystalline solid. Yet, because they do form some shape, they get stuck in a 'traffic jam', so it is not a liquid either. This geometry gives glass unique materials properties.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Research Shows that Research Contributes to Global Warming

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:35:07 GMT

The average Canadian produces 22 tones of carbon dioxide each year - equal to the weight of about 4 large elephants. Doesn't everyone measure carbon dioxide in elephants? One of those Canadians happens to be biochemistry professor Herve Philippe from the Universite de Montreal. Philippe was surprised to discover that his scientific work (computers, air travel, and air conditioning) added up to 44 tons of carbon dioxide a year, or almost 9 extra elephants. Amidst reports of rapidly accelerating carbon dioxide emissions, it is not surprising that we often forget the many aspects of our life that cause carbon dioxide emissions.

"I did my PhD on nucleotide sequencing in the hope of advancing our knowledge of biodiversity, but I never thought that the research itself could have a negative impact on biodiversity" said professor Philippe. He continued, "By viewing oil as an unlimited resource we are making a tremendous mistake."

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Book Review: Trading Paces

Sun, 04 May 2008 20:53:55 GMT

Michael Kelly is an Irishman looking for what really matters. Trading Paces follows his path from a high paid job in IT sales, to a low paid job in freelance writing. Along the way, he finds himself falling in love with a life filled with vegetables, hens, pigs, and a leaky roof cottage out in the country. Realizing you don't need to be a voracious consumer to be happy, Kelly artfully recounts his ongoing adventure in making the transition to a more sustainable, thoughtful way of living. Kelly's style is conversational, thoughtful, and always lighthearted. If you enjoy Animal, Vegetable, Miracle or Omnivore's Dillema, Trading Paces offers a refreshing everyman perspective, Homer Simpson quotes included.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Native Seeds Fight Food Shortage and Global Warming

Thu, 01 May 2008 23:53:16 GMT

A perfect storm of research and technology has emerged that when taken together may provide part of a solution to food production and global warming. The key ideas are: 1. Biodiversity increases the ability of an ecosystem to capture carbon, says Brown University. 2. There are 100's of economically important native seeds according to Lee and Maggie Arbuckle. 3. Native perennial grasses can be used as food, according to The Land Institute. 4. Harvesting perennial grasses is getting easier, with the Arbuckle Native Seedster. Together these innovations change the framework for how we can turn sunlight and water into food. Incorporating these ideas could sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, provide economic growth, improve soil health, reduce fossil fuel use, and provide sustainable and resilient food production.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Book Review: Earth: The Sequel

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:49:15 GMT

The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming The Earth's environment has limits. Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has long recognized that those limits can ignite economic growth and ecological prosperity at the same time. Earth: The Sequel written by Krupp and Miriam Horn, a journalist and staffer at EDF, begins with a case study of how we can solve global warming and improve our economy by addressing the need for limits. In the early 1980's sulfur dioxide emissions from coal fired power plants caused acid rain, damaging forests and aquatic life. We had reached the limits of how much sulfur dioxide we could pump into the atmosphere. The knee-jerk reaction to this problem was to create strict 'command and control' regulations that required adding expensive scrubbers to smoke stacks. But this solution was not addressing the problem...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The World Needs a Farming Revolution! Declares U.N. Report

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:28:39 GMT

Oil is setting record high prices. People are rioting over the price of food in Haiti, Egypt, parts of West Africa and the Philippines. Since March 2007 the price of soybeans is up 87%, and the price of wheat has risen 130%. Global grain stores are at the lowest levels on record. Amid this turmoil the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) released its report this week on the state of agriculture. Not surprisingly the take home message is - "business as usual is no longer an option." From the report:

"Many of the challenges facing agriculture over the next 50 years will require more integrated application of existing science and technology development (formal, traditional and community- based) as well as new approaches for agricultural and natural resource management."

