This algae balls powered robotic rover generates energy using photosynthesis

MARS is an autonomous, photosynthetically powered rover that uses marimo’s photosynthesis process to accrue solar energy and roam riverbeds and lake bottoms and gather scientific information.

Rovers gather some of the most insightful and fundamental scientific information regarding challenging environments. Unlike humans, rovers can access hard-to-reach environments even under the most dangerous and unlivable conditions. Whether they’re traversing the rocky landscape of Mars or leading scientists to the dark depths of the sea, rovers bring us one step closer to understanding our planet and all that surrounds it.

Designer: The University of the West of England

Today, a team of scientists from the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, UK have implemented the use of a marimo, a type of rare, lake- and river-dwelling algae growth that grow into large, velvety balls, in aquatic rovers to uncover information on some of our planet’s bodies of water. Recently published in the Journal of Biological Engineering, the “Marimo Actuated Rover Systems,” or MARS for short is described as “an autonomous, low-cost, lightweight, compact size, photosynthetically powered rover.”

Found just beneath the lake’s or river’s surface, marimo grows by energy harnessed from the faint sunlight that skims the water’s surface and produces oxygen in the process. Outfitted with a highly technical globular rover suit, the MARS rovers use solar energy to autonomously roam the riverbeds and lake bottoms, gathering information on the water’s conditions like temperature and oxygen.

The team at UWE produced a 3D-printed exoskeleton about the size of a baseball to encase the balls of marimo and develop their rover suit. Using this exoskeleton, the oxygen generated from the solar energy gets trapped inside and allows MARS to zigzag and propel forward on the riverbed or lake bottom. The team at UWE discovered a way to harness the energy produced during photosynthesis and turn it into a type of fuel that moves MARS forward. The more oxygen trapped inside the exoskeleton, the heavier MARS becomes. This aspect of photosynthesis allows the autonomous rover to avoid larger obstacles that come in its path by exhaling oxygen to become buoyant and then holding onto oxygen to keep moving.

Currently, in its early phases, the rover can potentially be outfitted with low-power sensors that will track water conditions like pH, pollution, turbidity, and salinity levels. These low-power sensors can even be activated by the energy harnessed from the rover’s movement. While marimo is unique to lakes and rivers, the researchers at the UWE find that the template of MARS can be applied to oceanic algae, like seaweed, allowing rovers to roam the ocean’s mysterious depths.

The post This algae balls powered robotic rover generates energy using photosynthesis first appeared on Yanko Design.

This architectural structure is UV-resistant protective shell that operates like a bionic flower!

This award-winning architecture structure is a concept design that creates a UV-resistant space by closing like a shield. It absorbs ultraviolet rays and unfurls like a bionic flower based on the intensity of the UV index in the area! This protective photosynthesis shell aims to solve the harm caused by excessive ultraviolet radiation in public spaces so that you can still go out while better solutions are being developed.

The earth’s ozone layer can block 97-99% of the ultraviolet light from solar radiation. According to the research of the World Health Organization, if the ultraviolet light exceeds the index of 3 or above without proper shielding or sun protection measures, it will cause sunburn and related diseases.

Due to the increase in ultraviolet radiation caused by the breaking of the greenhouse effect ozone layer in recent years, especially in countries and regions located between 30 degrees north and south latitudes of the equator, this design has been conceptualized for Schuster Park in Queensland, Australia. UV-resistant shielding space uses solar energy, green fluorescent protein, and an ultraviolet module device to create the bionic shell.

Based on the increase and decrease of the UV index intensity, the structure will fold and unfold like a bionic flower – when the ultraviolet light is strong it will become a pavilion to cover, and at night when the ultraviolet rays are weak it becomes the installation art that will glow naturally. The whimsical building envelopes and fiber optic tubes are filled with green fluorescent proteins; the size of the module opening and closing will be adjusted according to the absorption rate of ultraviolet light and can emit light at night. It almost reminds me of the bioluminescent waves!

Designer: Chsiao-Yu Sun and Chien-Hsun Chen

The post This architectural structure is UV-resistant protective shell that operates like a bionic flower! first appeared on Yanko Design.

Your hand sanitizer may have 60% alcohol but is it carbon negative?

I have never really paid attention to the ingredients of a hand sanitizer before the pandemic which taught me that the Bodyworks glitter ones really won’t help and I have to look for ones that have 60% alcohol or above. Obviously, the AIs of the worldwide web picked up on my searches and I ‘came across’ the world’s first carbon-negative hand sanitizer made by New York-based start-up, Air Co. I am all about sustainable living and a carbon-negative sanitizer was exactly what I needed to replace the glitter.

The pandemic caused an exponential increase in the demand for sanitizers, and in a bid to help health professionals as well as every regular person, all the alcohol brands switched from making their usual products to making sanitizers. Air Co. actually made the world’s first carbon-negative vodka by using captured CO2 instead of yeast to make alcohol and now it is following suit by switching from vodka to sanitizers but, their method still remains the same – sustainable distillation + innovative technology that removes CO2 from the air and replaces it with oxygen. They use the CO2 emitted from nearby factories, mix it with water during their production process and then distill it, all using solar energy. “It is inspired by photosynthesis in nature, where plants breathe in CO2, take up water, and they use sunlight to make things like sugars and other higher-value hydrocarbons, with oxygen as the sole by-product. Same thing with our process: The only by-product is oxygen,” says  Stafford Sheehan, one of the cofounders of Air Co.

The Air Co. sanitizer is 70% ethanol (their technology’s main output) and they are working with local officials to donate these bottles to the institutions that need it the most. Their actions reflect the brand’s two-part tagline – Almost impossible. Goods that do good. Air Co’s sanitizer is one-of-a-kind because of its undeniable benefit to the environment and positive impact that ripples beyond just keeping us virus-free. The brand is proud of using scientific methods to design products that would leave a lasting impression on people, be it their gluten-free, sugar-free, impurities-free, carbon-negative vodka or their hand sanitizer which is also crafted from the same air. Check out the running ticker of how much CO2 they have removed from the atmosphere – it is PRETTY impressive!

Designer: Air Co.

New solar cell generates hydrogen and electricity at the same time

In the ongoing pursuit of abundant, renewable alternatives to fossil fuels, scientists have produced hydrogen for fuel cells through artificial photosynthesis, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. Traditional processes have struggled to use o...