This innovation addresses both plastic pollution and the need for cleaner energy solutions by converting discarded plastics into valuable resources like hydrogen and acetic acid, which can be used as fuels or industrial chemicals.
The process, known as solar-driven photoreforming, uses sunlight to break down plastic at low temperatures, making it a cleaner and energy-efficient method compared to traditional plastic recycling.
The photocatalysts, light-sensitive materials, absorb sunlight and use its energy to decompose plastic into hydrogen, a clean fuel that produces no emissions when used. Additionally, other valuable products like diesel-range hydrocarbons can be produced, making the method highly versatile for generating different fuels.
This new technology has shown promising results in laboratory experiments. Some systems have operated continuously for over 100 hours, demonstrating that it’s possible to generate high levels of hydrogen while maintaining efficiency. The researchers see this as an important step toward practical implementation, though there are still significant challenges to address.
Plastic waste is diverse, with many types of materials mixed with additives, which complicates the recycling process. For this technology to be effective in the real world, sorting and pre-treating plastic waste will be essential to ensure the process works smoothly.
In addition, improving the photocatalysts is crucial to ensure they are durable and perform consistently over time. The system will also need to efficiently separate the fuels and chemicals produced, which remains a challenge.
Despite these obstacles, the research team is optimistic about the potential of this solar-powered process. With continued technological advancements and better system designs, this innovative method could significantly reduce plastic waste and help in creating clean, renewable energy.
By turning pollution into a valuable resource, this technology has the potential to support a more sustainable, low-carbon future for the planet.
Solar-powered innovation turns plastic waste into clean fuel, offering a sustainable solution for the future.
The research, which began in March 2026 and will run through September 2026, follows an initial population assessment, the first of its kind in the park, which suggested that Akagera could host between 70 and 80 leopards. However, park management currently has verified records of 59 individual leopards.
According to Jean Paul Karinganire, Funding & Reporting Manager at the park, a previous study conducted between 2024 and 2025 successfully identified 59 distinct leopards from an estimated population of around 80.
He noted that leopards are more concentrated in the southern part of the park, where vegetation is denser compared to the northern section, providing more suitable cover and hunting conditions.
“This study will help us better understand the structure of our leopard population and how they live on a daily basis within the park,” Karinganire said. “We are looking at their behavior, feeding habits, preferred prey, activity patterns such as when they are most active and how often they reproduce each year.”
He added that the research will provide deeper insights into how leopards behave across different seasons, including the size of their territories, their hunting grounds, and reproductive cycles.
Karinganire emphasized that the goal is to build a comprehensive ecological dataset not only focusing on individual leopards, but also examining the broader ecosystem. This includes understanding the animals they prey on and integrating that information with other ecological data to strengthen conservation planning and park management.
Leopards are carnivorous mammals belonging to the genus Panthera, which includes other large cats such as lions, tigers, and jaguars.
Park management also reported that in the first quarter of 2026, Akagera National Park received more than 11,700 visitors, generating over $1.3 million (approximately Rwf 1.9 billion) in revenue.
Akagera National Park launches research on leopards.
The company, which began operations in 2018, is based in the Bugesera Industrial Zone and currently collects at least 40% of obsolete electronic waste generated in the country. Its operations aim to reduce environmental pollution linked to electronic waste while recovering valuable materials and extending the lifespan of usable devices.
Electronic waste, commonly referred to as e-waste, includes discarded devices such as mobile phones, computers, televisions, kettles, refrigerators, microwaves, irons, printers and other household electronics that are no longer in use but often remain stored in homes.
According to Enviroserve Rwanda Country General Manager Olivier Mbera, many households continue to keep unused electronics despite the environmental and health risks associated with prolonged storage of such items.
“We have collected up to 8,500 tonnes of electronic waste since we started operating,” Mbera said. “Once these items arrive at the facility, they are either refurbished or dismantled to recover useful components. Each year, we refurbish about 10,000 computers, around half of which are reused in schools, while the rest are sold for use by the general public.”