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Water Weirding: American Southwest on Uncertain Ground

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:54:09 GMT

Global climate models have differed on what a warming globe will look like, but most agree that the American Southwest is in for a dry spell. The Southwest is familiar with drought and fire. But if a team of international climate scientists are correct, we can no longer expect historical water records in the region to be a guide for future management strategies. In addition, the study is one of the first to link manmade global warming to direct changes in the hydrological parameters of a region. The scientists found that up to 60% of the trends in river flow, minimum winter air temperature, and spring snowpack over the past 50 years are a direct result of human impact. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Doubling the Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:49:57 GMT

Dye sensitized solar cells (also known as Gratzel cells) continue innovation at a scorching pace. We recently covered how Shaik Zakeeruddin and Michael Gratzel used ionic liquids to make these solar cells flexible and significantly less toxic. Today we learn from the University of Washington (UW) that it's possible to double the efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells by using a novel popcorn-ball design.

"We think this can lead to a significant breakthrough in dye-sensitized solar cells," said lead author Guozhong Cao, "We did not expect the doubling...it was a happy surprise."

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Potato Provides Path to Merge Modern and Indigenous Knowledge

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:15:41 GMT

We were excited when we found out that 2008 is the International Year of The Potato, but we went through the roof when we learned that Cusco in Peru has a potato park! Recently, over a hundred international scientists visited the park as part of a conference titled, "Potato Science for the Poor: Challenges for the New Millennium". The Cusco Potato Park sits at high elevations, from around 11,500 to about 13,300 feet. Papa arariwas or local conservation experts guided the (likely) breathless scientist around the park showing hundreds of local varieties. The biodiversity found in this park represents an important resource for the global food supply. "Working together, you, the scientists, and we, the arariwas, is the best way to work for future generations", said Justino Yuccra, an arariwa from the Cuello Largo community. "You have the modern knowledge, we have the indigenous knowledge, if we link them, we could increase our biodiversity and also help other people to face climate change." Via ::International Potato Center :: Potato 2008... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Soil Bacteria Thrive on Antibiotics: A Potential Reservoir of Antibiotic-Resistance

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:40:59 GMT

Soil bacteria have thumbed their -nose' at antibiotics this week. A surprising study in the journal Science shows that soil bacteria can thrive on antibiotics alone. The bacteria apparently have no problem using our most trusted weapons against them as food. What is worse, these close relatives to human pathogens might serve as a reservoir of resistance to the bacteria that plague humanity. We are in an expensive arms race with bacteria. Developing new antibiotics that rapidly become useless, only to develop more. But the race with bacteria costs more than just money, it is a life and death situation, and one we are rapidly loosing. Antibiotics, from soap to feedlots are showing up in our water and soil, causing unknown environmental and human health issues in the process. It's time to stop thinking of our relationship with bacteria as a war, and look for a different approach.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Rise of Disc Golf: A Greener Alternative to 'Ball Golf'

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:04:15 GMT

Golf as an American sport is in decline. According to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association the number of people who play 'ball' golf has gone down from 30 million to about 26 million in the past 8 years. A New York Times article this year points to time as a critical factor. Walter Hurney, a real estate developer and golf aficionado said:

"There just isn't enough time. Men won't spend a whole day away from their family anymore."

Disc Golf however has been on the rise. Named the fastest growing sport in America, in the past 30 years an estimated 12 million people have played the game. The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) has around 12,000 members, and disc golf courses are popping up in every state. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Adapting To Global Warming: A Half-Baked Idea

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:58:26 GMT

The Los Angeles Times bumbled a story and a concept yesterday when it covered research by Roger A. Pielke Jr., a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. LA Times staff writer, Alan Zarembo stated:

"The 'non-skeptic heretic club' [Pielke] says it would be easier and cheaper to adapt than fight climate change."

A provocateur in climate mitigation strategy circles, Pielke flatly disagrees with the incorrect interpretation of his statements put forth by the LA Times. A debate quickly emerged between grist's David Roberts and Pielke himself over whether this confusion was intentional or not. Clearly, the obfuscating coverage at the Los Angeles times is regrettable, but we think this is an opportunity to clear up why humanity needs to learn how to both adapt to our environment as well as mitigate and heal the damage to our ecosystems.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Biochar Offers Answer for Healthy Soil and Carbon Sequestration

