In celebration of Earth Day, April 22, 2022, XPRIZE, the leader in competitions, awards and achievements for the benefit of mankind, announced that 15 successful teams have been selected during the current XPRIZE carbon removal competition. Elon Musk, a well-known businessman with $ 100 million in funding.
It is the largest motivating award in history, and the XPRIZE decarbonization teams represent the largest group of innovators working to decorbonize.
The award is announced
In January 2021, Elon Musk, the developer of Tesla electric cars and SpaceX rockets, announced his intention to reward primarily working innovators in combating global warming, combating climate change, and restructuring the global carbon cycle.
The rules of the competition coincide with April 22, 2021 Earth Day. Organizers of the competition said that 2025 will last for 4 years until Earth Day.
“Even if we reduce CO2 production, it will still not be enough,” said Peter Demandis, founder and CEO of the nonprofit XPRIZE. “We need mechanisms to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and oceans.” The award is therefore announced for finding ways to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by extracting it directly from the air.
The award comes as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns of the dangers of global warming, including extreme temperatures, fires, storms and droughts.
At a time when greenhouse gas emissions are equivalent to 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, many companies are working to solve the problem of removing $ 300 a metric ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
$ 1 million per team
According to XPRIZE, each of the 15 winning teams received $ 1 million in the initial ‘milestone round’, recognizing their efforts to date and supporting their current efforts to measure solutions.
Winners represent 9 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States. Unlike previous prizes, each of the 15 teams will compete in 2025 and qualify for the grand prize, with a single jackpot winner receiving $ 50 million, while 3 competitors will receive $ 30 million in the following places.
According to the competition’s website, the conditions for the competition are very strict and the number of advanced teams has been reduced from 1,133 to 287, qualifying for the main stage prizes. Then 70 expert reviewers screened and sorted the proposals received for scientific verification and selected the top 60 teams.
Next, the judges scrutinized the action plans, performance data, life cycle analysis and cost estimates to select the final 15 teams for the million dollar prizes.
Winners of the main round do not have to be a priority for the final prize. (The Associated Press)
There is still a chance to register
According to Site Winners of the XPRIZE Main Round do not have to advance to the $ 80 million Final Prize or prioritize. Yet anyone can Participation in the competition Until December 1, 2023. He is likely to get a share of this money.
The final winning team or team must demonstrate that it can remove 1,100 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, show the cost of removing 1.1 million tons per year, and find a way to remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide each year. .
Please note that work submitted for the Grand Prize, which will be announced on April 20, 2025, will not be independently verified by third parties, participants or XPRIZE.
In addition to the 15 winning teams, XPRIZE announced $ 5 million in prizes for college student teams last fall. Announced Earth Day winners are proposing various ways to eliminate carbon dioxide.
Teams applying for the competition seek a combination of well-known solutions and new decorbonization methods. (The Associated Press)
Examples of successful companies
Teams applying for the competition seek a mix of well-known solutions and new decorbonization methods such as environmental restoration, biofuels, agricultural solutions, and organic and mineral marine solutions. Any solution is eligible to participate in the competition. Really works.
“One year later, we already see the positive impact of the award, with hundreds of teams working on a wide range of promising solutions for decarbonization. Marcius Xtower, Senior Scientist and Vice President at Climate and Environment XPRIZE. What do we need? “
Ideas for reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere vary by successful teams, either by growing algae or by producing a type of synthetic lime. According to To report One of the winners of the competition, Planetary Technologies, a Canadian company, seeks to increase the ability of the ocean to absorb greenhouse gases by controlling the acidity of seawater using antioxidants. Acidity is formed from metal residues.
Global Alge wins algae growing project to help restore rainforests (Websites)
Another winner, 8 Rivers Capitol of Durham, North Carolina, is trying to trap atmospheric carbon dioxide in calcium carbonate crystals, just as dissolved gas helps in the mixing of sea tiles and limestone.
“The calcium cycle is how the Earth regulates carbon dioxide over millions of years. We accelerate that natural cycle,” said Adam Joff, the company’s spokesman.
