Wormfood archive

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this edition of the Wormfood News Digest, we track the development of many important "game-changing" news stories, including the foundation of an asteroid-mining company, China's decision to construct two mega-dams, Google's plan for self-driving cars, and so much more...

Global News

The iconic white-capped volcano known as Popocatepetl, located less than a two-hour drive from Mexico City, awoke in April after more than a decade of silence. Spurting lava and steam for kilometres, the volcano threatens to dump ash on the more than 25 million people that live within a 100km radius.

Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to win $500 billion in investment for Russian offshore field development over 30 years to tap the country's full energy potential with the help of foreign expertise. There will also be tax breaks and other incentives.

Business & Economy

A group of US billionaires - including director James Cameron and the co-founders of internet search company Google - have announced plans to mine asteroids in space for resources such as ice, fuel and precious minerals.

If the damages related to climate change mount in the coming decades, insurance companies may face the prospect of paying larger disaster claims and being dragged into global warming lawsuits. But many firms, as this report shows, have barely begun to confront the risks.

Spain has joined seven other euro-zone nations in recession, according to datareleased Monday, providing new evidence that austerity policies are failing to spark confidence in the region's economies ahead of a week of expected anti-austerity protests and a string of important national elections.

Energy & Environment

The government of China is planning to construct two hydro dams, each of which will be twice as large the Three Gorges dam; currently the largest power station, in terms of installed capacity.

In its quest to find new sources of energy, China is increasingly looking to its western provinces. But the nation’s push to develop fossil fuel and alternative sources has so far ignored a basic fact — western China simply lacks the water resources needed to support major new energy development.

A new study published in the journal Science suggests that the cycle of evaporation and rainfall over the world’s oceans has accelerated 4 percent in the last half-century as a result of global warming, a development that could portend more extreme weather in the decades to come.

Science, Technology, & Design

The most transparent, lightweight and flexible material ever for conducting electricity has been invented by a team from the University of Exeter. Due to these multi-dimensional improvements, this finding could revolutionize the electronics industry.

Search engine giant Google Inc. thinks self-driving cars can be on U.S. roads in the next few years and is in talks with automakers to roll out the technology. Google is already talking with auto-makers, insurance companies, and suppliers. See the video of one of these cars in action!

The aim of the new "Wind Challenger Project" is to substantially reduce fuel consumption by large merchant vessels. Next generation cargo ship with 50m high sails uses 30% less fuel

Urban Environment

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. recently announced the successful development of the world's first technology to detect the potential for traffic congestion and determine whether the driving pattern of the vehicle is likely to create traffic jams.

To eliminate landfills and encourage local agriculture, a new program lets residents exchange their recyclable trash in exchange for credits with nearby farms.

Unexpected and Intriguing

Why are some people more religious than others? Answers to this question often focus on the role of culture or upbringing. While these influences are important, new research suggests that whether we believe may also have to do with how much we rely onintuition versus analytical thinking.

A new report shows that psychedelic drugs may work by dialing down brain activity in control centers, contrary to popular belief that drugs stimulate and speed up brain activity.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl. Read past Wormfood global news reports here.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this edition, we include many notable science and technology news updates such as Google's augmented reality project, new farming systems for significant water reduction, and new software that intelligently supplies power to electric vehicles. In addition to this, we keep you updated on key global, economic, and environmental news developments.

Global News

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck near the Chilean capital, causing hundreds of people to flee from buildings in Santiago in panic.

Earlier this week, an offshore earthquake measured at 7.0-magnitude earthquake has shaken Papua New Guinea, according to the US Geological Survey.

North Korea accused the U.S. of hostility on Tuesday for suspending an agreement to provide food aid following Pyongyang’s widely criticized rocket launch, and warned ofretaliatory measures in response.

Business & Economy

At the recent TEDMED conference, leaders in health-care infrastructure compiled a very interesting list of top problems that will be facing doctors, health care systems, pharma, and biotech organisations in the next century.

A new study is putting a number on the value of the world’s oceans. The report, which was presented at the Planet Under Pressure conference in London, estimates that if human impacts on the ocean continue unabated, the cost to the world’s economy will be $428 billion per year by 2050, and $1.979 trillion per year by 2100.

Energy & Environment

U.S. consumers want to buy environmentally friendly products, but so far they haven’t been doing that on a large scale. In the midst of the economic crisis, a host ofcompanies and nonprofits are trying to use new technology — from smartphones to social networking — to make it easier for buyers to make the green choice.

The UK has re-launched a £1 billion ($1.6 billion) competition to promote the large-scale adoption of carbon-capture technology, an investment that government officials hope will make the UK a global leader in the emerging low-carbon energy sector.

As globalized supply chains make the origins of the food you eat so murky, companies are investing in technology to track the exact places its ingredients were grown by looking at their molecules.

Science, Technology, & Design

Google has started working on "Project Glass" - an augmented reality interface that "helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment" See the videohere.

With water efficiency in mind, Dubai-based Agricel recently launched a farming system that uses a film-like material instead of soil and allows farmers to use 90 percent less water.

NASA has developed a system capable of growing large amounts of algae for biofuel production within a network of floating plastic bags, an innovation its developers say could ultimately produce a new fuel source.

Urban Environment

No more guessing about what the impact of improvements to cities might be. Now urban planners have software to fully visualize what will happen when projects become reality.

Can power companies handle every car owner plugging in at the same time?Probably not, but new software will let the company figure out which cars need charging most so that everyone is powered up by morning.

Unexpected and Intriguing

Fiddle with a goat’s genes a little and all of a sudden its milk has some impressive properties. One lab in Texas has a herd of a goats that can cure malaria a lot cheaper than the drugs big pharma pumps out.

Will it be just like a walk through an Ikea store? Will there be meatballs? Finally, details emerge from the furniture company’s urban planning scheme.

Watch this time-lapsed video of one of the country’s largest and least sustainable cities as it inexorably expands and sucks up the resources around it.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl. Read past Wormfood global news reports here.

Dear fellow Digesters,

This edition of the Wormfood News Digest covers important updates on the Syrian conflict, the first published World Happiness Report, a full range of scientific advancements, and several very interesting and highly unusual news stories. Enjoy!

Global News

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is preparing to unveil a missile capable of striking mainland U.S., according to government sources in neighbouring South Korea.

The US has recently suspended food aid to North Korea because Pyongyang has broken its promise to refrain from missile launches, and japan has promised to deploy guided-missile destroyers to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it falls toward Japanese territory

Syria has pledged to withdraw all military units from towns by April 10 to pave the way for a ceasefire with rebels two days later, though Western envoys were skeptical on Monday about Damascus’ intent to halt its year-long assault on opponents.

