Algae

Concrete is a huge contributor to worldwide CO2 emissions, and cinder blocks make up a significant part of this. However, a new project by SOM, in collaboration with Prometheus Materials, showcases an alternative block made from algae.

Commonly known as blue-green algae, toxic cyanobacteria can harm humans and wildlife alike when their populations soar in lakes or rivers. A newly developed sponge, however, could soon help bring such harmful algal blooms under control.

Move over, cow burps. A team of scientists has shifted gears from the front to the back end of these methane-production powerhouses, using algae to curb gas emanating from their poop. It's a crap gig, but nature's best methane inhibitor is on the job.

Although salmon farms help take pressure off wild stocks, the penned fish do produce a lot of waste which is concentrated at one location. A new farm is exploring a solution to that problem, by raising salmon and kelp in adjacent pens.

Microalgae are widely used in products such as biofuels, nutritional supplements and cosmetics. A newly-described type has been found in a home aquarium – and it could prove to be particularly useful.

In Hokkaido, Japan's winter months, harmless underwater algae balls are protected from death by an ice shield. That shield is expected to thin thanks to global warming, causing the balls to join the list of species threatened by climate change.

Although they have a number of potential uses, spent coffee grounds typically just end up in landfills – or at best, in compost heaps. According to a new study, however, they could soon be utilized to both support and feed biodiesel-producing algae.

While greenhouses produce wastewater, microalgae-growing operations require a source of water – which is scarce in many regions. A new project aims to address both problems, by growing water-purifying algae in readily available greenhouse runoff.

It has long been known that insects such as bees help plants reproduce, by spreading pollen from one plant to another. Now, however, a similar arrangement has been discovered in the undersea world – involving red algae and tiny crustaceans.

Whether they're in cars, buildings or airplanes, most of today's noise-blocking acoustic tiles are made of petrochemical-derived foam. A more eco-friendly alternative may be on the way, however, in the form of seaweed-derived membranes.

Beautifully designed, energy-generating bio-panels that suck up carbon dioxide and pump out biomass for use as fuel or fertilizer – that's the idea behind Mexican startup Greenfluidics and its nanotech-enhanced microalgae bioreactor building panels.

Microalgae is already being used as a fish-free alternative to the fish feed commonly used in aquaculture operations. Taking things a step further, scientists are now looking at using the plant-like organisms to replace the prawns eaten by humans.