We have solar powered houses and cars, but can we have solar powered aircraft? Dr Philip Charlesworth looks at the state of this technology and the challenges of designing completely green aircraft.

We have solar powered houses and cars, but can we have solar powered aircraft? Dr Philip Charlesworth looks at the state of this technology and the challenges of designing completely green aircraft. After graduating, Dr Philip Charlesworth served for 16 years in the Royal Air Force as an engineering officer. After leaving the RAF he worked for Airbus on research and engineering projects. His main areas of research were in networking satellites and unmanned aircraft. Dr Charlesworth is a Visiting Professor at Liverpool Hope University, leading research into small solar-electric aircraft. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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There’s growing concern among scientists and the public about the environmental cost of the United States’ outsized appetite for beef. But there’s

There’s growing concern among scientists and the public about the environmental cost of the United States’ outsized appetite for beef. But there’s also a fierce political backlash against the suggestion that we reduce our beef consumption. These dynamics have everyone — from federal policymakers to local producers and big corporations — scrambling to broadcast new climate commitments on beef production, such as net-zero pledges.

In this conversation, food and climate experts will break down the climate science of beef and explore which solutions are most effective — and most needed — in climate policy and commitments. What’s the role for grass-fed and so-called regenerative beef in a climate-friendly food system? Where are the gaps in our ability to reduce climate emissions, and what are the limits and potentials of carbon sequestration, methane capture, carbon markets, consumer awareness and industry oversight? We’ll also discuss how culture wars shape the way we talk about, think about, study, and address climate impacts in beef production — and whether voluntary benchmarks can work under these conditions.

Sign up for our Food X e-newsletter: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/food-x/

Speakers:
Dr. Jonathan Foley is a world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert, author, science communicator and public speaker. He has published more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including in Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the executive director of Project Drawdown and holds a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Matthew Hayek is an assistant professor of environmental sciences at New York University. He has presented and written numerous influential peer-reviewed papers on this topic broadly and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science, in addition to a degree in physics from Wesleyan.

Dr. Silvia Secchi is trained as a natural resource economist, geographer and transdisciplinary scholar. She is a professor at the University of Iowa in the Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences and Public Policy Center. A thoroughly published scholar in food, agriculture and policy issues, she holds a Ph.D. in economics.

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We need sustainable space tech. One solution - bees? Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Learn skills from the world's top minds at Big Think Edge:

We need sustainable space tech. One solution - bees? Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Learn skills from the world's top minds at Big Think Edge: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The objects humans send to space teach us a lot about the universe, but they are also cluttering it up. While some objects are close enough to be retrieved, others become dangerous, fast-moving bullets that can cause serious damage. In addition to cleaning up what's already there, MIT Assistant Professor Danielle Wood says that we need to think more sustainably about the technology used in future missions. "We have to ask the question, will we respect the rights of people and the environment as we go forward in space," Wood says. One possible solution is a wax-based fuel source (made of beeswax and candle wax) for satellites that would be less toxic and more affordable than currently used inorganic compounds, and that would help bring the objects closer to Earth for deorbiting and destruction. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DANIELLE WOOD: Professor Danielle Wood serves as an Assistant Professor in the Program in Media Arts & Sciences and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Within the Media Lab, Prof. Wood leads the Space Enabled Research Group which seeks to advance justice in Earth's complex systems using designs enabled by space. Prof. Wood is a scholar of societal development with a background that includes satellite design, earth science applications, systems engineering, and technology policy. In her research, Prof. Wood applies these skills to design innovative systems that harness space technology to address development challenges around the world. Prior to serving as faculty at MIT, Professor Wood held positions at NASA Headquarters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Aerospace Corporation, Johns Hopkins University, and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs. Prof. Wood studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she earned a PhD in engineering systems, SM in aeronautics and astronautics, SM in technology policy, and SB in aerospace engineering. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT: DANIELLE WOOD: If you think about the view we have of the Earth from satellites, we're able to observe the oceans, the atmosphere, changes in the land. We have amazing views of the global changes. Traditionally, the goal has been to build satellites to last as long as possible, and to make sure they have all the technology to operate in the dangerous environment of space. Everything in space is going very fast. Astronauts who travel on the Space Station, they're traveling about 17,500 miles per hour. Because everything in space is traveling so fast, even when small objects hit each other, it means that they're likely to have a very dangerous collision. Very small objects have hit parts of the Space Station. And even a very small fleck of paint, or a lens cap that was dropped off a satellite can cause major damage, because everything's moving so quickly. Now the challenge is, in just about 50 or 60 years, we've produced industrial waste in space. Just a few countries have played a key role in both putting up these major satellites, but also testing to see if they can destroy their own satellite in orbit. This created space debris. Sustainability is about whether or not we create and manage waste. One of the ideas we have to consider is what do we do with the satellite when it finishes its life, its mission? The reality is, we have sustainability challenges on Earth and in space today, we need to look at them as a set of common related problems. We have to ask the question, will we respect the rights of people and the environment as we go forward in space? When we launch satellites and rockets to space, we're often carrying really expensive goods and systems, basically robots, that operate in space for maybe a decade or so. And the goal has been, because launch has been so expensive, to try to not launch a new thing until the old one is just replaced. Now, the challenge we have is to say what do you do with the old one? Sometimes the satellites are low enough to the Earth that they can actually be brought back down safely, and they actually enter the atmosphere. They're going so fast, they burn up, and generally that's a safer way to destroy them. But some satellites are operating pretty far away from the Earth. There's an area called the geostationary belt. It's about 36,000 kilometers away from the surface of the Earth. We have a whole ring of old trash satellites that are operating just a little beyond this very useful... To read the full transcript, please visit https://bigthink.com/videos/sustainable-space-tech