The United States says the U.N. Security Council must respond urgently and seriously if Syria fails to keep its pledge to halt offensive military operations by April 10.

Business & Economy

A surge in gas and oil drilling in the U.S. is helping drive the economic recoveryand is enhancing energy security. But as the situation in Ohio shows, cheaper energy prices and the focus on fossil fuels has been bad news for the renewable energy industry.

The first ever World Happiness Report, published by Columbia University's Earth Institute, reflects a new worldwide demand for more attention to happiness in addition to existing economic indicators for prosperity.

Energy & Environment

A new study finds that even low doses of hormone-disrupting chemicals — used in everything from plastics to pesticides – can have serious effects on human health. These findings, the researchers say, point to the need for basic changes in how chemical safety testing is conducted.

For decades, farm bills in the U.S. Congress have supported large-scale agriculture. But with the 2012 Farm Bill now up for debate, advocates say seismic shifts in the way the nation views food production may lead to new policies that tilt more towardlocal, sustainable agriculture.

The Planet under Pressure Conference has ended with 6 key declarations focusing on the increasing need for science to take a more central role in shaping and influencing policy discussions ahead of Rio+20.

Science, Technology, & Design

In a recent paper, researchers from MIT reported successful tests in mice with a new drug that holds the promise of being a cure to all viruses. The drug, "DRACO" works as a broad-spectrum antiviral, killing virus-hijacked cells by targeting double-stranded RNA produced in the viral replication process.

A replacement limb that moves, feels and responds just like flesh and blood. It’s the holy grail of prosthetics research. The Pentagon’s invested millions to make it happen. But now a team of scientists believe they’ve overcome that massive barrier.

UCLA Researchers have exploited a recently-discovered mammalian system for the mitochondrial import of nuclear-encoded RNA to import, express, and demonstrate functional protein translation from engineered mRNA and tRNA constructs. In plain English - this is a breakthrough for extending life in a big way!

Urban Environment

A Dutch company says it can add infrastructure to expanding coastal cities with adjustable floating pieces that could change with different municipal needs. Bring your life jackets!

U.S. scientists have developed a fuel cell capable of converting 13 percent of the energy found in sewage into electricity, a process that its developers say could also more efficiently treat municipal wastewater.

If the ET3 company can get its proposed maglev tube system off the ground, science fiction could become reality, with travel times between New York and Beijing being around 2 hours.

Unexpected and Intriguing

A New Jersey middle school has banned hugging to prevent excessive physical contact between students.

Doctors in the US say new study involving weight-loss surgery has shown dramaticresults.

What would a city look like if the ocean rose 200 feet? Not like much of a city at all. Check out these maps of the island community that S.F. could be in the future.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl. Read past Wormfood global news reports here.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this edition of the Wormfood News Digest, we bring you a number of exciting news updates from around the world, including the conviction of warlord Thomas Lubanga, two important developments in the agricultural sector, a breakthrough in stem cell research, and much more!

Global News

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday warned Iran that the window for diplomacy to solve a nuclear showdown was "shrinking," stiffening his rhetoric ahead of looming new talks on the issue.

In the same week as the viral "KONY 2012" video, the ICC made a critical and historic ruling with the conviction of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga. The ruling firmly establishes as an international crime the use of children in war — a practice that still enslaves tens of thousands of the young.

Business & Economy

India Plans To Create 12 Times The Number Of Colleges As The U.S. By 2020. Thanks to progressive polices and globalization, India has reduced poverty and helped its middle class thrive. But now, the country faces a seemingly insurmountable task: educate a generation of workers over the next decade to compete in a global workforce.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in South Africa as a trade union federation called a nationwide strike to demonstrate for improved worker rights. The country's system of casual labour, known as "labour broking" in which middlemen act between employers and workers, amounts to "modern day slavery".

Energy & Environment

Essentient, a new start up in the US is testing a system that maximizes nutritional production on minimal arable land. Their "nutriculture" technique combines protein science, a molecular understanding of nutrition, and low-cost, sustainable production systems, all in an attempt to improve agriculture-based systems

A team of Australian scientists involving the University of Adelaide has bred salt tolerance into a variety of durum wheat that shows improved grain yield by 25% on salty soils.

Twin Creeks Technologies—a startup has developed a way to make thin wafers of crystalline silicon that it says could cut the cost of making first generation silicon solar cells in half.

Science, Technology, & Design

Teenager makes important discovery in unlocking potential pathways for breast cancer treatment, Wins 2012 Intel Science Talent Search and $100,000.

Researchers at the UCLA stem cell center and the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and pathology and laboratory medicine have identified, for the first time, a generic way to correct mutations in human mitochondrial DNA by targeting corrective RNAs, a finding with implications for treating a host of mitochondrial diseases.

A new technique called Transcranial Direct Stimulation is a controversial way of boosting learning capability, and while bioethicists are debating whether or not it's ethical to use it to enhance learning in children, hobbyists have figured out how to try it out athome.

Urban Environment

The winner of a biomimicry design challenge solves the problem of keeping houses cool in the desert by looking to the animal that already has a house that’s been working perfectly for millennia.

The era of truly autonomous automobiles might be right around the corner. And in anticipation, Peter Stone, a professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, has designed a new kind of traffic intersection for them.

According to a recent report, by 2050, there is a 1 in 6 chance a storm could force water above the 4 foot level in Southern Florida. That would mean that 3.7 millionAmericans living in urban areas would be under water.

Unexpected and Intriguing

Leveraging the power of the social network, a new startup wants to eliminate the blood shortages that plague the developing world by connecting people directly to others with their same blood type.

Around the World Without a Drop Of Gasoline – Solar-Powered Catamaran Nears End Of More Than Two Years At Sea

For all men: a more healthful diet will not only help you get fitter, but, new research indicates, it might also increase the odds that your sperm are in better shape, too.:

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl. Read past Wormfood global news reports here.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this edition of the Wormfood News Digest, we bring you a number of exciting news updates from around the world, including the result of the Russian Presidential election, the discovery of our oldest ancestor, new Chinese designs for super-busses, and a promising experiment for carbon sequestration.

Global News

Russia's recent presidential elections were "clearly skewed" in favour of Vladimir Putin and "lacked fairness", international election monitors have reported as Putin celebrated returning to the Kremlin for a third term.

The U.S.-North Korea announcement of an agreement to freeze North Korea's nuclear activities in exchange for food aid was seen in Washington as a promising first step toward discussing nuclear disarmament. North Korea's military, meanwhile, repeated threats of a "merciless sacred war" against South Korea

Israel's prime minister, has stated his country's right to defend itself against the possible threat of a nuclear-armed Iran and said "all options on table and containment arenot an option" after talks on Iran with Barack Obama this week.

