The James Dyson Award: a call to young inventors
The Optimist Daily has written about many winners of the James Dyson Award. This is an international design award that celebrates, encourages, and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It is open to current and recent design engineering students and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Read More...
This initiative collects waste from hairdressers and puts it to good use
From improving the efficacy of perovskite solar cells to cleaning up oil spills, hair clippings from salons can definitely be put to better use than ending up in a landfill. The Green Salon Collective (GSC) in the UK is well aware of that, which is why it is collecting hair cuttings from salons Read More...
This reusable and biodegradable sponge can help clean up oil spills
Most of the materials designed for removing oil spills from water are single-use, meaning that they’re bound to eventually end up in landfills. We've written about the potential to use shed dog fur for oil spill cleanups, and now, scientists have developed an oil-absorbing sponge that can be used Read More...
Graduate students design little robot that cleans up oil spills
A decade after a BP drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, sending an estimated 168 million gallons of oil gushing into the water over the course of months, local wildlife is still struggling to recover. Many of the people who worked to clean up the spill are still experiencing health Read More...
Autonomous oil spill boat can aid disaster mitigation without human crew onboard
Oil spills can spell big trouble for the environment, and efficient and swift response is critical in trying to contain the problem. In the not-too-distant future, folks dealing with such incidents may have a robotic helper to call on, with Boston’s Sea Machines Robotics successfully Read More...