Author Archives: Jorn van Dooren

Urban areas expand by 950,000 square kilometres by 2030

Global patterns of urban population growth are recorded fairly accurately and predictions put the number of people living in urban areas in 2030 at 1.47 billion higher than it is now. But how urban areas evolve to accommodate such great … Continue reading →

Graphene not just made out of graphite but also chocolate and cockroach

For all its possible applications in electronics, but also as an immensely strong material, graphene has always had one major drawback: it is expensive. With a price of around 175 euros for no more than a two inch square it … Continue reading →

New catalyst developed to produce isobutene from bio-ethanol

The largest application for biomass is to burn it directly or to ferment it to produce ethanol. Converting biomass into other chemicals is often costly or inefficient, due to the many production steps needed. However a new catalyst developed by … Continue reading →

Protected areas are too few and growth too slow to prevent biodiversity loss

The current global network of protected areas is quite extensive, covering 17 million square kilometers of land and 2 million square kilometers of oceans. But the more than 100,000 areas appear to be insufficient to halt global biodiversity loss, according … Continue reading →

Melting Arctic ice releases persistent organic pollutants

Global temperatures are rising and as a result icecaps are melting. But as a study in Nature Climate Change shows icecaps don’t just discharge water when they melt. They also release a gift from generations past in the form of … Continue reading →