Brazil’s federal police have launched a new raid on illegal gold miners operating in Indigenous Yanomami territory in the northern Amazon, officials said on Friday. The invasion of miners has contributed to the spread of […]
arketyp. News Feed
Digital, tech & innovation narratives curated from across the web
Category: Environment
Why We Need New Stories on Climate
So much is happening, both wonderful and terrible – and it matters how we tell it. We can’t erase the bad news, but to ignore the good is the route to indifference or despair. Every […]
Texas Project Will Use Wind to Make Fuel Out of Water
Oil made Texas an energy giant, but even this petroleum powerhouse is working hard to secure a footing beyond fossil fuels. Texas already generates more wind energy than any other U.S. state, and soon the […]
‘Holy grail’ Wheat Gene Discovery Could Feed Our Overheated World
Harvests that form a vital element of the diets of 4.5 billion people are being devastated by global heating. Now research has found a key to create a heat-resistant variety. It is the plant that […]
How Digital Technology Is Helping Decode the Sounds of Nature
Digital technology is enabling scientists to detect and interpret the sounds of species as diverse as honey bees, peacocks, and elephants. Karen Bakker is a geographer who studies digital innovation and environmental governance. Her latest […]
Family, Lifestyle, Property
The spheres of self-interest and morality are no longer separable — Andrew Van Wagner lays out some ideas about how we can save ourselves from global heating. It’s almost 2023—global heating is bearing down on […]
Dancers’ Moves Help to Power Glasgow Music Venue
Heat energy is being captured from people dancing to help a Glasgow venue reduce its carbon emissions. Glasgow arts venue SWG3 has switched on a system that creates renewable energy from the body heat on […]
Our Duty to Our Distant Descendants
The moral philosopher, William MacAskill, gives most of his earnings to charity and in a striking new book argues that it’s our duty to ensure the wellbeing of our distant descendants. What MacAskill is arguing […]
Effective Altruism Goes Mainstream
It’s safe to say that effective altruism is no longer the small, eclectic club of philosophers, charity researchers, and do-gooders it was just a decade ago. It’s an idea, and group of people, with roughly […]
Empirically Grounded Technology Forecasts and the Energy Transition
Compared to continuing with a fossil fuel-based system, a rapid green energy transition will likely result in overall net savings of many trillions of dollars—even without accounting for climate damages or co-benefits of climate policy. […]
World Wide Wind’s Colossal, Contra-Rotating Turbines
New Atlas interviews the core team at Norway’s World Wide Wind to learn more about its floating, tilting, contra-rotating, double turbine design, which it says can unlock unprecedented scale, power and density to radically lower […]
The Transition to Clean Energy
On August 16, 2022, American President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. The IRA is the most meaningful climate bill ever passed in the US It has the potential to significantly […]
In Response to Climate Change, Citizens in Advanced Economies Are Willing To Alter How They Live and Work
Many doubt success of international efforts to reduce global warming. A new Pew Research Center survey in 17 advanced economies spanning North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region finds widespread concern about the personal impact […]
Climate of Optimism
The swiftness of action to halt and reverse the climate crisis will be stunning. And it gives me hope. Last summer, I posted a simple comment on Twitter that (as the kids say) blew up, […]
Planet Smart City Partners with Tree-Nation to Plant Trees Globally
Planet Smart City, a proptech company that designs and builds large-scale smart, affordable housing projects to tackle the global housing deficit, has partnered with Tree-Nation, a NGO which enables businesses and individuals to contribute to […]
After Going Solar, I Felt the Bliss of Sudden Abundance
My rooftop panels showed me that a world powered by renewables would be an overflowing horn of plenty, with fast, sporty cars and comfy homes. Three and a half years ago, something happened that changed […]
Last Month Was among the Hottest Julys Ever Recorded
July 2022 became one of the planet’s top three hottest Julys amid a summer of record-shattering heat for the Northern Hemisphere. The extreme temperatures came as deadly heat waves swept across Europe, killing up to […]
MIT Scientists Think They’ve Discovered How to Fully Reverse Climate Change
Scientists at MIT think they may have finally found a way to reverse climate change. Or, at the least, help ease it some. The idea revolves heavily around the creation and deployment of several thin […]
To See the Universe More Clearly, Think in Terms of Processes, Not Objects
Nothing is fixed in time or space. Everything – from quantum particles to people, planets and galaxies – is in constant motion, and part of a constellation of inextricably interwoven systems. That might seem like […]
Is Tesla Becoming a Threat to the World’s Biggest Utilities?
It appears that the California disruption machine intends to take on not only the powerful German auto brands, but the country’s major electric utilities as well. The electric utility industry is on the verge of […]
What is the Environmental Impact of Lithium Batteries?
Although electric vehicles are emission-free they still cause a climate impact which derives from the manufacturing of the car and not least the battery. Electric cars are moved by lithium batteries and their production entails […]
The Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the Cloud
Anthropologist Steven Gonzalez Monserrate draws on 5 years of research in server farms to illustrate some of the diverse environmental impacts of data storage. While in technical parlance the “Cloud” might refer to the pooling […]
Can a Planet Have a Mind of Its Own?
“We don’t yet have the ability to communally respond in the best interests of the planet. There is intelligence on Earth, but there isn’t planetary intelligence.” If the collective activity of life—known as the biosphere—can […]
Animals Laugh Too
Every pet owner knows that animals love to play, but laughter seems reserved for humans, a few apes, and maybe a few birds good at mimicking humans and apes. As it turns out, according to […]
Redefine Meat to Serve 3D-Printed, Plant-Based Meat at Eateries in Europe
Startup also unveils first ‘whole cuts’ for high-end restaurants in the UK, Germany, Netherlands Israeli startup Redefine Meat will begin offering 3D-printed plant-based “meat” products at select high-end restaurants in Europe, the company announced on […]
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The competition, which is in its 57th year, awards 19 categories of wildlife photography, including behaviour, photojournalism, and portraiture. This year, the competition received 50,000 entries from photographers around the world. Judges looked for innovation, […]
Can Nuclear Fusion Put the Brakes on Climate Change?
Amid an escalating environmental crisis, nuclear fusion offers a dream — or a pipe dream — of limitless clean energy. Let’s say that you’ve devoted your entire adult life to developing a carbon-free way to […]
The Best ‘Mascot’ for Long-Term Thinking?
Spend enough time in long-termist circles, and somebody will tell you a story about trees. What is it about trees and long-term thinking? There are plenty of inert objects that last beyond our lifetimes and […]
The Jungle Megacities of Cambodia
How Early Megacities Emerged From the Jungles of Cambodia and how instability, climate, and neglect drove their slow collapse. When I arrived in Phnom Penh during Cambodia’s dry season in January, I stumbled through the […]
Plants may Possess Intent
Research suggests that at least one type of plant – the french bean – may be more sentient than we give it credit for: namely, it may possess intent. The issue of whether or not […]