Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. One of the most efficient solutions to fighting climate change could ...

Achim Menges uses computer-guided techniques designed to make buildings more sustainable and affordable. Humanity has long sought to tame wood into something more predictable. Sawmills manufacture ...

For as long as scientists have studied trees, we have categorised them into two types based on the sort of wood they make. Softwoods include pines and firs and generally grow faster than hardwoods, ...

Chopping down trees and processing the wood isn’t the most efficient or environmentally friendly way to make furniture or building materials. Scientists at MIT have now made breakthroughs in a process ...

Using simple chemical processes, Hu’s lab partially washes away lignin—the polymer that holds cellulose fibers in wood together—and exploits the natural complexity of wood’s nanostructure. Hu licensed ...

The modern industrial era was literally built on steel and concrete, readily available materials that gave buildings the strength to stretch hundreds of stories into the sky. Unlike wood, steel and ...

Forests cover roughly 70% of Sweden, and the sparsely populated country is one of the world’s leading exporters of forestry products. Engineering, meanwhile, is the country’s largest industry. And in ...

The wood that provides the structural basis of trees is non-living, i.e. a dead material, but it is surrounded by living material that grows, regenerates and transports fluid and nutrients around the ...

Vantablack, which is the world's darkest material, could be in for some competition. Canadian scientists have created a super-black substance that has the potential to be cheaper, hardier and easier ...