He added that the company has already refurbished and redistributed about 40,000 computers since its establishment, contributing to digital access in schools and communities. Other materials recovered from e-waste are channelled back into industrial recycling streams, while hazardous substances are safely extracted and managed to prevent environmental contamination.
Mbera cautioned against the long-term storage of obsolete electronic devices in households, warning that they may contain hazardous substances that pose risks to both human health and the environment.
“It is not advisable to keep unused electronic devices at home because they contain harmful chemicals that can affect people’s health,” he said. “As devices age, these substances may begin to leak. For example, a swollen phone battery or a refrigerator losing gas can release toxic elements that may contribute to serious health risks and environmental damage.”
Environmental experts also warn that improper handling of e-waste can lead to soil and water contamination due to heavy metals and toxic compounds contained in electronic components.
Government push for safe e-waste management
Beatha Akimpaye, the Division Manager of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Division at Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), said Rwanda’s e-waste recycling programme was introduced as part of broader efforts to strengthen environmental protection and promote responsible waste management.
She urged the public to properly dispose of electronic devices through designated collection systems instead of keeping them in homes.
“While we depend on electronic devices to keep up with modern technology, when they become waste and are not properly managed, they can harm both the environment and human health,” she said. “People should take such devices to collection centres established by Enviroserve Rwanda so they can be safely recycled or dismantled in an environmentally sound manner.”
Enviroserve Rwanda currently operates 26 e-waste collection centres across the country. Through these centres, the company collects obsolete electronic equipment for sorting, refurbishment, dismantling and recycling. Devices that can be repaired are refurbished and reused, while non-repairable materials are broken down and either recycled locally or exported for further processing.
After collection, some of the materials are shredded, and the recovered components are sold.Old bulky televisions and CRT computer monitors account for a large share of the items collected.According to Enviroserve Rwanda Country General Manager Olivier Mbera, many households continue to keep unused electronics despite the environmental and health risks associated with prolonged storage of such items.
The robotic system, created by the international Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), represents a new way for researchers to monitor these large marine mammals’ social interactions without disturbing them, offering insights that were once nearly impossible to capture.
Sperm whales are known for their distinctive clicking sounds including sequences called “codas” which are believed to play a key role in their communication and social behaviour.
These clicks can travel long distances through deep ocean waters, but scientists have struggled to follow them continuously because traditional tracking methods such as suction‑cup tags or stationary hydrophones often lose contact when the animals dive deep or swim away.
The new system uses an autonomous underwater glider, equipped with four hydrophones (underwater microphones) and advanced signal‑processing technology that enables it to detect whale vocalizations.
When the glider “hears” the distinctive clicks of a sperm whale, it can automatically adjust its course to follow the animal, navigating underwater without the need for a boat or human control. This real‑time tracking capability allows researchers to observe whale behaviour over extended periods potentially for weeks or even months rather than just short moments.
Scientists believe that this development could transform the way sperm whales are studied. Extended, continuous monitoring can help researchers learn not only about where the whales travel but also how they communicate, how young whales learn vocal patterns from adults, and how these animals respond to environmental changes and human activities such as shipping traffic or underwater noise pollution.
By understanding these patterns better, conservation efforts can be more precisely designed to protect vulnerable marine habitats and reduce human impacts.
Despite the promise of the technology, there are limitations. The system isn’t yet able to pinpoint the exact location of each whale, and the glider must periodically surface to exchange data, which can temporarily interrupt tracking.
Nevertheless, scientists say this represents a significant step forward from earlier methods that could only reconstruct past whale movements from collected data.
This innovation shows how combining robotics, acoustics, and artificial intelligence can open new frontiers in understanding life in the deep sea, a world still largely unexplored by humans.
By bringing researchers closer to real‑time insights into the lives of sperm whales, the technology not only advances scientific knowledge but also supports efforts to protect and conserve these remarkable creatures and their ocean environment.