Business & Economy

Resource Efficiency and a Circular Economy could save up to 3.7 trillion. Resource productivity improvements, using existing technology, could satisfy nearly 30 percent of demand in 2030. Just 15 areas, from more energy-efficient buildings to improved irrigation, could deliver 75 percent of the potential for higher resource productivity.

Since 2010, Chinese companies have invested more than $17 billion into oil and gas deals in the U.S. and Canada, giving their energy-thirsty nation a long-coveted foothold in a region known for innovative new drilling techniques.

Energy & Environment

Recent satellite data reveals that the scope of China's pollution problem issignificantly worse than originally thought.

It is a pattern seen in various parts of the world — children being sickened from exposure to lead from mining activities. But the scale of the problem in Nigeria’s gold-mining region of Zamfara is unprecedented: More than 400 children have died and thousands more have been severely poisoned by exposure to lead dust.

The long-held contention that rural forest communities are the prime culprits in tropical forest destruction is increasingly being discredited, as evidence mounts that the best way to protect rainforests is to involve local residents in sustainable management.

Science, Technology, & Design

British and Canadian researchers have confirmed that a 505 million-year-old creature is the most primitive known vertebrate - and therefore the ancestor of us all.

Scientists have observed a cloud of dark matter with characteristics that challenge fundamental physics. The cloud has a bit of stickiness to it that wasn't expected, and that stickiness is vital to understanding how galaxies like our own Milky Way come together.

A thin layer of Oxygen has been discovered on one of Saturn's moons, Dione. The discovery is important because it suggests there is a process at work around the solar system's gas giants. It seems that highly charged particles from the planets' powerful radiation belts split the water in the ice into hydrogen and oxygen.

Urban Environment

In order to wean people off of cars, the Chinese cities of Beijing and Hangzhou are taking delivery of mega-busses that are designed to maximize passenger capacity, minimize traffic interference, and dramatically reduce cost.

Set to be the largest public food forest in the country, Seattle's new Beacond Food Forest will feature chestnuts, walnuts, apple and mulberry trees, berry shrubs, vegetables, edible arboretums, community garden plots, and tree patches (garden plots containing trees).

In a new experiment, Iceland is looking to replace its smokestacks with well injectors to permanently sequester its carbon dioxide emissions. Researchers are now pumping CO2 underground in a process that will convert the greenhouse gas into rock. This technique may be a model for other power plants and factories to control their emissions, creating a climate change solution literally set in stone.

Unexpected and Intriguing

WikiCells is a new way to keep your food fresh and stop plastic waste: Make food packaging edible--and even part of the seasoning of the food.

A collection of 13 new studies about Titan show previously undetected craters and river deltas, and provide extremely highly detaield maps of its surface and interior.

A new report is out that monitors antibiotic resistance in animals, retail meat and people, and the news is not good. The report notes a number of instances where either the percentage of bacteria that are antibiotic resistant, or the complexity of the resistance, is rising.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl. Read past Wormfood global news reports here.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this edition, we cover updates on the Syrian crisis, new austerity legislation in Greece, tech solutions for tackling e-waste, a variety of strategies for a changing urban environment, and more...

Global News

Business & Economy

Energy & Environment

Science, Technology, & Design

Urban Environment

Unexpected and Intriguing

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this edition, we cover many exciting global developments over the past few weeks, including the crackdown on internet piracy and the spread of censorship online, the results of the Egyptian election, an update on the euro debt crisis, advice for joggers, and so much more...

Global News

European Union governments have released new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme last week, which include plans to phase in an oil embargo.

The sanctions follow financial punishments signed into law by the United States on December 31 last year and will mainly target the oil sector, which accounts for some 90 per cent of Iranian exports to the European Union

Two Islamist parties won about 70% of the seats in the Egyptian election for the lower house of parliament, according to electoral commission figures released last Saturday.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won 235 seats and the conservative Al Nour party gained 121 seats in the People's Assembly, according to final results.

A series of bombings and attacks claimed by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram has left at least 120 dead and many more injured in northern Nigeria's largest city, witnesses and the Red Cross have said.

Turkey has threatened retaliatory measures against France following a French senate vote approving a bill that would outlaw denial that the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 constituted genocide.

Business & Economy

President Barack Obama offered Americans a populist economic vision in his State of the Union address last Tuesday, seeking to draw a contrast with his eventual Republican rival and demonstrating the widening policy gulf between the two political parties.

The dramatic, unexpected shutdown of Megaupload last week - which had 180 million registered users and more than 50 million daily visitors - might have a chilling effect on the growing online storage industry, which some people place in the "cloud computing" business.

Two themes seem set to dominate this year's gathering of the World Economic Forum - Gloom over Europe, and Asia's continued rise. The general gloom about Europe should be tempered by the more positive mood in emerging economies—even if growth has slowed slightly from recent years.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos headed for Brussels last Sunday to negotiate a new bailout for his country after weekend talks with private creditors over a planned debt restructuring neared a deal, and following a renewed commitment by political leaders in Athens to pursue fresh reforms.

Energy & Environment

The US state department has formally recommended the rejection of a controversial crude oil pipeline. Barack Obama said he was disappointed that the deadline set by Republicans in Congress had caused the state department to reject the project before afull study could be undertaken.

A genetically modified strain of common gut bacteria may lead to a new technology for making biofuels that does not compete with food crops for arable acreage

Can The World’s Volcanoes Be Used As Power Plants? This summer, scientists will begin pumping water into the sides of a dormant volcano in Oregon at pressures great enough to cause small earthquakes. It’s not the start of an evil plot--it may be a genius way to make geothermal energy viable.

"Confessions of a recovering environmentalist" is a thought provoking essay on thedangers of the sustainability movement.

Science, Technology, & Design

If you’re a runner, start striking with your forefoot. And wear those goofy minimalist shoes while you’re at it. Your body will thank you.

Kim Dotcom, the founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, insists he is innocent after police raided his mansion last Friday and removed him from a safe roomwhere they say he barricaded himself.

Twitter came out with some plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws. Twitter, since its launch in 2006, has been a central instrument of communication and organisation for protestors and activists around the world. The current plan has made triggered much uproar and global outrage.

Urban Environment

One of the most crowded and polluted cities on the planet, Dhaka might not seem like a place for a massive new clean development. And yet, Green Leaf--a new “sustainable garden city”--is currently under construction there.

Sweden is planning on connecting two cities with a major artery that’s for bikes only. This superhighway is wide, spans a long distance, and is made with the cyclingcommuter in mind, not just the recreational weekend biker.

A Seattle-based think tank, released a study this week showing that, in the think tank’s words, "the greenest building is the one that’s already built, in almost every case." It’s something that intuitively makes sense, but up until now, the evidence hasn’t been quantified quite to this extent.

