Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Technology is the single greatest contributor to climate change but it may also soon be used to offset the damage we’ve done to our planet since the Industrial Age began. In September 2018, a project in Myanmar used drones to fire “seed missiles” into remote areas of the country where trees were not growing. Less than a year later, thousands of those seed missiles have sprouted into 20-inch mangrove saplings that could literally be a case study in how technology can be used to innovate our way out of the climate change crisis.

“We now have a case confirmed of what species we can plant and in what conditions,” Irina Fedorenko, co-founder of Biocarbon Engineering, told Fast Company. “We are now ready to scale up our planting and replicate this success.”


According to Fedoranko, just two operators could send out a mini-fleet of seed missile planting drones that could plant 400,000 trees a day -- a number that quite possibly could make massive headway in combating the effects of manmade climate change.

The drones were designed by an ex-NASA engineer. And with a pressing need to reseed an area in Myanmar equal to the size of Rhode Island, the challenge is massive but suddenly within reach. Bremley Lyngdoh, founder and CEO of World Impact, says reseeding that area could theoretically house as many as 1 billion new trees.

“Obviously, planting a billion trees will take a long time without the help of drones,” Lyngdoh told Fast Company.

But they’ve now got a powerful new ally in their corner. For context, it took the Worldview Foundation 7 years to plant 6 million trees in Myanmar. Now, with the help of the drones, they hope to plant another 4 million before the end of 2019.

Myanmar is a great case study for the project. In addition to the available land for the drone project, the nation has been particularly hit by the early effects of climate change in recent years. Rising sea levels are having a measurable impact on the population.

In addition to their ability to clear CO2 from the atmosphere, healthy trees can also help solidify the soil, which can reduce the kind of soil erosion that has been affecting local populations in Myanmar.

Going forward, technologies like seed-planting drones could help stem the tide of catastrophic climate change while our governments and societies work to change the habits of consumers and corporations that are driving the problem.

Our endless hunger for new technology may be the driving force behind climate change and deforestation but it could also end up being the solution to a problem.

This article originally appeared last year.

More For You

The Himalayas on a clear day.

The towering Himalayas may seem unshakable, but deep beneath them, the Earth is shifting in ways scientists never expected.

The world’s most dangerous tectonic secret might lie under the Himalayas

The Himalayas, one of the most awe-inspiring mountain ranges on Earth, have long captured the imaginations of adventurers and scientists alike. Towering above the clouds, these colossal peaks hold not only breathtaking beauty but also crucial geological secrets. Recent research suggests something astonishing: the Indian tectonic plate—the very foundation of the Himalayas—may be splitting in two deep beneath the surface.

For millions of years, the Indian Plate has been pushing northward, colliding with the Eurasian Plate and giving rise to the Himalayas. But new findings from Stanford University geologist Simon L. Klemperer and his team indicate that this seemingly solid landmass is undergoing a dramatic transformation, one that could have significant implications for earthquakes and mountain stability in the region.

Keep ReadingShow less
dog behavior, canine intelligence, dog trust, pet psychology, animal science, dog study, trust in dogs, Akiko Takaoka, Kyoto University, dog memory, lie detection

Dogs know when you're lying, and they're not ok with it.

Your dog knows when you’re lying, and they’re quietly judging you for it

Your dog isn't just watching your every move—they're judging them, too. According to research by Akiko Takaoka of Kyoto University , dogs are a lot better at reading human behavior than we give them credit for. In fact, they know when you're lying. And worse? They remember it.

The experiment that exposed canine trust issues

smart dogs, science of dogs, emotional pets, dog-human bond, trustworthy pets, dog betrayalThey've evolved with us, and dogs know our tricks. Canva

In a clever experiment involving 34 eager and unsuspecting pups, Takaoka and her team put canine social smarts to the test. The setup was simple: most dogs will follow a human’s point to find food. So, first, researchers pointed to containers with treats. The dogs eagerly trotted over, rewarded with snacks and tail wags.

Keep ReadingShow less
near-death experience, Dannion Brinkley, life after death, consciousness, hospice care, panoramic life review, lightning strike, spiritual awakening, fear of death, tunnel of light, love, kindness, intent, death stories, dying process, afterlife, soul journey, hospice volunteer, fear, transformation

Representative Image: When you've touched death, it leaves its mark.

Photo by Guy Kawasaki via Unsplash

He died 3 times and came back with the same message: love is the only thing that matters

Dannion Brinkley has been clinically dead three times, but each experience gave him the same stunning insight — love, intent, and service are what really matter. His story invites us to see death not as an end, but a profound transformation.

Most people don't come back after death. Dannion Brinkley has done it three times — and what he brought back has changed lives.

Keep ReadingShow less
He was trapped in a 20-foot pit. Then he pulled off the ultimate escape.

A gravity-defying stunt

He was trapped in a 20-foot pit. Then he pulled off the ultimate escape.

A viral video from China has people questioning the laws of gravity—and then realizing it's all physics, skill, and a healthy dose of discipline. Posted on Xiaohongshu (also known as Rednote), the video shows a man inside a vividly colored pit, its vertical walls towering about 20 feet above him. There's seemingly no way out—until he starts running.

Don't try this at home.roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms

Keep ReadingShow less
A rendering of a black hole and its event horizon.

Representative Image: Black holes are the largest things in the universe, and the biggest mysteries.

They faked a black hole in a lab—and what it “leaked” has scientists freaking out

Black holes are the universe’s ultimate mystery box—nothing gets out, and no one really knows what’s inside. But now, a group of scientists may have just pulled off something incredible: they built a black hole replica right here on Earth.

And not just for fun. This experiment could help explain one of the biggest cosmic puzzles of our time—Hawking radiation, the theory that black holes slowly lose energy by giving off faint particles at their edges.

Keep ReadingShow less