Finland set to become first country to ban coal use for energy
Finland could become the first country to ditch coal for good. As part of a new energy and climate strategy due to be announced tomorrow, the government is considering banning the burning of coal for energy by 2030. “Basically, coal would disappear from the Finnish market,” says Read More...
Gut's microbial community shown to influence host gene expression
In our guts, and in the guts of all animals, resides a robust ecosystem of microbes known as the microbiome. Consisting of trillions of organisms -- bacteria, fungi and viruses -- the microbiome is essential for host health, providing important services ranging from nutrient processing to immune Read More...
The U.S. food industry is moving forward on date labels and food waste
As much as 40 percent of the food produced in the U.S. goes to waste. The reasons are all over the map: supply chain inefficiencies, consumers’ insistence that food look perfect, and local regulations that discourage food from being donated to those who need it. One factor, however, is the Read More...
Scottish homelessness charity plans village of low-cost eco homes
The Scottish charity Social Bite, which has attracted celebrity support from the Oscar winners George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio, has announced plans to build a row of low-cost, eco-friendly homes to help end the vicious cycle of homelessness. The social enterprise, which runs a chain of Read More...
7 incredible benefits of cryptocurrency
Over the last couple of years, the term cryptocurrency has been rapidly gaining ground and understanding of its use and value in the public eye. At first it seemed unfamiliar and somewhat scary like the credit card looked to users in its early days. You might be more familiar with terms like Read More...
UK government announces funding for autonomous vehicles, electric cars
LONDON Chancellor Philip Hammond on Wednesday announced 390 million pounds of funding to boost the development of low emission vehicles and autonomous vehicles. Delivering his first budget statement to parliament, Hammond also announced support for electric vehicle infrastructure. "Reliable Read More...
Artificial intelligence could eliminate the need to check your email ever again
In Slack's vision of the future, it will be totally unnecessary to try to get your inbox to zero every day. In fact, it will be unnecessary to read most of your emails. The communication software company lets teams chat in real time and share files. Earlier this year, Slack introduced the Slackbot, Read More...
Clean energy in the U.S could get a big investment boost with this rule change
Something big is starting to develop in the U.S. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has proposed to give distributed energy resources (DERs)—batteries, solar panels, smart energy-management software—access to markets where they can compete directly with big power plants. This means that Read More...
Which European countries are the most optimistic about the future
The smallest country in the European Union also happens to be the most optimistic one. When asked whether their children will be financially worse off than themselves, only 4 percent of Estonians said "yes". The country of 1.3 million seems to think the future will be bright. See here how other Read More...
How to make the greatest social impact in the design world
The world of social impact has grown exponentially over the past few years. Firms such as Ideo.org, Proximity Designs, and Mass Design Group have shown that social design firms can not only survive in the design world, but actually thrive in what they do. The firms have had uncanny success, leading Read More...