Revolutionary underwater robot tracks sperm whale communication in real time.
Imagine expecting a hot dry season, only for heavy rains to suddenly fall and destroy homes, crops, and infrastructure. Then, when people have planted and are expecting rainfall, prolonged sunshine and drought take over instead.
These unpredictable weather patterns are among the causes of natural disasters that continue to affect communities.
Many Rwandans still remember the devastating rains of May 2023, which triggered disasters that claimed 135 lives.
More than 2,100 houses were damaged, while another 2,763 were completely destroyed. Roads and other public infrastructure were also badly affected, and the impact is still visible today.
According to a report by the Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management(MINEMA), natural disasters are among the most expensive challenges facing Rwanda, costing the country around $300 million (more than Rwf 400 billion) every year.
To respond to these challenges and strengthen environmental resilience, the Government of Rwanda, through the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) and other development partners, is implementing five major projects worth more than Rwf 735 billion.
These projects are aimed at helping Rwanda tackle climate change, reduce flooding, improve water resource management, generate electricity through sustainable resources, boost food security, and improve the livelihoods of communities living near the project areas.
One of the flagship initiatives is the construction of the Muvumba Multi-Purpose Dam in Nyagatare District. The project is expected to be completed in March 2027, and construction has currently reached 46 percent.
The dam is being built on 400 hectares of land across Karama and Rukomo sectors, and it will also extend into Gatunda Sector in Nyagatare District.
Once completed, the dam will stand 39 meters high, with a crest stretching one kilometer and 160 meters in length.
It will have the capacity to store nearly 55 million cubic meters of water. This water will be used to provide clean drinking water to residents, irrigate farmland, supply livestock, and generate one megawatt of electricity.
Construction of the Muvumba Dam is progressing steadily.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide €121.5 million (about Rwf 207 billion), covering 97.2 percent of the total project cost, while Rwanda will contribute 2.8 percent, equivalent to €2.688 million (more than Rwf 4.5 billion).
The dam will supply 50,000 cubic meters of clean water per day. It will also generate one megawatt of electricity and support irrigation on 10,000 hectares of farmland in the sectors of Tabagwe, Gatunda, Karama, Rukomo, Nyagatare, Rwempasha, Musheri, and Rwimiyaga.
Rwanda is also implementing another major initiative known as the Volcanoes Community Resilience Project (VCRP), which is funded by the World Bank. The project is being carried out jointly by the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB), the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), and Meteo Rwanda.
Scheduled to run from 2024 to 2028, the project is valued at $300 million (more than Rwf 438 billion). It focuses on reducing flooding, improving livelihoods, and implementing water management measures in volcanic areas.
The project targets communities living in the volcanic region and the Vunga Corridor. It is expected to strengthen flood control, improve water drainage systems, and uplift livelihoods in the districts of Musanze, Nyabihu, Rubavu, Gakenke, Burera, Rutsiro, Ngororero, and Muhanga.
Since implementation began, terraces covering nearly 400 hectares have been constructed, along with 332 anti-erosion structures and other interventions in the districts of Musanze, Nyabihu, and Rubavu.
More than 450,000 tree and crop seedlings have been prepared and planted on 1,184 hectares of land. In additio n, 357 water tanks have been distributed, while 167 cows have been provided to vulnerable families.
Another key environmental conservation initiative currently receiving strong support is the project aimed at protecting biodiversity in the Congo-Nile Divide.
Over the next three years, a biodiversity conservation project covering districts located along the Congo-Nile Ridge is expected to be completed.
This project is being implemented in 10 districts, namely Musanze, Nyabihu, Rubavu, Ngororero, Rutsiro, Karongi, Nyamasheke, Rusizi, Nyamagabe, and Nyaruguru.
It is valued at $50 million (more than Rwf 73 billion) and is being implemented by the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) in partnership with stakeholders, including the Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA).
Congo-Nile Divide Biodiversity Conservation Project is expected to deliver major transformation.
