Photosynthesis

Recently Goodyear has rolled into the Geneva Motor Show with new tire designs that could be described as intriguing concepts at best and crazy, outlandish ideas at worst. This year's rendition is no different, hiding living moss inside to cleanse the surrounding air as the car rolls down the road. ​

A University of Cambridge team has developed a new design for an algae-based fuel cell that is apparently five times more efficient than existing devices, and much cheaper to make and easier to use.

A NASA study has analyzed data gathered by the OCO-2 satellite and pinpointed the cause of an unprecedented spike in atmospheric CO2 in 2015 and 2016: the El Nino weather effect caused certain tropical regions to release far more CO2 than they normally would.

Some of the excess carbon dioxide in the air is absorbed by “carbon sinks” like forests and oceans, which helps slow down, but not stop, the greenhouse effect. Unfortunately, a new study has found that oceans are gradually becoming less effective carbon sinks, thanks to rising global temperatures.

Great strides have been made in artificial leaves that produce energy from water and sunlight. Now, scientists have developed the "bionic leaf 2.0," which increases the efficiency of the system well beyond nature's own capabilities, and used it to produce liquid fuels for the first time.

According to a new international study using NASA satellite data, sizable parts of the Earth have shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Researchers from Concordia University are looking to tap into what may be the most plentiful yet overlooked source of power in the world. The group has invented a power cell that harnesses the electricity created during the natural processes of photosynthesis and respiration in blue-green algae.

The ESA has officially selected the Fluorescence Explorer – or FLEX – as the eighth Earth Explorer satellite. The mission will study vegetation around the planet, gathering information about planet health at a time when a growing population is putting increased strain on food production.

Scientists have discovered a way to make great improvements in photochemical hydrogen production using two of the most abundant elements on earth – hermatite and silicon – and the power of the sun to achieve "unassisted" water splitting.

The world's first 3D-printed wearable containing living bacteria, designed to support the human wearer as a type of "living spacesuit" on trips to outer space, has been displayed at TED 2015.

This "bio-digital" structure sees fluid filled with microalgae organisms pumped around an otherwise transparent shelter to produce dynamic shade, energy in the form of biomass, and an impressive amount of oxygen, while responding to the presence of visitors to produce interesting visual effects.

Scientists have created a hybrid system of bacteria and semiconducting nanowires that take water, sunlight and carbon dioxide and turn them into the building blocks of biodegradable plastics, pharmaceutical drugs and even biofuel.