California-based Global Algae has won a project to grow algae to help restore rainforests, which capture high levels of carbon dioxide. Mark Haslebeck, director of the company, says algae would be a very efficient and profitable alternative to growing livestock, soybean and palm oil crops on deforested rainforest land. “We produce more oil and protein while reforesting,” Hazelbeck adds.
Amiri Diwan confirms stability of Kuwait Emir’s health… And prosecution threatens to prosecute those who spread rumors about “the arrangement of the ruling house”.
United Arab Emirates (CNN) — Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s health condition was confirmed on Saturday by the Minister of Emirati Diwan Affairs, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah. It is stable, thanks to God Almighty,” Kuwait News Agency reported. “Kona.”
The minister added: “We pray to the Almighty God for a speedy recovery to the Emir of the country and to grant him good health and complete well-being.”
The Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs said on Wednesday that the health of the Emir of Kuwait is stable and he is still receiving the necessary treatment.
Earlier, the Amiri Diwan minister said the Kuwaiti emir “entered the hospital to receive treatment and undergo a medical examination following a health condition”.
For its part, the Kuwaiti Public Prosecution warned in a statement on Saturday against “taking decisive action and filing criminal charges against every individual, group, platform, media, radio station or any organization that publishes or addresses anything related to the health of the Emir or the arrangement of the ruling house.”
The Kuwait Public Prosecution added: “We have been monitoring many false reports and shocking lies in the media, and by individuals on visual, audio and print media platforms, about the health of the Emir of the country or the arrangements of the ruling house. According to Kuna.
Rumor mongers have used the word as a weapon to spread poison in the society using flimsy pretexts of freedom of expression, good intentions and fear, forgetting the harmful effects of rumours. According to the Kuwaiti Agency, there is more than a raging plague.
However, Pfizer announced its intention to develop a modified version of the drug “Danoglipron”.
This drug belongs to a new class of successful treatments based on a component such as the gastrointestinal hormone glucagon or GLP-1 (GLP-1).GLP-1This leads to a feeling of fullness and weight loss.
“Danoglibron” differs from competing drugs already on the market in that it is not given by injection, but is given orally in the form of tablets.
During the clinical trial, Pfizer tested taking these pills twice a day, but said it wanted to focus on a new once-a-day formulation.
The clinical trial included a few hundred obese participants without type 2 diabetes.
Pfizer explained that the side effects in this trial were similar to those that can occur with this type of drug, but “it is noteworthy that their rates were high” because “cases of nausea reached 73 percent, vomiting reached 47 percent, and diarrhea reached 25 percent.”
More than half of the participants who received this drug discontinued treatment.
However, “Danoglipro” has been shown to lead to weight loss between 8 percent and 13 percent over 32 weeks or between 5 percent and 9.5 percent over 26 weeks.
A report quoted Pfizer senior executive Michael Tolston as confirming that “an improved once-daily formulation of tanoglipron could play an important role in the treatment of obesity.”
The highly lucrative anti-obesity drug market is currently dominated by the Danish “Novo Nordisk” group with its drug “Vecovi” and the American “Eli Lilly” company “Zebound”. America last month.
With winter approaching and the seasons fluctuating, many are depressed, especially by things including rain and lack of sunrise, the website says “Health scenesWe show how diet can improve mental health and which foods can help manage it Depression By improving a person’s mood.
The connection between food and your mood
If you eat healthy, you will be healthy; Otherwise, you will have health problems, and when it comes to mental health, nutrition plays an important role.
Foods that help fight depression
Add these foods to your diet to fight depression:
1. Walnut
Walnuts are one of the most important nuts for brain health because they help improve cognitive health. Their high levels of antioxidants and vitamins improve mental alertness and fight depression..
2. Avocado
Avocados contain healthy fats that help improve cognitive function, memory, and concentration. Apart from that, avocados also contain tryptophan, which helps increase levels of serotonin, which is associated with the hormone of happiness.
3. Berry
The high levels of antioxidants in berries help protect the brain from stress, anxiety and depression, and have been shown to improve mood and cognition..
4. Broccoli
Broccoli helps keep the memory sharp due to its high amount of choline, and helps reduce depression and support a good mood. .
5. Eggs
Eggs are rich in choline, which is one of the most important neurotransmitters in managing stress and depression..
