Maintaining a healthy environment has become a top priority for humankind. More and more owners of manufacturing companies and people who are not half-hearted about the problem, think about ways to save our planet and avoid a tipping point. During the last century, technological innovations have made a significant progress in various areas, including the field of ecology. We are now at the beginning of a new phase. What will it be like?
Coral Reef Printer
Due to climate change, coral reef ecosystems are being threatened and may disappear entirely by 2100. They are habitats for many creatures and play a crucial role in protecting coastlines from the destructive effects of waves.
Israeli scientists from Ben-Gurion University and the Technion Institute of Technology have developed a device that can scan existing corals, and then print a three-dimensional (3D) copy of them. This 3D printing technology allows us to create riffs of any shape, including ports, tunnels, and caves.Experiments have shown that these artificial corals are able to quickly overgrow algae, and become home to a variety of living organisms.
Green Aviation
The fact that airplanes pollute the environment is obvious and there is no doubt. According to Professor Ulrich Schumann from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the German Aerospace Center, aviation accounts for about three percent of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. This is more than it might seem, due to these kinds of factors, an unfavorable picture eventually emerges.
Replacing an ordinary aircraft with green technology is more difficult than replacing a conventional car with an electric vehicle. However, this is a realistic goal. For the first time, serious discussions about environmentally friendly aircraft began after the Solar Impulse solar-powered aircraft was able to soar in the air for several hours in 2009. It is the first vehicle capable of flying using solar energy unlimited time, accumulating power in batteries and increasing altitude during daylight hours.
And this is only the beginning. In 2017, Airbus Corporation, in collaboration with Rolls-Royce and Siemens, launched the E-Fan X program, which involves the development of a large, electric passenger aircraft.
Sonic fire control weapons
Students from George Mason University have designed a fire extinguisher that can put out flames using low-frequency sound. The bass, with a frequency of 30 to 60 hertz, increases the speed of air movement and separates fuel from oxygen, resulting in the best performance.
Seth Robertson and Veta Strana were inspired to create the gadget by a video from the United States Defense Advanced Research and Development Agency (DARPA), where two powerful sound waves extinguished a fire. However, unlike the military, the students were able to embody this idea into a compact device. It is different from standard fire extinguishers by the lack of toxic chemicals. In addition, it saves buildings from water damage.
So far, the device has successfully dealt with only small fires, but the inventors plan to improve it further. They suggest that sound-based fire extinguishers could be installed on drones and used to control forest fires.
Innovative technologies play an important role in solving environmental problems. Wind farms, solar panels, biodegradable packaging, waste disposal, electric vehicles, vertical farms, smart homes, water filters, smart cities, and robotics – all these technologies contribute to nature conservation.