SteveKLord

Recent research has revealed a fascinating phenomenon: bioluminescence is more prevalent among deep-sea shrimp than previously recognized. The study has identified 157 species with the ability to emit light, expanding our understanding by 65% compared to earlier estimates.

These shrimp illuminate the ocean depths in various ways – some by ejecting glowing secretions, others through sophisticated organs in their bodies designed specifically for light production, and a few employing both methods.

A solarpunk graphic novel adapted by Michele Paris and Lorenzo Livrieri, based on the short story by Nebula Award nominated author, Renan Bernardo.

Welcome to the post-fossil fuel city of Sundyal. Lush green, high-tech, and powered by clean energy, Sundyal seems like an idyllic place. But Janet really struggle's with Sundyal's lack of affordability. In fact, she can barely afford to eat. Meanwhile her best friend, an old and now obsolete model of android named Lyria, prepares to shutdown for the final time.

But is losing Lydia forever, in fact, the only way to save her? Janet wrestles with this and whether or not it's right and justified to objectify and sell her friend like some... disposable thing? Does it matter if doing so means she can afford to stay in Sundyal? And if the price of utopia is that high and inaccessible, is it really a utopia?

A modern coven must thwart a looming eco-cataclysm and find the key to the bright future we need in , The Working, the debut #lunarpunk novel by Brightflame published by Water Dragon Publishing.

The synopsis reads:

Betsy's a modern-day Witch with an ageless problem: she's worried about screwing up her coven's ritual. Again. But the coven has a bigger issue to face — the destruction of their home thanks to a fracked gas pipeline. And then an even bigger problem — a greed-fueled entity will soon obliterate Earth’s ability to support life.

Tarot cards indicate the coven must sort among allies and threats, human and ethereal.

Follow Betsy, Sail, Fire, Mari, and Tal as they disentangle the truth and seek the magic to avert the cataclysm.

Fans of The Once and Future Witches and The City We Became will love The Working for its feminist, justice-seeking, ensemble cast. Readers hail The Working for its diverse characters, real magical practice, and tilt towards hope.

For 31 straight days last summer, temperatures in Phoenix hit or topped 110 degrees, the longest such streak ever. That searing Arizona heat dehydrates crops and evaporates water the state needs to conserve.

Creating shade is one way to combat the problem.

By using solar panels, farmers can simultaneously protect their plants, save water and lower their energy bills – and some are doing just that with help from federal programs designed to encourage this sustainable method of growing.

Photovoltaic panels are placed above the crops, harnessing the sun’s energy while providing valuable shade.

Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have discovered a new method to increase the efficiency of solar cells by a factor of 1,000. The team of scientists achieved this breakthrough by creating crystalline layers of barium titanate, strontium titanate, and calcium titanate, which were alternately placed on top of one another in a lattice structure.

A new climate change map shows predictions for just how devastated the future climate will be in various places around the world. The map, which is called The Future Urban Climates, allows interested users to explore how their home area’s climate might change going forward.

The data used to create the map comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and it was created by University of Maryland spatial ecologist Matthew Fitzpatrick to showcase the future of climate change up to 2080.

Of course, all of the changes showcased on the climate change map are just predictions based on current trends of extreme storms, fires, floods, droughts, heat waves, and cold snaps—all of which continue to hit us harder each year.

Solarpunk is a movement that comes with a genre but does it have a soundtrack too? Is there such a thing as solarpunk music?

We asked our social media followers what their solarpunk tracks were. Chillwave, ambient, trance and lofi electronica were some of the most popular responses. They are also the top hits you get when you search for solarpunk on YouTube.

Humans have long been fascinated by organisms that can produce light. Aristotle, who was a scientist as well as a philosopher, wrote the first detailed descriptions of what he called “cold light” more than 2,000 years ago. More recently, pioneering researchers like World War II Army veteran Emmett Chappelle and deep submergence vehicle pilot Edith Widder advanced the study of this phenomenon with novel technologies.

At least 94 living organisms produce their own light through a chemical reaction inside their bodies – an ability called bioluminescence. Examples include luminous fireflies, algae that create “glow-in-the-dark” bays, small crustaceans with intricate courtship displays, and deep-sea fish and coral. Yet despite its widespread occurrence, scientists don’t yet know when or where it first emerged, or its original function.

Kim Stanley Robinson is regarded as one the greatest living writers of science fiction with more than 20 novels and many awards to his name. In this interview with Anna D’Alton (LSE Review of Books), he discusses the climate crisis, his political commitment to utopian fiction and art’s capacity for imagining alternative ways of living.

André Rosario (aka HydroponicTrash) joins us this week on the podcast to tell Ariel all about dual power - what it is, how it fits in with solarpunk, and how people can mobilize it in their daily lives. Their conversation ranges from the history of the term dual power, to examples from André’s own life, to the concept of mutual aid, the importance of imagining a better world, how to build relationships as an introvert, and even includes a discussion of human nature.

Some 175 years after the U.S. government stole land from the chief of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation while he was away visiting relatives, Illinois may soon return it to the tribe.

Nothing ever changed the 1829 treaty that Chief Shab-eh-nay signed with the U.S. government to preserve for him a reservation in northern Illinois: not subsequent accords nor the 1830 Indian Removal Act, which forced all Indigenous people to move west of the Mississippi.

But around 1848, the U.S. sold the land to White settlers while Shab-eh-nay and other members of his tribe were visiting family in Kansas.

To right the wrong, Illinois would transfer a 1,500-acre state park west of Chicago, which was named after Shab-eh-nay, to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The state would continue providing maintenance while the tribe says it wants to keep the park as it is.

Scavenger’s Reign is about a handful of humans who have abandoned their spaceship, The Demeter, due to a solar storm. Their escape pods land on the utterly alien planet Vesta.

This world is teeming with an incredible array of lifeforms that boggle the mind. One of the crew manages to remote pilot the Demeter to land on Vesta and the disparate survivors head towards it. On their journeys they make their way through a cornucopia of brilliantly weird plant and animal life.

We think you should definitely watch this series on Neftlix as soon as you can to help the cause of solarpunk. This is even though we don’t think Scavneger’s Reign is really solarpunk itself.

We’ll explain why in the rest of this post. Be warned what follows contains spoilers, so we strongly recommend you watch Scavenger’s Reign first and then return to read the rest of this article. If you’ve already seen this amazing show then feel free to read on.