Miscellaneous
Carlsberg is making a biodegradable beer bottle
Beer bottles are recyclable, but they have never been biodegradable. That might soon be changing because the Danish beer maker Carlsberg has announced plans to make a completely biodegradable beer bottle from wood and paper pulp. The bottles will have a texture similar to that of an egg carton. If Read More...
Brazilian bank raises over $400 million for renewables investment
Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco Holding SA has raised a record $408 million to invest in renewable energy. The investment is the largest ever made by Brazilian bank to invest in renewables in Latin America. Most of the $408 million comes from a loan from a 5-year loan from Bank of America, and from Read More...
Monarch butterflies rebound
Last year monarch butterflies hit their lowest recorded numbers, covering only 1.65 acres. Climate change, pesticides, and loss of habitat were killing off the orange insects but they seem to be making a noticeable recovery. Mexican Environmental authorities have announced that monarchs now cover Read More...
Soy Moratorium is saving the Amazon
The Amazon Soy Moratorium is an agreement signed in 2006 between major soybean traders saying that they wouldn’t purchase soy grown on parts of the deforested Amazon. According to a new study the soy moratorium has been very effective and has greatly reduced the amount of deforestation caused by Read More...
Ending homelessness with a real solution
Homelessness is a costly problem; one Colorado study found that each homeless person in the state cost taxpayers $43,000 per year in medical and other expenses, while housing them only cost $17,000 per year. Homelessness is a solvable problem, and is one being tackled by Housing First, a nonprofit Read More...
Oxygen treatment repairs brain damage
In 2006 British paratrooper Ben Parkinson was victim of a devastating bomb blast that took both of his legs above the knee, broke his back, and left him brain damaged. The doctors told Parkinson that he would never walk again, but in 2012 he defied the odds, not only walking but carrying the torch Read More...
Obama proposes to protect Artic from drilling
Yesterday President Obama proposed legislation that would designate12.3 million acres of Alaskan forest as a wildlife refuge, the highest of protected status. Obama’s measure would ban all oil production in the protected area, keeping some 10 billion barrels underfoot. The bill is already under Read More...
Video based intervention reduces signs of autism
Child developmental therapy cannot cure autism in children diagnosed with the disorder, but a new study has found that video intervention could help. Researchers discovered that parents who watched video lessons that showed them how develop their baby’s attention span, communication abilities, Read More...
Electric vehicle charging for apartment dwellers
Electric vehicles (EVs) are the cars of the future, they’re environmentally friendly, and pretty easy to charge—just plug it in over night. But what if you’re one of the millions of Americans that live in an apartment without your own garage? A new company called Powertree aims to solve that Read More...
Bill and Melinda gates see big changes coming in the next 15 years
Every year for the past five years Bill and Melinda Gates have written an open letter talking about their foundation, and the work that it’s doing. In this year’s letter the Gates spoke at great length about the improvements that will be coming over the next 15 years for people in developing Read More...