Whether you are looking to eat out or eat in, Real Time Farms allows you to see your food, learn how it was grown and visualize the journey it took to reach your table!

Unexpected and Intriguing

It started peacefully enough: A midday rally at City Hall and a march. But as the day wore on, Oakland was hit by the most turbulent protests in weeks as Occupy demonstrators clashed repeatedly with police, leaving more than 400 people arrested

Over the last few weeks, GOP Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has been repeatedly saying he wants to send Americans past our lower Earth orbit prison, to apermanent settlement on the Moon "by the end of my second term".

A Montreal couple and their son have been convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of four family members in a case the judge called "despicable," "heinous," and stemming from "a completely twisted concept of honour."

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Dear fellow Digesters,

The commencement of the new year has already seen a number of important developments, forecasts, and strategies on how to move civilization forward in 2012.

In this edition, we provide you with an update on the Middle-East, recent economic and political movements, exciting technological achievements, and a variety of other stories from around the world.

Global News

Libya's new leaders have been given more time to answer questions about Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam. Saif al-Islam has been held captive since November, without much access to the outside world. The International Criminal Court (ICC) wants to know how he is being treated and if he should stand trial in the Hague.

In a blistering attack on those who criticize his security forces’ deadly crackdown on dissent, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad laid all the blame on “a conspiracy of outsiders” for the prolonged unrest in his country. The UN chief demands Assad to 'stop the killing'

A series of car and roadside bombs strike Ramadi, west of Baghdad, in an alleged attempt to free al-Qaeda prisoners.

As tensions continue to grow between ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Israeli state, historian Yehuda Bauer discusses Jewish identity and extremism in a region where there are as many versions of history as there are people telling them.

Energy & Environment

As climate change alters the temperatures of reptile habitats around the globe, tests of one lizard species suggests warmer nests could make some reptiles smarter.

More than a billion people worldwide lack access to electricity. The best way to bring it to them — while reducing greenhouse gas emissions — is to launch a global initiative to provide solar panels and other forms of distributed renewable power to poor villages and neighborhoods.

The Japanese government is launching a large-scale cleanup of the fields, forests, and villages contaminated by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. But some experts caution that an overly aggressive remediation program could create a host of other environmental problems.

Business & Economy

According to the Economist, with a little less ineptness the world economy could muddle through. There is no excuse for the lack of clarity around the euro zone’s future, nor for America’s fiscal paralysis. Europeans do not need to compound the peripheral economies’ problems with even deeper austerity. A more calibrated approach with more financing and more structural reforms makes far more sense.

Obama has unveiled a new trajectory for the US military: one that refocuses the armed forces on threats in Asia and the Pacific region, continues a strong presence in the Middle East but makes clear that American ground forces will no longer be large enough to conduct prolonged, large-scale counterinsurgencycampaigns like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Saturday marked a major victory for opponents of proposed anti-piracy legislation as the White House stated that it will not support SOPA and PIPA. Meanwhile, Dutch and German governments have jumped ahead of the proposed SOPA bill by blocking whole websites.

Science, Technology, & Design

A total of 577,190 deaths from cancer are projected to occur in the U.S. in 2012. Between 1990/1991 and 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, overall death rates decreased by about 23% in men and 15% in women. This translates to more than 1 million deaths from cancer that were avoided.

Researchers from the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative(NUSNNI) have developed the world's first energy-storage membrane. It is claimed to hold 20 times the charge of a traditional lithium ion battery and to be ten times cheaper. How fast can this technology with superior charasteristics be scaled up to large scale commercialization ?

EOS Energy Storage is developing a high-energy rechargeable zinc-air battery for use in the grid. It’s expected to store three times the energy of lithium-ion batteries for half the cost. Initial manufacturing is expected next year with megawatt-scale systems delivery is anticipated for 2013.

Urban Environment

Super-fast, beautifully-designed trains are the all the rage again in China, but safety, pricing, and technology concerns now need to be bumped to country's rail priority list to make it work.

Davy Smith Architects transformed an oddly shaped triangular lot into a modern affordable housing complex lined with Europe’s tallest living wall!

Bere Architects’ recently constructed London home has four roof gardens, forty trees, ponds, and meadows, among a host of other technologies to maximize its efficiency and ecosystem impact.

Unexpected and Intriguing

What happens if you feed a transparent image to Google Image Search and ask it to find similar images - then taking the top result and feeding it back into the similarity algorithm, 2951 times? Here is a video of just that, which is a wonderful look at an evolutionary process.

A luxury hotel built on a former aircraft carrier in North China's Tianjin municipality will hold its grand opening at the end of January, 2012.

A London-based designer has reused discarded leather belts for a beautiful flooring solution, reworked into 12- and 18-inch square tiles. Each belt is hand selected to ensure a high grade of leather and then the belts are stripped of their metals, hand cleaned with chemical free substances and prepared for use.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Happy New Year fellow Digesters,

This year saw the rise of a new country, the fall of long-time leaders, and numerous tragedies and triumphs in between. In addition to covering the latest developments around the world, we cover many of the top stories of 2011 from here.

In global news, North Korea is under new leadership, Syrian violence continues despite international pressure, and the Jamaican opposition party has reclaimed leadership in their recent general elections.

Kim Jong Un, the new Supreme Leader of North Korea has warned South Korea and"other foolish politicians around the world" should not expect it to change its policies, a day after the reclusive state finished the mourning period for its late leader Kim Jong-il.

The presence of Arab League monitors in Syria has re-energized the anti-government protest movement, with tens of thousands turning out over the past three days in cities and neighbourhoods where the observers are expected to visit. The huge rallies have been met by lethal gunfire from security forces apparently worried about multiple mass sit-ins modeled after Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Jamaican opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller has reclaimed leadership of the country in a dramatic political comeback. The ruling Labour party conceded defeat on Thursday after winning just 22 of the 63 parliamentary seats at stake in the general election.

Top stories in the past few weeks include China's plan to use pollution-free fuel for its future rockets, research points to the impact of climate shifts on mass extinction.

In a white paper that described China space programme’s five-year plan, a China National Space Administration (CNSA) pronounced a Long March-5 rockets “will use non-toxic and pollution-free propellant”. This would catch up to Russian and American rockets that have been using non-toxic fuel for a few decades.

Warming temperatures associated with climate change are already affecting vineyards from France to Chile, often in beneficial ways. But as the world continues to warm, some traditional winemaking regions are scrambling to adapt, while other areas see themselves as new wine frontiers.

Paleo research shows that the five true mass extinction events in Earth´s history can all be linked to large climatic shifts, mostly as a consequence of rare geological events, like the breakup or collision of continents.

In recent financial news, the euro continues its steady decline in value, while Facebook and Google are growing enormously.

