a serious tracy romantic for a cultural tour soon done in 30 minutes upon d. w. how about taking out you read? you could even take a chance on what i rearing to. ah, don't expect to happy ending literature list 100 germany which allow the soil to grow plants to eat. we draw water from wells to quench our thirst. and we extract natural resources to produce goods, but we can only continue to do so if we make these processes more sustainable. for

example, by recycling more, all using alternatives like him rather than leather and feeding farmed fish with insects instead of fish meal. ah, welcome to dw science show to morrow to day. funky has an ancient origins. in recent years, bolton experts identified funky fossils between 7 and 800000000 years old. and there were so many different funky species. we couldn't manage without them. we used them to make everything from medications to yeast, bread and construction materials. and that's not all they could for ah, by few gray, mach hurtful meters than white ones every 10 centimeters. how tall is the tree for

90 on foot? long, few, middle noisy. okay. make a note in, in february 2016 microbiologist, a like a quarter planted around 200 alder beach and willow trees in this former uranium mining area. the soil here is contaminated with heavy metals. 6 in a few years time, the trees could be filled for firewood if they grow well, although that can't be taken for granted with this soil, it can, if you can't really call it foil, give healthy soil looks very different. after uranium mining was discontinued, fresh soil was brought in as part of the clean up process. but growing fruit and vent here it's still on the question. then there with their port greasewood, the soil has a lot of rubles ice which shows that the plants like this area and, and once they reach down here, there's sandy material deposited in the last ice age versus infancy in that if i

site up golardo 11 and here you find practically no roots at all. the section has a low ph value, so plants don't like it. that's highest flung, smooth and using. but i missed a low ph value, indicates acidic soil in this environment, toxic heavy metals that are usually bound in the soil, dissolve and see and to the ground water where they are absorbed by plants. this being fiduciary virulence. we therefore try to mix in soil containing a bit of lime. this serves as a ph buffer, so the plants have a better even if not ideal habitat off to my limbs, home of ambition, bisset and leans homes. in other words, the soil is neutralized, but that's not all. the scientists from germany, sienna university, have to do in order to bind the heavy metals in the soil, they convert them back into solid form using fungi. dad, he peered sir in nature as some i'll say association sees fun. gabriel and water and minerals to trees, effectively functioning as

a filter have appeared anything not passed on by the fun guy will not be absorbed by the trees else going on. so in this case, we have a low, a transfer of heavy metals than without fungi time and in bomb its own appear in order to boost microbial activity in the soil. the researchers introduce special micro organisms every year in via finish. in that forest you find specific fun guy under specific trees will with some it's obvious like the larger the letter o. but polio poll i'm in, boca fag, is asia. so we have to look for machines that can communicate to this tree. these embalmed eden, couldn't their experiments have work best with the alder trees, with mater results from the birch and poor results from the willows. but that might change over the next few years, which is why the team is continuing with its research. they believed that inoculating the soil with fungi and bacteria will bear fruit, vermont, and aka,

grow. so grow back if you don't plow afield, will be what it takes about 40 years for the microbiology to resemble that of a natural growl slend this. yeah. so if we introduce micro organisms here, we're saving practically the 40 years, it would take for the microbiology to get used to the new ecosystem. your book was esteemed wound up, but even the non poison it's types of mushrooms growing and these parts are not suitable for eating. due to the heavy metals they absorb from the soil, the contaminants are only released when the fungi decompose. although at least in concentrations that the trees can cope with these days, lithium is an integral part of life, as we know it, it's in computers, laptops, mobile phones, electric cars, and all sorts of other battery powered devices. the advantage of lithium batteries is that they lightweight and long lasting now with immobility on

the rise demand for this useful metal is throwing rapidly. lithium found in nature is always bonded with other elements dance due to its electron configuration, it has a single valence electron that is easily given up to form chemical bonds separating it from those chemical partners is difficult. but in south america it's different. this region is home to more than half the world's lithium reserves. it's found under the white crusts of salt lakes, bound together with the salt. in this form, it's easier to extract water from the lake is pumped out and allowed to evaporate, leaving behind a lithium rich substance. chemicals are then used to separate the lithium and some of those chemicals are toxic. another problem,