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Dr. Felix Bast is an Associate Professor and acclaimed transdisciplinary scientist based at the Central University of Punjab, India. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed international

Dr. Felix Bast is an Associate Professor and acclaimed transdisciplinary scientist based at the Central University of Punjab, India. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed international publications, and is a recipient of prestigious accolades for his contributions to research and teaching. He is a highly regarded science communicator actively involved in the poupularization of science through outreach events. In addition, he is an avid cyclist, a strong advocate of low-carbon footprint lifestyle and environmental sustainability. Notably, Dr. Bast was part of the 36th Indian Scientific Mission to Antarctica (ISEA). Through this gripping TEDx talk, he recounts lessons on climate change and sustainability derived from his scientific expedition to the pristine white continent. He explains how Antarctica serves as a museum to study climate change and supports the fact that our planet is heading towards a "hothouse" state. He speaks about witnessing imminent repercussions of climate crisis, reinforced with scientific evidence, and proposes simple lifestyle changes to mitigate pressing environmental issues like plastic pollution and emissions. He advocates imbibing UN-SDGs at the personal level to lead an eco-friendly, sustainable life, and help deter climate crisis. Dr. Felix Bast is an Associate Professor and acclaimed transdisciplinary scientist based at the Central University of Punjab. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed international publications and 3 books and is a recipient of prestigious accolades for his contributions to research and teaching. He is a highly regarded science communicator actively involved in the popularization of science through outreach events. Dr. Bast has traveled to 23 countries including a scientific expedition to Antarctica. In addition, he is an avid cyclist, a strong advocate of a low carbon-footprint lifestyle and environmental sustainability. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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Parts of a lecture by M. Jahi Chappell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Justice at Washington State University, Vancouver to the Social Sustainability Colloquium at Portland State University, January 27, 2012. Entitled, Ecological Sustainability, Food, and Human Rights: The Necessity of 'Action Ecology' Dr. Chappell discusses the role of scientists as citizens and credible advocates. He suggests both are appropriate and when coupled with participation and outreach to the community, especially in the University setting, are effective at changing the status quo.

Videotaped by Ruth Ann Barrett, Sustainability Advocate, and founder of www.EarthSayers.tv, voices of sustainability.

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Dr. Quinton discusses the connections between climate change, an asteroid impact, and the extinction of dinosaurs. Predictions regarding how an asteroid changes the Earth's climate are touched on.

Dr. Quinton discusses the connections between climate change, an asteroid impact, and the extinction of dinosaurs. Predictions regarding how an asteroid changes the Earth's climate are touched on. "Dinosaurs, Asteroids, and Climate Change" explains why these predictions have not been empirically tested and thus the need for a creative experimental approach. Page Quinton is an Assistant Professor of Geology. She teaches Principles of Paleontology, Geochemistry, Climate Change: Past and Present, Historical Geology, and Geology Seminar. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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Julian Agyeman Keynote from AASHE 2010 Conference. As an ecologist/biogeographer turned environmental social scientist, he has both a science and social science background which helps frame his perspectives, research and scholarship.

Julian Agyeman, professor and chair of urban and environmental policy and planning, holds a a Ph.D in Environmental Education from the University of London, an M.A. in Conservation Policy from Middlesex University, UK and a B.Sc (joint honours) in Geography and Botany from Durham University, UK.

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