In the United Kingdom, designer American designer Suzie McMurtry has created a mushroom spore “cannon” that can help detoxify soil after a wildfire. Dubbed Living with Wildfire, the system is comprised of a flame-retardant mycelium pod and a steel container full of water and dormant mushroom spores, closed with a cork. The idea is the […]
From sports enthusiasts going more biobased in their gear like Wilson tennis rackets and Saucony sneakers made from pineapple leather to groovy biobased LP records for music fans, it’s been a fun week with bioeconomy innovations. In today’s Digest, from sporty and groovy biobased ways to floating fungi in the form of mycelium buoys, shrimp […]
In Maine, buoys made of fungi root material mycelium could help reduce the impact of plastics waste from the fishing industry. The myco buoy is the brainchild of Sue Van Hook, a mycologist who as a child helped her grandfather with lobster buoys and was part of the team behind Ecovative, a company making packaging […]
In New York, mycelium materials company Ecovative has launched Forager, a division focused on designing, marketing, and manufacturing mycelium-based materials and foams for the fashion and automotive industries. Grown on agricultural byproducts like corn husks, Forager’s pure mycelium materials are fully biodegradable and home compostable. Forager will utilize Ecovative’s AirMycelium™ technology to produce large sheets […]
In San Francisco, mycelium materials firm MycoWorks has raised $125 million in a series C financing, which it will use to expand production of leather alternatives for the fashion industry. The company says it will build a plant in Union County, South Carolina, having validated the scalability of its Fine Mycelium process at a pilot […]
In New York, mycelium materials company Ecovative has partnered with a number of brands, including the group behind Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, to create a sustainable fashion cooperative to advance mushroom-based leather. Under the terms of the agreement, brands overseen by founding partners PVH Corp. and Bestseller will work with Ecovative to codevelop custom […]
Want to know what it’s like to breathe some of the world’s lowest quality air? “Pollution pods” in the UK are giving people that opportunity to draw attention to growing pollution impacts. And an alternative protein startup in California is building a pilot-scale facility for food-friendly proteins, using machine learning and fermentation to genetically engineer […]
In Washington, Microsoft is looking ahead to the data centers of the future, which it believes may be built with algae bricks and use hydrogen for energy. The computer giant expects to build up to a hundred data centers to keep pace with the growing connectivity in everyday lives, but at the same time needs […]
In Vancouver, online magazine Yanko Design has done a deep dive on mycelium-based production innovations, which include innovative concepts like helmets and Mars habitats. The publication’s thorough list illustrates the diverse end markets interested in creating sustainable and biodegradable products from the thread-like roots of mushroom-producing fungi. For example, a “Grow It Yourself” helmet […]
In Colorado, a foundational study conducted by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows for the first time that white-rot fungi are able to use carbon captured from lignin as a carbon source. The research confirms a hypothesis the senior author of a newly published paper. Until now, scientists were unsure whether white-rot […]
