Enviroment – Watertown 365

in Enviroment

Spirit Mountain, Which is Sacred to Tribes, is Designated a New National Monument

Last week President Biden continued the bipartisan executive tradition of conserving historic and scientifically significant lands by designating Spirit Mountain—Avi Kwa Ame, in Nevada as a National Monument. Sacred to several Native American tribes, principally the people of the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation, Spirit Mountain sits at the confluence of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts… Keep Reading

in Enviroment

Researchers Successfully Turn Abandoned Oil Well into Giant Geothermal Battery

The Biden Administration is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to close abandoned oil and gas wells across the country, but what if they could solve the problem of renewable energy storage instead? 3,000 feet below the Midwestern state in a geological structure of porous sandstone, researchers from the University of Illinois deposited excess energy… Keep Reading

in Enviroment

Ocean Cleanup Nonprofit Gets $25Mil From Airbnb Co-Founder to Launch Massive Plastic Pollution Cleanup

The co-founder of Airbnb.org has just donated $25 million to support the Dutch nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup as they prepare to assemble and deploy the largest plastic capture system ever developed for use in the ocean. The Ocean Cleanup’s pilot-scale ocean cleaning system, System 002, has been deployed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP)… Keep Reading

in Enviroment

Turning Problematic Sea Algae into Replacement for Plastic in Common Products

After a Finnish scuba diver saw how harmful out-of-control algae blooms could be to the marine environment below their green clouds, she founded a refining company that harvests the algae and turns it into all kinds of products. Certain components of algae have similarities to petroleum-based chemicals, and this similarity allows for the replication of… Keep Reading

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US Startup Makes Building Materials Out of Fast-Growing Grasses to Capture More Carbon Than Trees

A startup looking to find better ways to mass-produce lumber for construction has swapped trees for grass. It turns out that with sophisticated laminating and molding machines, the fibers of certain grass species can be just as strong as wood, but lighter, and orders of magnitude faster to produce. Entrepreneur Josh Dorfman founded Plantd with two former… Keep Reading

in Enviroment/Technology

New AI-Powered Farming Robot Trundles About Inspecting 50 Acres of Crops per Day for Pests and Disease

Most people imagine robots at work in a factory, but there’s no less innovation going on at the farm—take this spoke-wheeled robot plant nurse who can inspect 50 acres of row crops for disease, pests, or other issues. Trundling through fields a little like a tumbleweed, the SentiV scouting robot is currently just a prototype, but its… Keep Reading

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Genius UK Business Uses Christmas Trees to Protect the Region From Flooding

In an effort to combat flooding, a Yorkshire woman realized that thousands of wasted Christmas trees every year could be used as natural flood protection, and started a unique business to do just that. The Rooted Christmas tree rental delivers a potted Christmas fir, pine, or spruce to a family for the festive season. When the lights… Keep Reading

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These States Allow Visitors Free Off-Road Wheelchairs In Their Parks and Nature Areas

Parks departments across the country are beginning to offer free all-terrain wheelchairs at their visitors centers for disabled people to explore their states’ treasures of nature. Such programs have already cropped up in Colorado, Michigan, and South Dakota, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a National Park Service unit, has also added off-road wheelchairs to… Keep Reading

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Watertown brush pickup expected to resume Thursday

WATERTOWN — The city public works department announced Monday that collection of brush and green waste from houses is temporarily suspended. DPW Assistant Superintendent Pete E. Monaco said it should only last a couple of days. “I hope to be back on schedule on Thursday,” Mr. Monaco said. Mr. Monaco said both of the recycling… Keep Reading

in Enviroment/Event

Watertown’s fall tree planting scheduled for Saturday

WATERTOWN — Volunteers from Tree Watertown, the city of Watertown’s Street Tree Advisory Board, will conduct their 21st annual fall tree planting project on Saturday. The project will involve planting 41 bare-root trees at various locations along North Pleasant Street, as well as two nearby pocket parks. The rain or shine event begins at 9… Keep Reading