when the salt water is pumped out of the lake, it draws out ground water to a big problem in this arid region. just one battery for a medium range electric car uses between 3 and 12000 leaders of water. that's up to $82.00 full bath tubs. when does, if things keep going, this right, within 5 or 6 years will have lost so much water that this entire area will become a desert. it's not just agricultural livestock, farming that will suffer and in fact i'm human life will no longer be possible here and mentally has seen them. ok, so a high price to pay for our batteries and in europe to conservationists are concerned about the impact of lithium mining in the hills of northern portugal mining on a grand scale could start soon. portugal has sufficient deposits to supply the whole of europe. lulu but residents of the affecting region of

barroso fear for the future of their land. next got, i mean i thank years into mattie me, the mine will be just 200 meters from here. if we go up to that house, we would see the mine from there, with ballpark vista, regardless the out of its evil. it's going to ruin the water here as a star, and all the dust from the mine will cover the fresh grasses in the meadows. and spoil them also, but they are with us with our land simply won't be of the same quality any more freshman. it's even possible that the water would disappear completely. and then even this green grass would no longer grow here. but as electric vehicles become more wide spread, demand for lithium will grow. right now europe imports its lithium. germany is also looking to see whether it could cover its own needs. in the future, germany has 2700000 tons of lithium and the most in europe. many e u members have deposits, but mining them is either difficult or too expensive. germany's reserves can be

found. for example, thousands of meters below the river rhine trapped in underground springs of boiling water. scientists are hoping to extract the lithium using geothermal power, the ideas to pump the hot water from deep under ground to use it for heating and electricity, extracting the lithium at the same time was the leads him to see him though. if the him that we produce here in the upper right valley is completely c o 2 free, it's you, unlike the lithium from australia or south america, which generates a lot of seo to see through the long transport routes and the production method. it sounds good, but whether it's economically feasible is still unclear. recycling, lithium would be another way to cut imports. and the e. u wants to gradually boost recycling rates. ah, but extracting lithium from recycled batteries is also energy intensive. and once

again requires chemicals. right now, it's hardly worth it because despite price fluctuations, fresh, lithium from south america is just too affordable. ah, we asked view is on social media, what they're doing to preserve resources. these are some of the interesting responses we got jeez lane. a santi from brazil replied, i reuse supermarket bags several times, but i strongly believe that brazil should stop exploiting wood to europe. francesca, his son is tip, is reducing consumption. if less is produced in the 1st place, we don't need to think about how it can be recycled. we benefit by becoming better off and making the wealthy. less rich. generally we dish raise them, suggest separating waste watering plants. first thing in the morning and recycling paper plastics and cardboard j ricardo b p writes,

i'm starting to produce my own food and use a system for combusting. so that organic waste is bio degraded and like many others, spirit c, r, wonders if it wouldn't be better to replace economic systems that benefit only a few and leave many behind. thanks for your comments. we waste resources in the long run. the consequences will be catastrophic. so it's vital to switch to more sustainable practices. recycling textiles, for example, can help reduce water intensive cotton production. we can also re thing, plastic production and use. it's derived from crude oil, making it environmentally damaging and unfit for the future. an entrepreneur in thailand make single use dishes from rice drill, a byproduct of rice production. and there are many more ways we can switch to sustainable materials. this is

a brand new material. and then it is lucas foreman who is one of its inventors. can it replace genuine leather which is made from animal hinds. robertson was on the growed. a sample of our leather alternative. it's unique worldwide because it's c o . 2 neutral completely plastic free and entirely plumped but expensive. lucas foreman is going to meet july 48th. the frankfurt based designer normally works with real leather. he uses it to make belts and banks in his studio. he has promised to look at the new material and try it out with some northbrook that doesn't. that's what you were talking about on the phone . yes, exactly. okay, yeah, the good that i'm always cautious about leather substitutes and see that my experiences haven't been great new robins, good enough. what i do is very work intensive with an alternative often aren't up

to it from to near was most nevertheless, joelle is interested in taking a closer look at the plant based leather. for him, it's important that it can be worked and just the same way as conventional leather . for example, you have to be able to cut it as cleanly as this real leather smooth benches are important. schneider, they say good, a cuts very well. you to lead up to not all real others are as good as that. the cut edge is smooth. so the wasn't, that looks really good. some of this and o. m a promising 1st response. the designer is going to put the new material to a few more tests. the vague and leather was developed at the technical university of darmstadt. the inventor spent 6 years on research and then founded a startup. the new material is based on hemp waste. the company gets its raw materials from

