Tree

When you're camping, you're typically in need of a work surface, plus you're typically surrounded by trees. That's where the Kimberlite Tree Table comes in, as – that's right – it's a packable multi-use platform that you strap to a tree.

Pangolins already dig in the dirt, so why not get them planting trees while they're at it? Well, training them would be pretty hard, which is why a California high school student named Dorothy designed a pangolin-inspired robot to do the planting.

Dubai already boasts the world's tallest building and now local firm Urb envisions transforming its shores with the world's largest coastal regeneration project too. The development would plant millions of mangrove trees, spread over 72 km.

Swiss researchers are working on an environmental monitoring robot named Avocado that's been inspired by abseiling spiders. The fruit-shaped bot uses a winch and rotors to lower itself through the canopy and gather data on life in the treetops.

Researchers have taken the best genetic characteristics of the Fraser fir, arguably the most popular choice for Christmas tree, and used them to create a tree that’s taller, prettier, and – importantly – sheds only a fraction of its needles.

Often referred to as the lungs of the planet, the Amazon rainforest is in trouble – with around a third reported as already gone or degraded. A pocket of resistance in Peru has now been joined by a dual-armed robotic gardener to help with reforestation.

If you want to know which animals are present in a given location, a good way of finding out is to look for their cast-off DNA. A new drone is designed to help scientists do so, by autonomously sticking itself to tree branches.

High-profile British firm Heatherwick Studio has created a large tree-covered sculpture for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration. The art installation hosts a total of 350 trees, which are arranged into the shape of a single large tree.

Stefano Boeri Architetti's Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex in central China includes two residential towers covered in thousands of trees and plants. The firm claims that the greenery absorbs significant amounts of CO2 from the air.

According to Germany's University of Hohenheim, about 80 percent of the fruit trees in that country aren't pruned – despite the fact that doing so makes them more resistant to disease. That's why the university is creating a robot to do the job.

As the population increasingly moves towards tech jobs, there's now a shortage of coconut harvesters in India. That's why scientists there have built a tree-climbing coconut-harvesting robot, that could perhaps someday take up the slack.

Vincent Callebaut Architectures brings the outdoors into the workplace with its proposal for a new headquarters for French company Soprema. Named Semaphore, it will boast sustainable technology and have a massive amount of greenery, with around 10,000 plants, shrubs and trees.