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NASA tests growing fungi habitats in outer space

2024-06-27T17:52:00-04:00

A team of engineers from the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley has secured funding for their innovative Mycotecture Off Planet project. The initiative hopes to construct off-planet sustainable housing and furniture designs from mycelial composite bricks.

The $2 million in funding will help the team's development towards a potential future demonstration mission in advance of the Artemis Moon/Mars exploration program, which is being hailed as an important "stepping stone."

A NASA press release stressed its ability to be transferred over for additional use as a building material for structures on Earth, adding that its long-term prospects rely on "science and technology that doesn’t yet exist." Habitations would be grown on the lunar surface using water to a lightweight support material containing dormant fungi.

"Mycotecture Off Planet exemplifies how advanced...

Henning Larsen debuts Open Detail, a digital biomaterials resource for architects

2024-03-21T18:34:00-04:00

Henning Larsen has unveiled a new tool for designers that allows them access to a database of biogenic materials examples taken from around the world.

The firm debuted its new Open Detail resource at the AEC Hackathon in Copenhagen. Together with collaborators Copenhagen School of Design and Technology (KEA), Ramboll, Speckle, and Chevrant, the entry took home first place for the 'Best Mashup Project' at the Hackathon.

Now, their aim is to "foster a shift towards low-carbon architecture" by making such "tangible" biogenic design solutions more easily accessible to the public and practitioners as an open-source repository and knowledge-sharing platform.

The searchable Open Detail will allow users to contribute and download material details in either 2D or 3D format once actualized. Henning Larsen says this is "only the beginning" for Open Detail, adding that the project's off...

Biogenic, bacteria-powered solar cells can generate electricity even under overcast skies

2018-07-20T15:00:00-04:00

Their cell generated a current stronger than any previously recorded from such a device, and worked as efficiently in dim light as in bright light. This innovation could be a step toward wider adoption of solar power in places like British Columbia and parts of northern Europe where overcast skies are common. With further development, these solar cells—called “biogenic” because they are made of living organisms—could become as efficient as the synthetic cells used in conventional solar panels.

While this isn't the first effort to build biogenic, bacteria-powered solar cells, scientists at the University of British Columbia claim to have discovered a novel, highly cost-effective, and much more sustainable way to use the photosynthesis capabilities of certain bacteria to convert light (even dim light) to energy.

"They genetically engineered E. coli to produce large amounts of lycopene—a dye that gives tomatoes their red-orange colour and is particularly effective at harvesting light for conversion to energy," explains the UBC announcement. "The researchers coated the bacteria with a mineral that could act as a semiconductor, and applied the mixture to a glass surface. With the coated glass acting as an anode at one end of their cell, they generated a current density of 0.686 milliamps per square centimetre—an improvement on the 0.362 achieved by others in the field."

More research is needed to turn this newly discovered method into market-ready biogenic solar panels.

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