Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Mysterious astrophysical activity, edible concrete, tables from fallen trees and more from around the web

How Indigenous People are Reclaiming Water Rights Water is not only a basic necessity; for many Indigenous peoples, it holds spiritual and cultural significance. However, colonialism and extractive industries separated Indigenous people from their waterways, contaminating them while endangering historical and cultural sites. Over the years, Indigenous groups like The Pueblo Action Alliance have found ways to reclaim their water rights. Currently, they are fighting …

Lift Energy Storage System Turns Skyscrapers into Gravity Energy Batteries

Sourcing and storing energy is often unsustainable and intermittent—a problem researchers from the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna, Austria seek to solve with the Lift Energy Storage System, which turns skyscrapers into giant gravity batteries. Researchers found that “excess renewable energy can be stored as potential energy by using it to lift something heavy up to a higher point,” according to New …

Aurea Technologies’ Portable Wind Turbine for Campers, Shine

Roughly the size of a one-liter water bottle and weighing three pounds, Shine is a portable wind turbine capable of charging devices or storing energy for campers. Developed by a women-led team within Canada’s Aurea Technologies, the device incorporates a 40-watt turbine (with efficient patent-pending blades) that sends power to a 12,000 mAh internal lithium-ion battery. It can also be pre-charged before heading out. “Shine …