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davieG

Technology, Science and the Environment.

By davieG, in General Chat

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UniFox21

UniFox21

Posted
Posted

This type of thing is incredibly interesting. They're suggesting certain bacteria in your gut can impact how well you respond to certain treatments. Examples include chemotherapies not working due to the composition of bacteria.

They've found proof a certain bacteria breaks down the drug named, majorly reducing its action.

 

This is a huge topic in science that you'll see a lot more 

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UniFox21

UniFox21

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On 18/06/2019 at 06:17, The Bear said:

Well I hope they're not actually eating it! Fecal transplants are becoming more common though. 

They've been used a fair bit in relation to other disorders, but as we increase our ability to analyse the composition of people's gut we can really start utilising that type of thing.

 

 

Wonder how long till along with donating blood you're donating your faeces lol

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Izzy

Izzy

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This is so cool and very exciting. I was stood on the tarmac at Dublin airport this week waiting to board and surrounded by planes chugging out fumes. It fvckin stank and made me realise what an old fashioned, expensive and dirty business it is. Can't wait for electric planes to be the norm one day.

 

Why the age of electric flight is finally upon us

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48630656

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Buce

Buce

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26 minutes ago, Izzy said:

This is so cool and very exciting. I was stood on the tarmac at Dublin airport this week waiting to board and surrounded by planes chugging out fumes. It fvckin stank and made me realise what an old fashioned, expensive and dirty business it is. Can't wait for electric planes to be the norm one day.

 

Why the age of electric flight is finally upon us

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48630656

 

Yeah, 650 miles sounds great, mate, but where are they getting a cable that long?

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davieG

davieG

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Climate change: Cashing in on CO2

 

 

 

Scientists from round the world are meeting in Germany to improve ways of making money from carbon dioxide.

They want to transform some of the CO2 that’s overheating the planet into products to benefit humanity.

They don’t claim the technology will solve climate change, but they say it will help.

Carbon dioxide is already being used in novel ways to create fuels, polymers, fertilisers, proteins, foams and building blocks.

Until recently, it was assumed that energy-intensive firms burning gas to fuel their processes would need eventually to capture the resulting carbon emissions and bury them underground.

This option is inefficient and costly, so the prospect of utilising some of the CO2 as a valuable raw material is exciting for business.

Katy Armstrong, manager of the Carbon Utilisation Centre at Sheffield University, put it this way: “We need products for the way we live - and everything we do has an impact.

“We need to manufacture our products without increasing CO2 emissions, and if we can use waste CO2 to help make them, so much the better.”

Many of the young carbon usage firms are actually carbon-negative: that means they take in more CO2 than they put out.

We visited three pioneering businesses in the UK which are already making money out of CO2.

Here are their recipes for success (or at least, the ones they will share with us).

 

Three success stories - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48723049

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yorkie1999

yorkie1999

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On 24/06/2019 at 08:44, davieG said:

Climate change: Cashing in on CO2

 

 

 

Scientists from round the world are meeting in Germany to improve ways of making money from carbon dioxide.

They want to transform some of the CO2 that’s overheating the planet into products to benefit humanity.

They don’t claim the technology will solve climate change, but they say it will help.

Carbon dioxide is already being used in novel ways to create fuels, polymers, fertilisers, proteins, foams and building blocks.

Until recently, it was assumed that energy-intensive firms burning gas to fuel their processes would need eventually to capture the resulting carbon emissions and bury them underground.

This option is inefficient and costly, so the prospect of utilising some of the CO2 as a valuable raw material is exciting for business.

Katy Armstrong, manager of the Carbon Utilisation Centre at Sheffield University, put it this way: “We need products for the way we live - and everything we do has an impact.

“We need to manufacture our products without increasing CO2 emissions, and if we can use waste CO2 to help make them, so much the better.”

Many of the young carbon usage firms are actually carbon-negative: that means they take in more CO2 than they put out.

We visited three pioneering businesses in the UK which are already making money out of CO2.