The euro hit a 15-month low against the dollar. While the wholesale crash of the common currency that some have predicted hasn't arrived, many are calling for furtherdeclines early in 2012.

Google Inc. is adding 625,000 new users a day to the Google+ social-networking service, which may total 400 million members by the end of next year, according to independent analysis of its growth.

In a victory for refiners and ethanol producers, a federal judge halted enforcement of California's low-carbon fuel rules, saying they discriminated against crude oil and ethanol imported into the state.

As they gear up for their initial public offering, Facebook executives have held a new round of meetings, where hundreds of millions of dollars in potential fees and bragging rights on the line. Facebook's stock sale could be as big as $10 billion, valuing the company at $100 billion or more.

In science news, a new design for a flying wind farm takes flight, an energy-absorbing wheel is tested, and a book has been puclished predicting the biggest scientific advances in the next decade.

The Institute for the Future has published "A Multiverse of Exploration - The Future of Science 2021" which looks at some of the edgiest science research being conducted and developed in the next decade.

The Energy Return Wheel is another concept of a non-pneumatic tire. As its name implies, the ERW spins shock absorption events into a modicum of forward motion.

A time-lapse photo shows the flight path of an airborne wind turbine. The vehicle is tethered to a converted fire engine during a test in a remote area of Sherman Island, California.

This edition of urban environment news looks at an earthquake-proof building design, the world's new fastest train, and chameleon homes that blend into their environment.

Earthquake-proof architecture is a reality for many new urban development projects around the world. This new building in California showcases suspended meeting rooms.

A new wave of residential architecture is sweeping the U.S. with homes that blend so well into their locations they're sometimes hard to see. The architects aim to create homes that connect to their surroundings, using local materials and ideas that borrow from the region's historical structures.

The first test train that can reach speeds of up to 500 km/h stands on a railway line in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Thursday. Many high-tech materials, including carbon fiber, magnesium alloy and sound insulation materials, have been used in the train.

This section looks at some of the mezmerizing headlines from 2011, including a stunning photo gallery, and political humour.

2011 was a year of double takes in photo fakery. This photo gallery shows the top digitally altered images that made headlines in fashion and world politics.

Boston Globe's Big Picture features a 3-part set of amazing images from 2011,capturing the death of Gaddafi, the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the passing of Apple icon Steve Jobs, fire, famine, flood and protests

Teens React to Rick Perry's anti-gay commercial

Dear fellow Digesters,

As 2011 nears an end, we bring you the top stories making news around the world. This edition includes Canada's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, England's veto on European Union treaty, an update from scientists at CERN, Time Magazine's "Person of the Year", and much more.

Top news developments from around the globe include demonstrations in Russia, an unexpected outburst of violence in Belgium, and an update on the situation in Syria.

Russia's December 4 parliamentary vote has prompted mass demonstrations over allegations of electoral fraud and, in part, due to public frustration with former president and now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's decision to run again for president in March.Russia's third richest man has moved to challenge Vladimir Putin for the presidency, prompting speculation that the surprise move could be part of a Kremlin attempt to manage growing middle-class opposition to Mr Putin's regime.

A gunman opened fire on passers-by and threw grenades in a central square of the Belgian city of Liege, before apparently killing himself. Late on Tuesday a Liege hospital announced that a 17-month-old girl had become the fourth victim of the shooting spree, after two teenage boys and a 75-year-old woman were earlier confirmed killed. Officials said at least 120 others were also wounded in the attack, which occurred 90km east of Brussels.

Syrian army defectors killed seven government security forces in an attack on a convoy Tuesday. The group said security forces had opened fire "indiscriminately" in the villages of Maarat Masreen and Kafr Bahmoul near the city of Idlib, killing 11 and wounding many others.

Canada's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol ironically coincides with a report warning of global warming trends. And for those celebrating Christmas, we look at the environmental costs of Christmas trees.

Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by 49 per cent in the last two decades, stated in a report from the University of East Anglia.

Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, the country's minister of the environment has said, making it the first nation to pull out of the global treaty.

Fake Christmas trees might be convenient and seem eco-friendly at first glance, but their environmental costs—measured in greenhouse gas emissions and landfill space—far outweigh their benefits, say conservationists who urge consumers to "stay real" this holiday season.

In financial news, European leaders are at odds over the eurozone, secret Fed loans gave banks $13 Billion undisclosed to the US congress, and comedian Stephen Colbert prompts a referendum on corporate personhood.

The leaders of France and Germany will not leave the negotiating table until a "powerful deal" to bolster the eurozone is agreed, France's finance minister said as the threat of a British veto of proposed changes to the European Union treaty clouded last week's crucial summit in Brussels. David Cameron, Britain's prime minister, has told the UK parliament he was right to reject proposed changes to the European treaty.

The US Federal Reserve failed to disclose which banks were in troubleso deep that they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates

Stephen Colbert, American comedy TV host, political journalist, and infiltrator managed to get a referendum question placed questioning corporate personhood. This move is a major breakthrough in politics and governance in itself, and the question asked is a fundamental choice that impacts all of our society, which needs to be asked. Watch the full TV episode here.

In science news, researchers at CERN provide an update on their search for the Higgs boson particle, and a new study looks at consumption trends in developed countries.

The Higgs boson fills in the missing chapter in the "Standard Model" of physics, a collection of theories which amount to accepted wisdom about the behaviour of particles and the make-up of the Universe. While the experiments on the Large Hadron Collider this week have not revealed the particle, scientistssay they have found encouraging signs of its existence.

The Australian government will begin imposing a tax on carbon emissions in mid-2012. But large giveaways to industry mean Australia’s scheme doesn’t go nearly far enough in reducing the nation’s CO2 emissions or providing economic stimulus.

A new study finds that Britons are consuming less than they did a decade ago, with similar patterns being seen across Europe. Could this be the beginning of a trend in developed countries? Might we be reaching “peak stuff”?

This edition of urban environment news looks at how New York is re-zoning to promote green buildings, what Washington would look like without public transit, and some of the top design trends in the urban environment in 2011.

New York has created new zoning rules, now officially under review for approval, that combat the current zoning's sometimes impeding effect on green building. The city's roughly one million buildings cost $15 billion a year to power and heat and account for80% of the city's greenhouse gas emissions. The changes will promote the installation of solar panels on rooftops, which will reduce electrical bills and carbon emissions.

Antos, a transportation analyst for Washington DC, has been managing a study that models transit in the D.C. area, and what would happen without it. People, it turns out, do something very interesting. They stop making long car trips because the traffic is so bad.. "The congestion was forcing people to regress into a more local economy," Antos says.

The strongest design trends of the past year are direct and smart responses to shifting priorities occasioned by tough economic conditions and anxious times. See thetop 10 designs of 2011.

