In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we look at agriculture as an alternative to mining, the architect of China’s “sponge cities,” generating electricity with salt and ice, and more. To get The Prototype in your inbox, sign up here.
At this pilot farm, Genomines is using plants to extract nickel from soil.
Genomines
Here’s a sustainability paradox: going green requires batteries, but making them involves mining for critical minerals–a dirty, destructive process that can result in environmental harms.
That’s where Paris-based startup Genomines comes in. The company is gene-editing plants to absorb large amounts of nickel from the soil as they grow–at battery-grade quality. The metal can then be extracted after harvesting. The whole process is both cheaper and cleaner than conventional mining, and ideal for areas where metal concentration is too low to make mining worth it, but too high for growing food crops because of potential toxicity.
This week, Genomines raised $45 million in venture capital led by Engine Ventures and Forbion BioEconomy. The deal brings the company’s valuation to $92 million, according to Pitchbook. The company plans to use the investment to accelerate commercialization of its process.
Meet The Landscape Architect Behind China’s Sponge Cities
Illustration by Oriana Fenwick For Forbes
In July 2012, a massive flash flood struck Beijing as rainfall in the Chinese capital caused the nearby Juma River to overflow its banks. In less than 24 hours, nearly 60,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes and 79 people died. Damages to the city were estimated at around $1.6 billion.
That flood and others like it the same year spurred the Chinese government to pursue new flood control strategies, among them the so-called “sponge city” which uses greenspaces to absorb and retain rainwater. It’s a dramatically different approach than building large-scale water diversion infrastructure like levees and concrete, and was pioneered by Kongjian Yu, 62, the founder of landscape architecture firm Turenscape.
Conventional flood strategies, Yu said, “accumulate water, speed up water and fight against water.” By contrast, he designs landscapes that “capture water, slow down water and embrace water.” These same green spaces also help to cool down cities, which see higher temperatures than their surrounding regions because of the prevalence of asphalt and concrete, and to recycle rainwater for local uses.
In 2015, China made sponge cities a national policy–in large part at the urging of Yu, who made hundreds of presentations to Chinese officials over the years. His firm had already proved the concept in cities like Jinhua, where his firm replaced a flood wall with its own landscaping, resulting in improved stormwater control.
Yu, who’s being honored this year as a Forbes Sustainability Leader, has played a major role in China’s plans. His company, Turenscape, has designed over 1,000 sponge city projects, including parks, development districts and other infrastructure across more than 250 cities around the world since he founded it in 1998. It’s a lucrative business bringing in around $30 million a year for the design and consulting services it provides, he said.
Read the whole story at Forbes.
DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK: USING ICE AND SALT TO GENERATE POWER
If you have ice and salt, but no tequila handy, you can’t make a margarita, but you might be able to make electricity. That’s according to a new study from a team of international researchers. Earlier this year, they discovered that ice generates an electric charge when it’s bent or deformed, though not strongly enough to be useful. In the follow-up experiment, they found that making ice from saltwater boosts the power created by a factor of 1,000, because the ions in the salt generate an electric current. That let the scientists build prototype devices that can harness energy from the salty ice, which might one day generate cheap power in cold environments.
WHAT ELSE I WROTE THIS WEEK
I was part of the reporting team for Forbes’ annual Sustainability Leaders List, which honors 50 entrepreneurs, investors, activists and scientists working to combat the climate crisis and work toward a more sustainable future.
Amy Feldman and I wrote about the increased risks for both public health and pharmaceutical companies from the activities of Robert F. Kennedy’s hand-picked vaccine advisory committee.
In my other newsletter, InnovationRx, Amy Feldman and I wrote about possible pain treatments from cannabis that could serve as alternatives to opioids, how the Mayo Clinic is using virtual clinical trials to find new heart disease drugs and why many healthcare professionals plan to look for new jobs next year.
SCIENCE AND TECH TIDBITS
Volvo is advancing plans to make its car manufacturing more sustainable by slashing its water use by 50%, using recycled materials and electrifying its lineup.
San Francisco-based startup Irregular raised an $80 million investment to help companies like OpenAI and Anthropic make it harder to use AI software for evil.
Researchers at Stanford and the Arc Institute used AI models to design viruses that attack harmful bacteria, then made them in the lab.
Quantum computing company IonQ signed an agreement with the Department of Energy to build and demonstrate a satellite-based quantum network.
PRO SCIENCE TIP: EXERCISE IN GREEN SPACES
Looking to exercise as a stress relief? Consider heading to your nearest hiking trail or beach. In a recent study, researchers took a group of 25 people and had them walk at the same pace in three different areas: a gym, outside in the city and on a wooded park trail. Compared to the other two environments, walking in the woods reduced more stress and participants reported less fatigue. That aligns with other studies that have found that green spaces can improve mental health.
WHAT’S ENTERTAINING ME THIS WEEK
I’ve been listening to Courtney Hadwin’s new release, Little Miss Jagged, on repeat this week. It’s an energetic, blues-infused rock album anchored by Hadwin’s voice, which has that throaty quality of icons like Janis Joplin or Amy Winehouse. Hadwin rose to fame doing covers on America’s Got Talent, but the songs here, co-written with producer Kevin Bowe, stand on their own. My favorite tracks: “Timeless”, “You Only Love Me When I Lie” and “All The Love (Money Can Buy).”