Here are their recipes for success (or at least, the ones they will share with us).

 

Three success stories - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48723049

Plant some trees instead of cutting them down is the solution. Turn the sahara desert into a massive forest and supply it with water from desalination plants on the coast.

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leicsmac

leicsmac

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https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48786296

 

Not quite right about "science is not negotiable" - it clearly is negotiable, as evidenced by all this politicking about it.

 

What isn't negotiable is the response of the Earth to what we're doing to it. It doesn't hold big expensive meetings umming and ahhing about what it's going to do next - it just does them. Humanity might not like that.

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leicsmac

leicsmac

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Further to the above:

 

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/6/13/18660548/climate-change-human-civilization-existential-risk

 

An extremely interesting article about how climate change is reported, and the real nature of the risk it represents. A good TL;DR is the last paragraph: "Climate change won’t kill us all. That matters. Yet it’s one of the biggest challenges ahead of us, and the results of our failure to act will be devastating. That message — the most accurate message we’ve got — will have to stand on its own."

 

A little postnote of my own on that; the article doesn't really go into detail about possible knock-on effects - imagine, for instance, two nations well-armed but struggling to find resources due to climate change. Could be that shooting finishes what the climate started.

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Buce

Buce

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6 hours ago, leicsmac said:

Further to the above:

 

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/6/13/18660548/climate-change-human-civilization-existential-risk

 

An extremely interesting article about how climate change is reported, and the real nature of the risk it represents. A good TL;DR is the last paragraph: "Climate change won’t kill us all. That matters. Yet it’s one of the biggest challenges ahead of us, and the results of our failure to act will be devastating. That message — the most accurate message we’ve got — will have to stand on its own."

 

A little postnote of my own on that; the article doesn't really go into detail about possible knock-on effects - imagine, for instance, two nations well-armed but struggling to find resources due to climate change. Could be that shooting finishes what the climate started.

 

Probably the most likely threat in that regard is with India and Pakistan fighting over access to water from the Indus river.

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leicsmac

leicsmac

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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

We already go to war for resources. It will only get worse. 

 

7 hours ago, Buce said:

 

Probably the most likely threat in that regard is with India and Pakistan fighting over access to water from the Indus river.

To be honest, I'm rather amazed - and concerned - that it isn't mentioned much as a more serious kind of threat. It might seem far-fetched to people that the Earth will bring down civilisation only by itself, but the idea that the Earth will provide just a little pressure and then let "human nature" (a nebulous term, I know) do the rest should be much more plausible.

 

Given that humanity often falls out to the point of killing or maiming for things much higher on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, imagine what it might be like when the bottom tier of that particular pyramid feels the strain and it's tooled up nations feeling it...

Edited by leicsmac
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Buce

Buce

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Posted (edited)

 

Who knew?

Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/planting-billions-trees-best-tackle-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions

 

Sigh. 

Brazil: huge rise in Amazon destruction under Bolsonaro, figures show

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/03/brazil-amazon-rainforest-deforestation-environment

 

Edited by Buce
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leicsmac

leicsmac

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Don't like the Green New Deal because it's "too vague" in terms of the costings?

 

Project Drawdown has some numbers for you instead. Not all the numbers, but at least some.

 

https://www.drawdown.org/solutions-summary-by-rank

 

I'd actually recommend Project Drawdown to anyone who either thinks there's nothing that can be done, or nothing that should be done - it is a good demonstration of why neither of those things are correct.

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leicsmac

leicsmac

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https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/reduced-food-waste

 

@AlloverthefloorYesNdidi Drawdown has some ideas on food waste solutions, to wit: "In lower-income countries, improving infrastructure for storage, processing, and transportation is essential. In higher-income regions, major interventions are needed at the retail and consumer levels. National food-waste targets and policies can encourage widespread change."

 

Of course, that's just a two sentence almost-soundbite, but it's a place to start and I do like the number-crunching they do on this and other topics.

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