Smart clothes enhancing health and performance
Digital knitting machines and other manufacturing advances mean smart textiles are getting even smarter. One researcher has even made a remotely operated compression jacket for his dog – to provide ‘hugs’ when she’s anxious or upset. Maria Burke reports
Can we engineer our way out of climate crisis?
Limiting greenhouse gas emissions is one way to fight climate change – but there are more radical approaches, too, as Jasmin Fox-Skelly reports.
The rise of sustainable protein alternatives
Animals are not an efficient way of converting plants into food. So how can we increase protein production sustainably? Anthony King reports.
How organs on chips could end animal testing
Organoids and organs-on-chips can now be used in submissions to move drugs into human clinical trials. So does this signal the end of animal testing? Katrina Megget reports.
Natural pest fighters: sustainable solutions for food
A new range of natural pest deterrents is in development – including an insecticide to protect honeybees based on venom from the Australian funnel web spider, one of the world’s most poisonous spiders, Jasmin Fox-Skelly reports
Cutting methane emissions: from cows to catalysts
Cutting CO2 emissions is a central plank of policies bent on curbing global warming. But with 86 times the global warming potential, methane gas is also easier and cheaper to remove, Lou Reade reports
The Sodium advantage
Battery experts expect sodium-ion to emerge as a key player, powering everything from massive grid storage facilities to power tools to small scooters and electric vehicles. Anthony King reports
Sustainable desalination
With just 3% of the Earth’s water available as freshwater, desalination technologies allow us to get the water we need from inexhaustible, salty seawater. But relying on desalination could create new problems, XiaoZhi Lim reports
More sense from smell
Smell is the only one of our senses with a direct connection to the brain, explaining why a particular smell has the power to evoke a memory or emotion. But could improving our sense of smell also improve memory and cognition? Maria Burke reports
Hydrogen hopes
From the US to Australia, and the EU to China, governments around the world are investing billions of dollars in hydrogen technology. And the UK is no exception, reports Jasmin Fox-Skelly