Mussels have mastered the art of sticking to wet surfaces and cause a lot of damage because of it. They stick to boats, pipes, piers, and many more underwater surfaces. In fact, mussels are one of the worst perpetrators of biofouling, meaning the unwanted accumulation of organisms on underwater structures.
Cool, refreshing drinks are always welcome during the summer time. But many customers shy away from high sugar contents and too many chemical ingredients in commercially available sports drinks. Therefore, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising developed a novel, protein-rich summer drink made from sweet lupins. The production of this new drink should be feasible for any brewery. The technique was developed in cooperation with the Technical University Munich as well as partners from industry.
Trees are extremely important for a healthy ecosystem and a stable climate. Plants take up about half of the CO2 emissions that humans put in the atmosphere, and a huge part of that is accomplished by trees. CO2 emissions are one of the major driving forces behind global warming. Thus, it is paramount that as many trees as possible stay healthy and alive in order to function as CO2 emission sponges and slow down further climate changes.
What is known as "rice blight" is a dreaded plant disease that endangers rice harvests throughout the whole of South-East Asia, especially India, as well as large parts of Africa and can thus lead to great hardship amongst the local population. The disease is caused by the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae oryzae.
Few organisms can survive on their own, many live in symbiosis with others, some of which are parasitic. Dodder, a parasitic vine of the genus Cuscuta, grows rapidly, entwining and parasitizing its host plants by inserting haustoria (a special organ that only parasitic plants have that functions analogue to roots) into the host plants’ stems. The dodder vines often connect different host plants together and form a network.
The health of an ecosystem is founded on the complex interplay between its numerous inhabitants over a prolonged period of time. Therefore, assessing the state of an ecosystem solely on the basis of short-term changes in the number of different species it contains can lead to false conclusions.
The industrial biotechnology company evoxx technologies GmbH has become a part of the leading specialty biotech company Advanced Enzyme Technologies Limited. Both companies announced on August 1 that they have entered into a binding agreement about the acquisition of 100% stake in evoxx technologies.
The rice husks replace a part of the rubber used for the outsoles, thereby decreasing the quantity of petroleum-based rubber in the shoe. Compared to conventional products, the `Re-Suede´ reduces CO2 emissions by 80%. This is because not just the outsole is made from waste materials. The synthetic Ultrasuede upper material is also comprised of recycled polyester fibres. The remake of Puma’s classic trainer ‘Suede’ was designed as an eco-product based mainly on recycling.
Transforming old coffee into new products - that is the idea behind the products of the Berlin start-up Kafform. On offer: coffee cups and saucers, that consist of 40% recycled coffee grounds. Each cup is made of 60 grams of coffee grounds, which is equivalent to eight cups of coffee. Other ingredients are plant fibers and a resin made of biopolymers.
The European Commission's Bioeconomy Knowledge Centre (BKC) was launched on 20 July 2017 in Brussels and is to function as a central knowledge hub regarding the topic of bioeconomy. It is an online platform that aims to provide knowledge and help users to identify the knowledge they really need, but also transforms these specific knowledge needs back to the knowledge producers, thereby making knowledge available to EU policymakers and stakeholders.