This project, titled “Building Resilience of Vulnerable Communities to Climate Variability in Rwanda’s Congo Nile Divide through Forest and Landscape Restoration,” will focus on conserving natural resources in the Albertine Rift section of the Congo-Nile Divide, which covers 444,600 hectares.
The initiative is expected to restore 5,000 hectares within Nyungwe National Park and Gishwati Forest, while 3,346 hectares will be planted with agroforestry trees. Terraces will be developed on 1,600 hectares of land, 8,500 households will receive clean and environmentally friendly energy solutions, and forests covering 2,500 hectares will be protected.
The project is also expected to create around 24,000 job opportunities.
In the districts of Karongi and Rutsiro, the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) will focus on land restoration activities, including the construction of terraces on 1,673 hectares.
The works will also include rehabilitating 39 kilometers of water channels damaged by heavy rainfall, as well as restoring 300 hectares of land near rivers. These activities are expected to create employment for 3,500 people.
Environmental protection efforts also include another project aimed at combating floods and helping residents in western Rwanda build resilience against disasters.
This project is valued at $9 million (more than Rwf 13 billion). It will focus on addressing recurring floods, soil erosion, and land degradation.
To achieve these goals, water retention dams will be constructed and reinforced with grass cover, damaged drainage channels in Rusizi and Karongi will be rehabilitated, terraces will be built, and agroforestry trees will be planted. These interventions are expected to benefit more than 600,000 residents.
The project will also support the construction of six modern monitoring stations designed to provide early flood warnings, alongside the introduction of digital disaster alert systems.
These measures are expected to benefit 1.2 million people, while training programs on disaster preparedness and response will also be provided.
Five projects worth Rwf 735 billion are underway to protect the environment.
“Since 1980, Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest warming continent on Earth,” Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said while presenting the European State of the Climate Report 2025.
Fastest-warming continent
Europe suffered record or near-record climate extremes in 2025, with heatwaves, wildfires, marine heat and ice loss intensifying across the continent, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service and the WMO said in the report.
According to the report, at least 95 percent of Europe recorded annual temperatures above average, with prolonged heat spreading from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle.
Europe experienced its second-most severe heatwave on record, while sub-Arctic Fennoscandia endured a 21-day heatwave in July — the longest and most severe ever recorded in the region. Temperatures near and within the Arctic Circle reached or exceeded 30 degrees Celsius.
The findings align with broader Copernicus data showing that 2025 was the third-warmest year on record globally.
Hot and dry conditions fuelled Europe’s worst wildfire year on record. Wildfire data in the report showed that about 1.034 million hectares of land, an area larger than Cyprus, were burned in 2025. Wildfire emissions in Europe also reached their highest level on record, with Spain accounting for around half of the continent’s total fire emissions.
Extremes strain biodiversity and community
Numerous extreme events in 2025 – including drought, wildfires, and land and marine heatwaves – placed mounting pressure on biodiversity in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Shrinking and shifting habitats, disrupted seasonal cycles and changing precipitation patterns have further intensified stress on nature.
The report highlighted concrete examples of climate change impacts on sensitive ecosystems, such as marine heatwaves damaging seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean Sea and wildfires affecting peatlands, underscoring the growing links between climate and biodiversity loss.
Separate findings from the Global Forest Watch platform showed that climate change-linked forest loss was also significant in Europe in 2025. In France, tree cover loss due to fire reached a record high in 2025 – seven times higher than in 2024. In Spain and Portugal, around 60 percent of all 2025 tree cover loss was caused by wildfires.
Extreme heat also takes a measurable toll on human health and productivity. A joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the WMO has warned that extreme heat is disrupting global agrifood systems, threatening over one billion people. It estimated annual losses of around 500 billion working hours worldwide due to heat stress.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu described extreme heat as a “major risk multiplier,” exerting mounting pressure on crops, livestock, fisheries, forests, and on communities and economies that depend upon them.