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:56:53 GMT

Deep, rich, black soil is a farmers dream come true. Healthy soil is full of life, with entire communities living just below our feet. Healthy soil can retain and purify water, provide an abundance of food, and even act as way to sequester carbon dioxide. One key to getting there is amending soil with biochar. Biochar is what you get when biomass is heated in the absence of oxygen through a process called pyrolysis. When incorporated into soil, biochar provides the structural habitat needed for a rich community of micro-organisms to take hold. Incorporating biochar into soil can also act as a way to sequester carbon. Carbon dioxide sequestration was not likely the original goal of biochar, or terra preta, developed thousands of years ago by the Native Americans in the Amazon region. But today, as we recognize the cost of emitting green house gases, we also recognize the wisdom of using biochar as micro-habitat to improve our soils. Biochar is a classic win-win scenario, a solution that can provide us with a valuable tool for fighting climate change, world hunger, poverty, and energy shortages all at the same time. Sound good? ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Slow Food: Small, Simple, Sustainable

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:34:06 GMT

For many people sustainability starts with food. Everyone eats, and our connection to food is a direct connection to our environment. The slow food movement works to reconnect people to the food they eat. Local food, and local food traditions are central to reclaiming our relationship with nature.

"Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world."

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Reduced Sulfur Might Be Key To Ocean Function

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 01:37:21 GMT

"What does life in the ocean need to thrive?" Is a question biologists and oceanographers have asked for decades. It is also one climate scientists and even carbon sequestration companies are asking with increasing urgency. We do know that phytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain, and new research out of OSU provides an unexpected twist. We knew that nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron, were critical to phytoplankton production, now it appears 'reduced' sulfur is a key nutrient for one of the most abundant and smallest free-living single cell organisms in the ocean, SAR11. The new insights into SAR11 have very large implications, possibly impacting how we understand the earths carbon cycle, marine ecosystems, and even cloud formation and climate change.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

A Picture is Worth... Ocean Deserts Expanding

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:40:34 GMT

The black areas represent the least productive areas of the ocean, which have increased 15% from 1998 to 2007. The warming of the surface of the ocean is thought to increase stratification within the water column, preventing the nutrients in the cool deep ocean from rising to the surface. Without the mixing, there is limited ability for life to take hold. We humans have an odd relationship to the ocean, treating it both as a bounty and an endless dump. This dualistic relationship has its costs. Addressing ocean health is tied to terrestrial problems and global warming. The good news is there is a lot we can do to help the ocean recover and stay resilient despite change. Jeremy provides an overview of ocean health issues, and even 10 solutions we can do to mitigate this growing problem. ::NOAA News... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Tim McGee, Western Massachusetts

Constructal Theory: 5 Designs Shaping the Future of Sustainable Engineering

Land Degradation Endangers Quarter of World Population

How Science Really Works: The Interactive Flow Chart

Crop Biodiversity A Cure for Ocean Dead Zones?

Fuel Made by Sun, Water, Carbon Dioxide, and Nanotechnology

Computer Model Shows How Landscape Architecture Can Fight Malaria

Knowledge Gap of How We -Fit In' is Greatest Threat to Environment

Moving Up: Climate Change Forces Species to Higher Elevations

Leggy Fence Lizards Show Rapid Evolution

Harnessing Molecular Motors: Nanotechnology and Biology Meet to Redefine 'Lab on a Chip'

Agriculture Sustainability Metrics Need Work: Can You Help?

Wildlife Land Management Needs Sustainable Vision to Control Disease Outbreaks

MIT Solar Concentrator Improves Solar Cell Efficiency and Design Options

6 Extreme Weather Projections for the U.S.

Glass Breakthrough May Lead to New Sustainable Materials

Research Shows that Research Contributes to Global Warming

Book Review: Trading Paces

Native Seeds Fight Food Shortage and Global Warming

Book Review: Earth: The Sequel

The World Needs a Farming Revolution! Declares U.N. Report

Water Weirding: American Southwest on Uncertain Ground

Doubling the Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Potato Provides Path to Merge Modern and Indigenous Knowledge

Soil Bacteria Thrive on Antibiotics: A Potential Reservoir of Antibiotic-Resistance

The Rise of Disc Golf: A Greener Alternative to 'Ball Golf'

Adapting To Global Warming: A Half-Baked Idea

Biochar Offers Answer for Healthy Soil and Carbon Sequestration

Slow Food: Small, Simple, Sustainable

Reduced Sulfur Might Be Key To Ocean Function

A Picture is Worth... Ocean Deserts Expanding