People who are blind are able to better complete various practical and navigation tasks with the help of echolocation(回声定位）,a new research suggests.

Echolocation occurs when an animal gives out a sound that bounces off objects in the environment, returning echoes that provide information about the surrounding space. While the technique is well known in whales and bats,some people who are blind use click-based echolocation to judge spaces and improve their navigation skills.

Lore Thaler at Durham University in the UK and colleagues looked into the factors that determine how people learn this skill. Over the course of a 10-week training programme,the team investigated how level of vision and age affect the learning of click-based echolocation, and how learning this skill affects the daily life of people who are blind.

Blind and sighted participants aged between 21 and 79 took part in 20 two-to-three-hour training sessions over the study period. Blind participants also took part in a three-month follow-up survey assessing the effects of the training on their daily life.

The researchers found that people who are blind and those who are sighted improved considerably on all measures. In the follow-up survey, all participants who were blind reported improved mobility, and 83 per cent reported better independence and well-being.

The results suggest the ability to learn click-based echolocation isn't strongly limited by age or level of vision, the researchers say, and this can potentially benefit people with vision loss or in the early stages of progressive vision loss.

“I cannot think of any other work with blind participants that has had such enthusiastic feedback,” said Thaler.

Click-based echolocation is currently not taught as part of mobility training and rehabilitation (恢复正常生活）for people who are blind. Experts say there is a possibility that some people are reluctant to use it. due to the shame around making the required clicks in social environments.

Despite this, the results indicate that people who use echolocation, and people new to echolocation, are confident about using it in social situations, the researchers say.

According to National Renewable Energy Laboratory experts, air cooling is already responsible for 3.94% of yearly carbon emissions (排放) worldwide, which will only worsen as higher global temperatures continue to drive the growing need for air conditioning. Meanwhile, increased energy bills and a Jack of gas supply are other significant concerns. The climate change and energy issues call for serious efforts to carry out more effective projects to answer these challenges.

Heat pumps (泵) seem to be visible, and they are gaining attention — particularly in the US and UK. They function by transferring heat from the outside air to water while generating cold air, thereby keeping homes cool. According to a recent study, using heat pumps can help homeowners reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money on energy, and improve their health. The findings, published in Environmental Research Letters, indicate that heat pumps will lower emissions for two-thirds of families while benefiting one-third of US homeowners financially.

Dalrada Corporation was established by Brian Bonar in 1982 with a vision to transform meaningful ideas into solutions to serve humanity. Since then, the organization has expanded its operations to serve plentiful business sectors. The company helps industrial, commercial, and consumer industries in various sections, such as science, health care, engineering and technology. Dalrada’s high-temperature CO₂-based heat pump offers clean heating and cooling without requiring burning fossil (化石) fuels. The technology is promising, and the US government had selected Dalrada’s heat pump as a green building pioneer to inspire more energy transformation new technologies.

According to multiple studies focusing on the hotel industry, the most expensive bill is for electricity, followed by water and gas. Dalrada’s Likido^TM heat pump is the company’s flagship product. A low-carbon, heating and cooling pump design provides an extraordinary solution for reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Eventually, this creative technology has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption and costs for hotels around the world.

Every year the European Commission awards the STARTS Prize to projects that combine artistic expression, technology and scientific research. This year’s shortlisted projects touched on topics ranging from simple technology to DNA data storage, but the final two Grand Prize winners both focused on environment and sustainability.

The Grand Prize in Innovative Collaboration went to “Remix El Barrio”, a cooperation between Anastasia Pistofidou, Marion Real, Fab Lab Barcelona and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.

The project identified food waste streams in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Poblenou and worked with local restaurants and Fab Lab Barcelona to turn this waste into different materials. In this circular economy project, waste becomes a resource again. Twelve designers used these materials to create a variety of products, such as a jacket made from a material sourced from orange peels, or soap made with used cooking oils.

The other winner was “Oceans in Transformation”, which was awarded the Grand Prize for Artistic Exploration. In this project, Territorial Agency’s John Palmesino and Ann-Sofi Rönnskog wanted to find a way to visualise the many different types of knowledge we have about the ocean.

Both Grand Prize winners are reminders that issues related to environment and sustainability are often complex and affect many different communities. The solutions aren’t always just scientific. For example, scientists can find ways to turn food waste into new materials, but in practice restaurants and designers and consumers are all part of the solution as well. And while scientists are continuously collecting valuable data about the changing oceans, “Oceans in Transformation” showed that such data is meaningless unless people see it in context(背景).