Call for urgent action
Citing Europe’s record heatwaves, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Director-General Florian Pappenberger said: “The 2025 report offers clear, actionable insights to support policy decisions and help the public better understand the changing climate we live in.”
The report also points to steps taken by European policymakers, including legally binding EU targets to restore at least 20 percent of land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need by 2050. Broader frameworks such as the European Green Deal and EU Climate Law embed biodiversity protection within climate strategies.
However, despite these initiatives, the report underlined that progress must accelerate.
The European State of the Climate 2025 report “is a stark reminder that we must sustain and accelerate both adaptation and mitigation efforts,” said Dusan Chrenek, principal adviser for Digital Green Transition at Directorate-General for Climate Action, adding that Europe should further strengthen its Earth observation capabilities through advanced technologies.
Multiple reports released on Wednesday paint a stark picture of accelerating climate extremes, with Europe warming faster than any other continent.
Curiosity had been studying the ancient rocks of Gale Crater, a place long believed to have once held water. In clay‑rich layers that formed billions of years ago, the rover detected more than twenty different organic molecules. These aren’t just ordinary chemicals. Many of them are deeply linked to the kind of chemistry that makes life on Earth possible.
One of the most exciting finds was a molecule with a structure similar to the building blocks of DNA. DNA is the code that carries the instructions for life on Earth, and discovering something that resembles its ingredients so far away sent ripples of excitement through the scientific world.
But scientists are careful this doesn’t prove that life ever existed on Mars. Instead, it suggests that the ancient Martian environment may have once been much more welcoming than we imagined.
Researchers believe these molecules have been preserved for about 3.5 billion years in the rocks, protected from harsh conditions by clay minerals. These clays act like time capsules, holding onto chemical secrets from Mars’s distant past. The amazing thing is that this preservation gives scientists a rare glimpse into the planet’s ancient chemistry, and possibly its potential to support life long ago.
The discovery came from a carefully planned chemical experiment using Curiosity’s onboard instruments. Because there was only a small amount of the chemical needed for the test, the scientists had to choose the perfect place to conduct the experiment and it paid off in a big way.
While this breakthrough doesn’t mean we’ve found Martian life, it does mean that the ingredients for life were present and preserved. Future missions might build on this work, possibly even bringing samples back to Earth for more detailed study. For now, the molecules discovered by Curiosity remind us that our universe is full of surprises and that even a seemingly barren world like Mars may hold clues about our own origins.
Discovering Mars’ ancient clues and the building blocks of life.
Around 300 million years ago, Earth looked very different. The continents were joined into a supercontinent called Pangaea, and vast swampy forests covered much of the land.
During this time, many animals and plants thrived in the high‑oxygen environment and among them were insects with astonishingly large bodies.
Some of these creatures, often called griffinflies, were dragonfly-like insects with wingspans reaching about 70 centimeters (27 inches) far larger than any flying insect alive today.
Insects don’t breathe like humans do. Instead of lungs, they rely on a complex network of tubes called the tracheal system, which carries oxygen directly to their muscles and tissues.
At the tiny ends of these tubes are structures called tracheoles, where oxygen enters the cells. Scientists once thought that bigger bodies needed much more oxygen and that only an oxygen‑rich atmosphere could support such huge insects.
However, in the new study published in the journal Nature, researchers used advanced electron microscopy to examine how insect body size relates to the space occupied by tracheoles in flight muscles.
They found that even in very large insects, tracheoles make up a surprisingly small portion, often only about 1% or less of the flight muscle volume. That tiny proportion suggests that oxygen delivery through the tracheal system wasn’t a limiting factor in how large insects could grow.
Because tracheoles take up so little space, insects could theoretically increase the number of these tubes without facing serious physical constraints.
In comparison, animals like birds and mammals depend on networks of tiny blood vessels (capillaries) that take up much more space in muscle tissue. This difference further supports the idea that oxygen levels weren’t the main barrier to giant insect size.
These findings don’t completely rule out oxygen’s influence on insect evolution, but they do show that the old explanation was too simple.