In the past two weeks, Time Magazine has released their "Person of the Year", scientists show us a rare glimpse at a supernova, and a spoken word artist gives an inspiring performance about society's behaviour on our planet.

"Who Cares About This Planet?" is a spoken word poem that expresses this conflict between concern and ignorance for our planet, written and performed by Made Wade.

Time magazine has chosen the protester as its person of the year, in tribute to the popular demonstrations that defined 2011.

A supernova 21 million light years away has offered a rare glimpse of how exploding stars can breathe life into the universe. Scientists captured images of the titanic blast just 11 hours after the explosion in an outer spiral arm of the Pinwheel Galaxy in the Great Bear constellation.

In addition to sharing news stories that are actively shaping our world, the Wormfood News Digest intends to highlight projects and initiatives that contribute to a sustainable society. As 2011 comes to a close, Except has just released two inspiring publications that are dedicated to exploring sustainable innovation - and they are both available to download!

What is an energy neutral home? What are the benefits? The costs? What are the choices? What does it look like? And what kind of people live there? "Huis Vol Energie" is a book filled with examples, inspiration, interviews tips and technical details: a book filled with energy!

From eco-houses and neighborhoods to streetlamps on moonlight, social innovations, and urban agriculture, "Greenprint" features over 150 pages of innovations in our homes, cities and daily life, and shows how sustainability can change your world from the smallest to the biggest scale. 

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people.  Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this edition of the Wormfood News Digest, we cover the latest political developments in the Middle East, financial developments in Europe, an array of exciting new technological developments, and more.

Developments in the Middle East dominate headlines this week as Egypt heads to the polls, Saif-al-Islam is detained in Libya, and sanctions against Syria come after months of violent attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators.

Muammar Gaddafi's son and one-time heir apparent Saif al-Islam has been detained in the southern desert, Libya's interim justice minister and other officials have said.

Saif al-Islam was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in June on crimes against humanity charges relating to the Gaddafi regime's efforts to put down the uprising. Libya's prime minister has promised a fair trial.

Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has apologised for the deaths of demonstrators during six straight days of anti-military rallies. The apology came amid a tense calm across the country following street battles which left 36 people dead and more than 3,000 wounded.

Meanwhile, this week Egypt's first free elections for decades has entered a second day, with turnout so far described as "very high"

A leaked memo shows that the banking world takes OWS seriously enough to suggest an $850.000 smear campaign.

In recent envrionrmental news, we look at the Chinese influence on illegal harvesting of wood, an interactive website that reveals remarkable insights on your consumer lifestyle, and a look at what post-carbon harvesting machinery might look like.

Anthropocene mapping shows the extent of human's habitation over the surface of the Earth. The amazing video can be seen here.

A new website and mobile app looks at your purchases and determines the amount of forced labor that’s gone into everything you own. The number may surprise you. Take the survey and find out!

What might agriculture machines look like in a post-fossil fuel world? What machines do we need to do sustainable farming, while creating a food surplus? (article is in Dutch)

More than half of the timber now shipped globally is destined for China. But unscrupulous Chinese companies are importing huge amounts of illegally harvested wood, prompting conservation groups to step up boycotts against rapacious timber interests.

Bolstering of the ongoing European debt crisis remains the center of focus for financial institutions around the world, while strikes in Britain this week adds to the wave of social unrest barreling through Europe.

Eurozone ministers have met in Brussels this week, and have agreed on options to give the rescue fund more leverage power and build up resources to help bigger troubled European Union members such as Italy and Spain.

Border workers joined teachers and hospital staff in Britain on Wednesday for a public-sector strike over government spending cuts they say will make them pay more and work longer for their pensions, but airline travel has so far been unaffected in the one-day walkout.

Central banks from developed nations Wednesday took coordinated action to shore up the global financial system as Europe's rolling debt crisis continues to trouble markets. The purpose of these actions is to ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity

In this edition of science and technology news, we explore technologies that allow us to see in new ways - from inside buildings to the surface of another planet.

One of the most ancient forms of scientific investigation, the post-mortem autopsy, may be ripe for a technological upgrade. Computerised tomography (CT) uses X-rays to collect information from many angles, and a lot of processing power to convert that information into cross-sectional images of a body’s inner tissues.

Google Maps 6.0 for Android launched Tuesday with a bold initiative: indoor mapping. Partnering at launch with a selection of businesses and public service structures, the new mobile Maps version allows users to see the entire layout of a mapped building, switch between floor plans if the structure has multiple levels, and locate indoor points of interest like retail stores, bathrooms and ATMs.

This edition of urban environment news looks at some interesting solutions to using space and infrastructure more intelligently to better service the needs of urban dwellers.

Eight million people living in Kenya’s slums lack access to adequate sanitation, but a new solution is changing this rapidly. Low-cost sanitation centers, each one designed to service 77 people with hot showers and clean toilets. These centers are then franchised to local entrepreneurs, financed by a local microfinance bank, who earn income through pay-per-use fees, membership plans and sales of additional products.

Households have evolved, but New York’s housing stock hasn’t. New housing models for this changing city offer a fascinating glimpse into how we can use space better and more dynamically.

Bombardier has announced the next generation BOMBARDIER TRAXX diesel electric multi-engine locomotive. The concept, which fulfils the latest emission norms, is based on four diesel-electric engine-generator sets replacing the typical large unit. The concept also allows the implementation of an intelligent engine control system, allowing each engine to be operated independently to maximise fuel efficiency.

In this edition we catch up with the Occupy Wall Street movement, as well as other developments in recent news.

US authorities announced on November 16 the discovery of a "major" drug-smuggling tunnel under the border, running up to 400m long, equipped with electricity supplies and a ventilation system.

A group of Mexican activists has lodged a war-crimes complaint against President Felipe Calderon at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In this Mid-October edition of the Wormfood News Digest we look at several breaking news stories, including the spread of the Occupy Wall Street protests, future hopes for solar energy in the United States, the influence of China in the EU debt crisis, the discovery of titanium ores on the moon, and so much more.

Among the major developments in global news over the past couple of weeks, "occupy" protests are spreading across the world, Syrian troops fire on civilians, and the NTC in Libya are closing in on Gaddafi.

Civilians came under attack from Syrian troops in two communities on Sunday, while another round of mass arrests was carried out in the suburbs of Damascus. Security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for a slain activist in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, witnesses said.

Libya's National Transitional Council says that Muammar Gaddafi, the country's toppled leader, is in the southern desert region of the country, and that it is only a matter of time before he is captured

In this edition of energy and environment news, China sticks to its target for nuclear power by 2015 despite of the Fukushima incident in Japan. Also, economists weigh in on why carbon taxes might be bad, and an insightful look into the Solyndra bankruptcy in the United States.