a german company that grows to plants for have seeds and to make cbd products as an environmental, sanders, farmers are interested in the top 20 centimeters janet. the stalks are shredded on, don't make them any money lesson of the damage. this hem straw is left to lie in a fail for 6 months to make it nice and soft and vice versa. we put it into this machine and it produces al raw material. the media all button for reasons of patent protection, they're unable to reveal exactly how they turned this hemp waste into a leather substitute. the adventurers will only reveal that they saw from the hemp fibers and pressed them into flat lengths of material. everything of natural ad nontoxic as always, tongue. i like in a work here in the laboratory without using any gloves, but we don't use any chemicals at all. so natalia is nothing dubious. everything that happens here is entirely plant based line class with alice. because if they're

completely plant based material is still at the development stage until they can produce large quantities, they want to find out where it might be used. potential clients are the furniture and car industries and the fashioned industry, of course, that's white. joanna, fully a's opinion counts. there is no problem cutting it, and it can also be cut at an angle. 3 is my here. mm hm. i'm going to try getting rid of the edge now across and grab gum. i discontinued of and that doesn't work very well. the room for improvement there. this is how it works with leather. so if you try to finish the hep based leather, the fibers fray get through this. now i'm going to try out a small piece that doesn't require much work, a smartphone case, which i knew the whole joanne fully cuts to pieces out of the new material or

glues them in place and then machine. so as them together, what no one wants to see is any rips or tears. lucas woman is keen to hear what the leather expert has to say. tall and look at this thing to come forward, said walter. no, it wouldn't really well with her working the leather went very well and it was really fun working with this material who continued it works the same as my real leather. yeah. well great. it's turned out really well. we can see how it feels. m scarp there was some small minus points on the edge, can't be finished as easily as leather leader. the color is still, well, i don't know to what extent you can develop different hughes that are more help to it would be really nice if the customers could choose different colors on. but now it's an interesting material. and i could definitely imagine offering it alongside my other products that are viewed for people for food. good, all here with the adventures of the leather alternative,

have taken another step out of the laboratory towards production. there are vast landfills. sites like this all over the world. these mountains of waste could be reduced if we switch to buy a degradable materials and recycled, more garbage dumps, sting and pollute the atmosphere, the ground and the ground water, the trash we produce, also ends up in oceans and nature. and what about in space? that's what window geraldo from brazil. buns to know. ah, what's being done about debris in space? the earth is surrounded by a cloud of space junk. more than a 1000000 pieces of space debris orbit, our blue planet. most of them are just a few centimeters in size, but they were also nonfunctional satellites,

and jet rockets tumbling through space. due to their high velocities, even small pieces of debris can cause extensive damage. every rocket launch adds more waste spaceship components that are no longer needed like used rockets are simply jettisoned in february of 2009 to satellite smashed into each other. the crash created thousands of bits of debris which could potentially collide with other satellite. that's why large pieces of space drunk need to be cleared from orbit. researchers have been working for years to remove debris from earth's orbit. they aim to achieve this with the aid of a satellite. it will either collect debris with an intelligent robotic arm and pulled the debris towards it. or it will rely on net much like

a fisherman does. when fishing the debris removing satellite will propel the space chunk towards earth in a controlled trajectory. when the debris enters the atmosphere, friction causes it to burn up. in june of 2018, the satellite remove debris was launched into orbit from the international space station. it was meant to test various methods of collecting space debris. but that turned out to be quite a challenge. objects move and behave much differently in outer space. the 1st official mission to remove debris from orbit is planned for the year 2025. the clear space one satellite will be sent up to a to me, to large adapter from a european vega rocket. the satellite will take hold of it and re directed towards earth on

a path where it will destroy itself upon re entry into the atmosphere. if i will let is read why i do you the science question. if so send us a video text or voice message. if we answer it on the show, we'll send you a small gift as a thank you. so come on, does, does this under water? will it looks it delicate that much of marine life isn't bad shape? climate change means the oceans are getting warmer and many species are struggling to adapt. industrial fishing practices are also taking their toll and resulting in habitat degradation. one 3rd of the world's fish stocks are now over fished. and it's not only because of how much we it's also due to demand full fish meal to feed farmed fish. research is a hard at work developing alternatives. this