Scientists now need to explore other possibilities that might explain why insects grew so large in the past and why such giants no longer exist today.
Possible ideas include changes in predators, environmental conditions, or the inherent limitations of insect body structures.
Giant prehistoric insects may not have needed extra oxygen to grow so large after all.
The latest monthly Global Seasonal Climate Update from the WMO signals a clear shift in the Equatorial Pacific: sea-surface temperatures are rising rapidly, pointing to a likely return of El Nino conditions as early as May-July 2026.
Forecasts indicate there is a “nearly global dominance of above-normal land surface temperatures” in the upcoming three-month period, and regional variations in rainfall patterns.
“After a period of neutral conditions at the start of the year, climate models are now strongly aligned, and there is high confidence in the onset of El Nino, followed by further intensification in the months that follow,” said Wilfran Moufouma Okia, chief of climate prediction at WMO in the press release.
The WMO explains that El Nino is characterized by a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific. It typically occurs every two to seven years and lasts around nine to twelve months.
El Nino events affect temperature and rainfall patterns in different regions, and typically have a warming effect on the global climate. Thus, 2024 was the hottest year on record because of the combination of the powerful 2023-2024 El Nino and human-induced climate change from greenhouse gas emissions.
There is no evidence that climate change increases the frequency or intensity of El Nino events. But it can amplify associated impacts because a warmer ocean and atmosphere increases the availability of energy and moisture for extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall.
Each El Nino event is unique in terms of its evolution, spatial pattern and impacts. However, it is typically associated with increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa and central Asia, and drought over Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia.
During the Boreal summer, El Nino’s warm water can fuel hurricanes in the central/eastern Pacific Ocean, while it hinders hurricane formation in the Atlantic Basin.
Forecasts indicate there is a “nearly global dominance of above-normal land surface temperatures” in the upcoming three-month period, and regional variations in rainfall patterns.
Traditionally, observing ocean currents, especially the small, rapid ones has been extremely difficult. Satellites can measure large‑scale patterns like sea surface height, but they revisit the same area only every several days, leaving a gap in our view of fast‑changing and smaller features.
Now, a team from the University of California‑San Diego and collaborators have cracked this challenge by combining weather satellite images with advanced machine learning.
The method, dubbed GOFLOW (Geostationary Ocean Flow), analyzes consecutive thermal images from weather satellites images originally designed to track clouds and temperature and turns them into detailed maps of ocean movement.
By training a deep learning model to recognize how temperature patterns shift over time, researchers can infer how the underlying water is flowing.
According to the lead researcher, Luc Lenain from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, “Weather satellites have been observing the ocean surface for years. The breakthrough was learning how to turn that time‑lapse into hourly maps of currents.”
This statement highlights how the team transformed ordinary satellite data into something far more powerful viewing currents as if watching a movie of the ocean itself.
This AI‑driven system doesn’t require new or costly satellites. Instead, it maximizes the value of existing orbiting weather instruments, making the approach both efficient and cost‑effective.
It can detect fast‑moving currents and small eddies swirling water features previously hidden from direct view which are crucial for understanding vertical mixing.
Vertical mixing is a key process that brings nutrients from deep waters up toward the surface and helps store carbon in the ocean both essential for marine life and climate regulation.
The research team also includes Kaushik Srinivasan, a former Scripps researcher now at UCLA, as well as Roy Barkan of Tel Aviv University and Nick Pizzo of the University of Rhode Island. Their findings were published in Nature Geoscience, a leading scientific journal.
Because the new technique works with existing geostationary satellites which constantly observe large parts of the Earth, scientists hope GOFLOW could soon be integrated into climate models and weather prediction systems, improving forecasts and helping us better understand ocean‑climate interactions.
This AI‑powered discovery offers a detailed and dynamic look at ocean currents for the first time, turning everyday satellite data into a powerful tool for science, climate study, and environmental monitoring.
AI technology has revealed unseen ocean currents, transforming climate research.