Carbon tax is an elegant solution to a complicated problem, which allows the everyday business of consumer decision making to do the work of emission reduction. While almost all serious economists think that carbon tax is a good strategy in general, here are some enlightening contrarian points.

Solyndra, a would-be solar energy manufacturer that went belly up, has been in the news a lot lately because, before the company failed, the United States government gave it a sweet financing deal. However, the reason it failed is actually a really good signfor the future of solar energy.

Jiang Kejun, a director of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission, the top Chinese economic planning agency, said that the government was sticking to its target of 50 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2015, compared to just 10.8 gigawatts at the end of last year.

As political pressure in both Europe and the United States is growing to resolve the debt crisis, we take a closer look at the increasingly important role of the Chinese economy in the crisis. Also, an interesting study showing the income disparity between the rich and the rest.

In global news, "Occupy Wall Street" protests are spreading internationally.Justifying their raison d'etre, a recent study shows that the average salary of bankers are five and a half times the average salary in the rest of the private sector.

As the debtor economies of the developed world sputter, the health of China grows ever-more central to the fate of the global economy. China’s model is unbalanced and its economy has misallocated capital, but its policy makers are using the country’s plentiful reserves and policy tools to keep inflation under control and growth on a sustainable path.

US politicians, including President Barack Obama, have been calling on Europe to fix its debt crisis, amid fears it will have a negative impact on the fragile US economy. According to former financial regulators, Goldman Sachs made a dozen derivative deals with Greece a decade ago, writing its debt off its balance sheet for a number of years.

Surprising new science developments this week include a discovery of massive titanium ore deposits on the moon, highly-efficient semiconductor chips, and an ultra-realistic flight simulator technology for fighter pilots.

A new map of the moon has uncovered a trove of areas rich in precious titanium ore, with some lunar rocks harboring 10 times as much of the stuff as rocks here on Earth do.

"Floppy-thin" silicon wafer of power semiconductor chips have been developed this week. This type of power is claimed to possibly reduce global power consumption by 25%

A Belgian company has unveiled the ultimate fighter jet training tool, a fully immersive 360-degree flight simulator designed to reproduce reality exactly as a pilot sees it.

In this edition, two women were seized from the Dadaab refugee camp in Somalia, a look at the growing African middle class, and new designs for a landscape icon.

The shortlist has just been announced for a new pylon design in Britain, a government-sponsored competition run by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Thefinalists have all come up with possible replacements to the 1927 construction of Sir Reginald Blomfeld, which continues to march across the landscape barely changed

Gunmen have kidnapped two Spanish doctors working for the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) near Kenya's border with Somalia. The BBC's Nawaz Shah, in Nairobi, says it is highly likely that the Islamist militants of the Somali al-Shababgroup carried out the kidnapping.

Africa's middle class will triple to more than one billion people in the next half-century, but that still won't suffice to close the gap between the continent and Asia's new economic powers, a report from the African Development Bank says.

A variety of interesting news stories have come up in the past weeks, including the discovery of a cyclops shark, a summary of some (not-so) insightful observations about the Occupy Wall Street protests, and for those of you celebrating halloween - some costume inspiration

A cyclops shark skeleton has been found. Cyclopia is a rare form of holoprosencephaly and is a congenital disorder characterized by the failure of the embryonic prosencephalon to properly divide the orbits of the eye into two cavities.

AHHH! Halloween is coming! If you are in need of inspiration for costume ideas, look nofuther.

The Occupy Wall Street protests are making top headlines everywhere. Here is a collection of some stange and "dumb" things said by several news pundits over the past couple of weeks.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Dear fellow Digesters,

Several important developments in the past weeks are found in this edition of the Wormfood News Digest. Shifting relations in the Middle-East, China's possible role in the European debt crisis, and a look at promising technologies are all covered below.

Of the many developments in global news, a selection of intriguing stories include Middle-East relations and conflict, and an update on Catholic sex abuse scandals.

An international group for victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests has asked the International Criminal Court to prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and three other senior Vatican officials for crimes against humanity.

A trio of attacks targeting Iraqi security forces have killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50 others in locations near the capital Baghdad.

Israel's relations with Turkey have worsened steadily over the past three years, ever since Israel's "Operation Cast Lead". Relations with Egypt have also been rocky in recent months, despite repeated assurances by the interim government in Cairo that it will stand by the 30-year peace treaty between the two countries.

Several new developments in Energy and the Environment include new insights into the ecological damage caused by expanding cities, an update on the BP oil spill, and an initiative from Shell in the Netherlands.

Growth of cities intensify environmental damage, conclude a multi-party team from various research institutes. Threats such as habitat loss, agricultural land conversion, and changes in local and regional climate.

US oil spill panel finds BP guilty of mistakes. A "complacent" attitude to safety and a cost-cutting culture by BP's management and that of its partners contributed to the oil spill that ravaged the Gulf of Mexico last year.

A new Shell initiative aims to promote their shift from its Oil & Gas notoriety toward one focusing R&D on future energy and renewables such as solar PV.

The European debt crisis has taken center stage in the past weeks. While European banks receive persistent scrutiny, the Chinese have made steps toward supporting European recovery.

Too many European banks are too big and need to shrink their balance sheets. European banks rival or in some cases exceed the economic size of their native European economies, making a rescue package in Europe difficult

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has outlined conditions that Europe must meet before China will increase support for debt-laden Europe in a sign of Beijing’s reluctance to be cast as a saviour for the global economy.

Italian Economy Minister Tremonti meet officials from a Chinese delegation last week. Italy had asked Beijing to buy "significant" quantities of Italian debt to help calm market turmoil caused by worries over the sustainability of its 1.9 trillion euro debt load.

Science is continuing to affect the prospects of the future. In this edition we cover latest developments from NASA, geoengineering trials, and tools that help us cope with thinking about the long-term.

The design for NASA's newest behemoth of a rocket harkens back to the giant workhorse liquid rockets that propelled men to the moon. But this time the destinations will be much farther and the rocket even more powerful.

A huge helium-filled balloon attached to a 1km length of hosepipe is to be launched next month to help investigate the feasibility of climate engineering. They predict that 10 or 20 giant balloons at 20km altitude could release enough particles into the atmosphere to reduce the global temperature by around 2 degrees.

Behavioural modelling tools are fast-developing and providing interesting insights that can gratly affect business strategy. Just the use of modelling tools makes business clients more inclined to adopt longer-term strategies.

Urban development must take many forms to accomodate new technologies and new policies. In this edition, we look at electric vehicle infrastructure in China, and high tech neighbourhoods in USA and Canada.

