Linus Pauling Institute

New management is needed for the planet’s most important common resource IN 1968 an American ecologist, Garrett Hardin, published an article entitled “The Tragedy of the Commons”. He argued that when a resource is held jointly, it is in individuals’ self-interest to deplete it, so people will tend to undermine their collective long-term interest by

Finally, a mobile device you can feel good about—not because it’s shiny and new, but because it’s ethically made and built to last Bas van Abel wanted a phone that worked well enough, but avoided the conflict mineral issues and harsh working practices built into mainstream devices. So two years ago, he created the Fairphone,

A magnetic skin that is safe and comfortable to wear could open the door to a wide range of wireless, remotely controlled applications. Who has not unleashed their inner Jedi to use “the force” to open automatic doors at the shopping mall? A novel magnetic skin has been developed at KAUST that can remotely control switches and

How many robots does it take to screw in a light bulb? The answer: just one, assuming you’re talking about a new robotic gripper developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego. The engineering team has designed and built a gripper that can pick up and manipulate objects without needing to see them

Study by the University of Bonn: High-tech surfaces could greatly reduce drag and CO2 emissions of ships If ship hulls were coated with special high-tech air trapping materials, up to one percent of global CO2 emissions could be avoided. This is the conclusion reached by scientists from the University of Bonn together with colleagues from

New research in The FASEB Journal shows that toxins taken from the venom of sea anemones could be the next wave of insecticides and may even be used to treat pain, cardiac disorders and other conditions As insects evolve to become resistant to insecticides, the need to develop new ways to control pests grows. A

An antibiotic called thanatin attacks the way the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is built. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now found out that this happens through a previously unknown mechanism. Thanatin, produced naturally by the spined soldier bug, can therefore be used to develop new classes of antibiotics. The global emergence of

“Maybe it’s time to push for metal-free catalysts in commercial devices,” Researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of North Texas have made what they believe is the first metal-free bifunctional electrocatalyst that performs as well or better than most metal and metal oxide electrodes in zinc-air batteries. Zinc-air batteries are expected to

A benign crystal protein, produced naturally by bacteria and used as an organic pesticide, could be a safe, inexpensive treatment for parasitic worms in humans and provide effective relief to over a billion people around the world. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, report on this potentially promising solution in

New study looks at the ways machine intelligences and human users work together to improve and expand the world’s largest digital encyclopedia Since launching in 2001, Wikipedia has evolved into a sprawling repository of human knowledge, with 40 million collaboratively-written articles and almost 500 million monthly users. Maintaining that project requires more than 137,000 volunteer