insect could be the solution to a common problem in fish farming or aquaculture originally from south america. the black soldier fly is now at home all over the world. when mature, the flies don't have a mouth or a stinger, so they can't spread diseases. they also reproduce very quickly if conditions are right, a female lays around a 1000 eggs. the resulting larvae could become an excellent substitute for fish meal. first, the eggs have to be harvested before being left to grow on a nutritious substrate. hello. i look on 300 grams of eggs can yield one. toma larva is they're extremely resource efficient g. the grow very quickly that they could be produced regionally come on. so they're very economical source of protein or not. so a lot of the protein and fish monitor is currently sourced in the sea. every year 30000000 tons of fish are taken from the oceans just to make animal feet

. it's an ecological disaster. such over fishing is causing wine spread devastation to marine habitants. farm insect is a startup spin off of musics technological university that aims to produce regionally sourced fish feed. it's 3 founders have set up their pilot project on a trout farm for, but i took a feed for the larvae is waste from a nearby flower mill. the young larvae are sprinkled on it and the trees are then stored in a warm and humid climate controlled unit. ready as the larvae grow, they turn everything into compost. they're now picky. don't eat anything. on the amans veneer lapham, dishwater dawkins, we chose the black soldier, fly i. his larva are able to process the broadest range of food on those fish where we are particularly important for our aim of creating a regional nutrients cycle, especially foster. she's able to practically anything,

mix them perfect is the deaf effect guy, good. after a week, the larvae are one and a half centimeters long and ready to be harvested. just 1.2 kilos of feed yield one whole kilo of larvae. it's an efficient and d centralized way to produce protein. tolmas kuhn and voss gung vest m i have spent over a year on their mission to make fish water on a regional and resource efficient basis. but they do have one concern. fish have an excellent sense of smell and can be rather choosing, and their culinary tastes. good thing to the sun as a fish might refuse to eat the lava, which would be awful heavy after all that hard work soon to help, but it will suffer to predatory fish like these trout need plenty of protein, which is why fish feeds contains up to 20 per cent meal from deep sea fishing

helmet, vedic and hence the various institute of fisheries. he would welcome the prospect of less fish, milan, the feed, and not just for ecological reasons. fisher remarked in there are 4 key 4. the read is the largest cost factor in modern agriculture inclusion, up to 70 percent out of his he was or interested not only in the quality of a v t to school, but also its cost effectiveness of his card visitors among various vill him vin dish is also keen to see the results of the pilot project, he's an expert in animal nutrition and has been advising the black soldier, fly farmers from the outset. we can do insects on fish. they're here a lot about feeding, live insects to fish, and so much on the talk loud. see if it actually works as we have on. that's the acid test. you naughty program. here goes. it's feeding time and the 1st scope of larvae is served. but the fish just

ignore them, no response. perhaps the larvae aren't to their liking then suddenly there's a feeding frenzy, a virus with over yonder. thank you. if he can speak, i said as it's natural, i'm impressed fish. it will cost official hungry and we've given them a longer so they're getting full gun them long some. but it clearly worked about identity over the next few weeks helmet, vida can, will be checking to see how will the fish thrive on this new feet. that means measuring their weight and assessing their state of how i'm with no,

that's important information because the larvae is nutritional value changes shortly before they reach the pupil stage. was vish designed with it's crucial to harvest the lava just the right moment just to make them especially appealing to the fish if all goes well and the project is a success larvae, it could end up replacing fish meal and saving fish farmers up to 40 percent of their feed cost. that's it for this week's edition of tomorrow to day. doing this again next week until then stay curious about the world around you . but i know ah, with

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was harvested by people more being exploited than i do. so for the in that the, the green revolution is absolutely necessary. europe revealed the future thing determine now how documentary theories will show you how people, companies and countries, are we thinking everything lacking later changes? you'll have reviewed this week on d, w. ah ah, this is d w news and these are our top stories. lot protests have broken out in several cities across china over the country strict and ongoing cobit measures. the demonstrations are a rare defiance.