How 'mechanical trees' pull carbon dioxide from the air and lock it away – an inventor of direct air capture tech explains

Using machines to pull CO2 from the air could help as the world tries to slow climate change. Klaus Lackner is developing new ways to cut its high costs and energy demand.

Klaus Lackner, Professor of Engineering and Director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, Arizona State University • conversation
Jan. 18, 2022 • ~11 min

These machines scrub greenhouse gases from the air – an inventor of direct air capture technology shows how it works

Klaus Lackner is finding new ways to cut the technology’s high costs and energy demand, and he’s about to launch the first ‘mechanical tree.’

Klaus Lackner, Professor of Engineering and Director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, Arizona State University • conversation
Jan. 18, 2022 • ~11 min

Sir Clive Sinclair: even his failures were prescient inventions

The mass-market computer pioneer leaves behind a legacy of accessible, far-sighted if not always successful products.

Mike Reddy, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales • conversation
Sept. 17, 2021 • ~7 min

The 17th-century cloth merchant who discovered the vast realm of tiny microbes – an appreciation of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Leeuwenhoek, who discovered bacteria, is one of the most important figures in the history of medicine, laying the groundwork for today's understanding of infectious disease.

Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University • conversation
April 6, 2021 • ~7 min

The iconic American inventor is still a white male – and that's an obstacle to race and gender inclusion

The story of the invention in America typically features larger-than-life caricatures of white men like Thomas Edison while largely ignoring the contributions of women and people of color.

Anjali Vats, Associate Professor of Communication and African and African Diaspora Studies and Associate Professor of Law (By Courtesy), Boston College • conversation
Dec. 8, 2020 • ~9 min

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