IRIN
29 August 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
Amman, Jordan
Tens of thousands of Syrian people have lost limbs in the war, but find conventional prosthetics too heavy and cumbersome to use. 3D printing technology is offering a lightweight alternative that can improve their lives—increasing autonomy and self reliance. Médecins Sans Frontières supports the 3-year pilot program.
http://nationswell.com/4-startups-changing-farmers-work
Chris Peak
NationSwell
24 September 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
University research in Kansas and California is providing technical solutions for small farmers to help them compete against large scale farms.
https://www.hcn.org/issues/46.20/can-biomimicry-tackle-our-toughest-water-problems
Benjamin Goldfarb
High Country News
24 November 2014
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Clean water and healthy ecosystems are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. With floating islands and other inventions, eco-entrepreneur Bruce Kania thinks that biomimicry - such as reconstructing wetlands and growing biofilms - can tackle the toughest of water problems.
http://highonthehog.nandointeractive.com
J. Andrew Curliss
The News & Observer
10 December 2014
Text / Over 3000 Words
A farm in North Carolina discovered a new market and revived their business. By focusing on the genetics of their hogs and altering the hogs' diet the farm was able to enter the competitive but lucrative Japanese pork market.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/helping-the-lame-walk-without-a-miracle
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
23 June 2011
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The Jaipur Limb organization based in India has developed prostheses at low cost, and services are free for the poor. The organization’s efforts have recently spread to other countries with impoverished people. Jaipur Limb reaches patients through branch clinics, traveling workshops, and limb camps in cities around the world.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/keeping-artificial-limbs-low-cost-and-high-quality
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
28 June 2011
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A prosthetist from Texas visiting Jaipur Limb workshops in Honduras saw problems with their low-cost prosthetics - the issue wasn't the design of the leg, but the technicians at the Honduras workshops were people completely new to prosthetics who were given just eight weeks of training. Thanks to his research, Jaipur established a research and development unit to improve the limb.
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/feb/18/slime-mould-rail-road-transport-routes
David Parr
The Guardian
18 February 2014
Text / 800-1500 Words
The twenty-first century city is a complex organism, and simulating it to anticipate traffic and transportation congestions can be problematic for urban planning. Researchers around the world from Japan to England have used slime models to simulate traffic and transportation patterns, observing realistic growths, congestions, and re-routing opportunities. Biomimicry demonstrates an unconventional but useful process to understand the pulse of the urban environment.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/thecure/2016/06/bionic-arm-pioneering-union-man-machine-160606140906330.html
Joff Lacey
Al Jazeera
18 June 2016
Broadcast TV News / 5-15 Minutes
Prosthetics for most are frequently challenging, both in terms of mobility and associated pain. This video highlights a doctor in Sweden innovating new, more reactive prosthetics, aimed at addressing these challenges.
https://howwegettonext.com/the-machine-and-the-mosquito-29205f61e811?gi=d83a30c8c05f
Greg Noone
How We Get to Next
15 September 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Mosquito transmitted diseases are only becoming more prevalent due to climate change, posing a global health risk. Various methods are being tested such as genetic modification and gene drives, Project DiSARM-uses technology to map where to spray insecticide, and introduction of Wolbachia-a bacterial disease that decreases mosquitos' ability to reproduce-into the environment.
https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2017/nov/28/engineering-solutions-for-the-future-of-modern-medicine
Lucy Jolin
The Guardian
28 November 2017
Text / Under 800 Words
The healthcare world is highly innovative right now as it tries to make medicine more personalized and harnesses engineering. Hitachi is trying to aggregate data in order to prevent disease and help the healthcare system function better.
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2016/0708/How-Vermont-changed-the-national-GMO-labeling-debate
Lonnie Shekhtman
Christian Science Monitor
8 July 2016
Text / Under 800 Words
Vermont's passage of a law requiring food that is genetically modified to be labeled spurred action at the national level to create one standard, rather than a patchwork of state laws, that offers food companies several ways to label foods with GMOs. The national bill did eventually pass, but as this piece illustrates, no one seems very happy about it. Environmentalists feel it leaves large loopholes and while the food industry likes one standard, it does not like the stigma the GMO label confers.
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