The Chinese government has taken a clear stand to develop electric vehicles.Long-term urban planning is the key to easing traffic congestion, in part through providing free or inexpensive parking places near subways or bus stations, said Pan.

The first carbon-neutral and zero-energy multifamily community in the United States. Builders constructed fortress-thick walls, a solar array on each unit and a heat pump to pull heat from the earth to achieve carbon neutrality and zero net energy use, hence the name zHome.

Progress in sustainable urban development is often varied in the developed world, and is rarely exemplified well. Could this city in Canada be in fact the worlds "greenest" neighbourhood?

A variety of interesting news stories have come up in the past weeks. A remarkable effort to save a trapped man, an astounding construction-speed record, and progress in the fight against malaria are all presented in this edition, below.

After a collision between a car and a motorcycle, the rider was trapped under the car as flames burst out. A flood of people swarmed the car and managed to lift it into the air, and pull out the unconscious rider. See the amazing video here.

The global campaign to fight malaria reported achievements in reducing death from the mosquito-borne disease by 38 per cent and restated its goal of eliminating nearly all malaria deaths by 2015.

A construction crew in the south-central Chinese city of Changsha has completed a 15-story hotel in just six days.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Dear fellow Digesters,

Many new developments are found in this September 1st edition of the Wormfood News Digest. Libyan rebel forces capture Tripoli, One step closer to a pipeline to the Canadian Oil Sands, far-out future concepts, and a special tribute to the Dutch. All this and more, found below ...

In the most recent Global news, Libyan rebels capture Tripoli, pushing Gaddafi into a corner. New Yorkers narrowly avoid the devestating Hurricane Irene. We also follow up on rioting in England, and offer an in-depth look at the relationship between food prices and mass protests.

Libyan rebels are pushing through Tripoli, and are negotiating with the remaining Gaddafi loyalists to persuade them to surrender.

It will likely take the rebels more than 10 days to take control of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's home town and one of his last major bastions of support.

The rebels have no concrete information on the whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi or his sons, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

From the United States, 370,000 New Yorkers, ordered to evacuate their homes are now told they can return, as Hurricane Irene spared most of the Big Apple.

Amazing pictures of the hurricane can be found at National Geographic, here.

Studies how a specific food price threshold where protests become likely. These observations suggest that protests may reflect not only long-standing political failings of governments, but also the sudden desperate straits of vulnerable populations.

England's streets are calm again. But there's still plenty of interesting debate going on as to the causes of the riots that swept across London, Birmingham, Manchester and several other towns, and have now resulted in well over 2,000 arrests.

New developments this month on the Keystone pipeline to Canadian tar sands, surprising domestic solar trends in the United States, and new insights into the relationship between biodiversity and the overall performance of ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services found to depend on greater biodiversity than previously expected. Even species that seem not to matter for these services turn out to improve the overal performance of the ecosystem.

Daunted by high up-front costs, U.S. homeowners continue to shy away from residential solar power systems, even as utility-scale solar projects are taking off.

Canada's oil sands companies have scored a major victory in their battle to win a bigger share of the American petroleum market.

The U.S. State Department gave an environmental thumbs-up to a pipeline expansion from Alberta to the world's largest refining hub on the Gulf Coast.

Economic news remains a mixed bag. The head of the World Bank warns of new dangers, we explore reasons to be optimistic about our economic future, and to top it off - Steve Jobs, CEO of one of the world's most popular companies has stepped down.

Just about one month ago, Apple (briefly) claimed the top spot on the DOW-Jones index as the most valuable company. Now it has been learned that CEO Steve Jobs will be stepping down.

What's next for this dynamic and innovative company without its iconic leader?

There may be one bright spot left in the rubble of the West's crumbling economy:Software. Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and now mega-investor in software ventures lays out the reasons for optimism about software-driven growth.

Robert Zoellick, the head of the World Bank, has warned that markets have been pushed into a new danger zone that policy makers have to take seriously.

Strange and wonderful concepts for the future. In this edition, we look at plans for floating cities, a light-cooled fridge, and a pain-free technology for rebuilding your perfect smile.

Architectural plans for a prototype "Seasteading" vessel involve a movable, diesel-powered, 12,000-ton structure with room for 270 residents, with the idea that dozens—perhaps even hundreds—of these could be linked together.

Full-time settlement is the idea, and full diplomatic recognition by the United Nations, well, that'll take some lawyers and time.

Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a pain-free way of tackling dental decay that reverses the damage of acid attack and re-builds teeth as new.

The pioneering treatment promises to transform the approach to filling teeth forever.

Electrolux Design Lab winner - a fridge that does not need Electricity. It just needs light to keep stuff cool in a green blob.

If the fridge is full, the green blob will stick out like a full belly. One draw back, the design will probably be on the market in the year 2050.

There may not only be metal electrical appliances in the future, but bacteria as well. Scientists from the American University of Massachusetts have discovered thatbacteria as well as metals can conduct electricity.

Like it or not, road-vehicles have such an integrated role in the urban environment. In this edition, we look at the latest developments in this aspect of urban development.

The Dutch goverment accepted the NTA 8080 certification system to demonstrate the sustainability of the Biofuels.

The European Union states that by 2020 at least 10% of all fuel in road traffic consists of sustainably produced alternatives to fossil fuels.

The Obama administration recently announced that it was gradually raising fuel-efficiency standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

A better solution would be raising the federal gas tax, according to Freakonomics' Eric Morris.

The idea of a vehicle-mileage tax (VMT) hasn't caught on in the United States, however if a VMT ever does find its way back to American negotiating tables, a recent six-month trial conducted in the Netherlands could serve as a good model.

Why is it that the Dutch are always making news. In this edition, we look at three interesting stories from the world's flattest country.

A few week ago we presented a story from Seattle regarding a "happiness test". Apparently Dutch women are the happiest in the world.

A sustainable organization has an exchange program at the 2011 Lowlands festival. People can change there old underwear for a new sustainable one. From the old underwear are nice bracelets made.

The fantasy of seeing banknotes fluttering down from the sky came true for Dutchmotorists after a package containing cash apparently fell from a bank transport truck and broke open.

This bi-weekly digest is made by assembling items from all of Except's people. 
Have questions, comments, or news items to suggest? E-mail matthew.fraser@except.nl.

Dear fellow Digesters,

In the August 15th edition of the Wormfood News Digest, we keep you updated on the latest international developments, including the English riots, Canadian Tar Sands, European and American finances, a promising new anti-viral drug, and much more.

Dear fellow Digesters,

The August 1st edition of the Wormfood News Digest keeps you updated on the latest developments in the heat of the summer. In this edition you will find the latest details in the Syrian conflict, new insights on global warming, escalating tensions of a U.S. debt deadlock, and a major discovery in fighting influenza.