New software for designing sustainable cities
New technology could help cities around the world improve people’s lives while saving billions of dollars. The free, open-source software developed by the Stanford Natural Capital Project creates maps to visualize the links between nature and human wellbeing. City planners and developers can use the software to visualize where investments in nature, such as parks […]
What does it take to thrive in cities, if you’re a bird? Identifying traits that help wildlife adapt to urban living can help cities bolster biodiversity through better urban planning
As cities gobble up natural spaces, some birds have learned to live alongside skyscrapers, traffic and noise — and large numbers of humans. A UCLA-led team of biologists wondered if those city-dwelling birds share common characteristics around the world that help them survive. In a paper published in Current Biology, they reveal the answer: Urban […]
Diminishing health benefits of living in cities for children and teens
The advantages of living in cities for children and adolescents’ healthy growth and development are shrinking across much of the world, according to a new global analysis of trends in child and adolescent height and body mass index (BMI) led by Imperial College London and published in Nature. The research, by a global consortium of […]
Cancer cells can migrate toward certain ‘sweet spot’ environments: Study gives insight into how cancer spreads and provides a tool for developing new treatments
An international team of researchers led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities engineers have found that cancer cells can gravitate toward certain mechanical “sweet spot” environments, providing new insights into how cancer invades the body. The findings could help scientists and engineers better understand how cancer spreads and could improve future treatments. The study is […]
Air Quality Improvement Tied To Cities COVID-19 Response: UofT Study
Cities that responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in February saw noticeable decreases in air pollution according to a study by Marc Cadotte, a professor with the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Fully 3D-printed, flexible OLED display: Technology opens door to ubiquitous, more easily fabricated electronic screens
In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities used a customized printer to fully 3D print a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. The discovery could result in low-cost OLED displays in the future that could be widely produced using 3D printers by anyone at home, instead of by technicians […]
Why sugary drink taxes aren’t effective — and how to change that: Study finds price tags need to mention the tax to sway consumers
Several U.S. cities have instituted taxes on drinks with added sugar in order to reduce consumption, but new research suggests these policies currently have one fatal flaw. The study found that sugary drink taxes only reduce purchasing if price tags at stores mention that consumers are paying that tax when they buy the drink. “If […]
As cities grow in size, the poor ‘get nothing at all’
Cities are hubs of human activity, supercharging the exchange of ideas and interactions. Scaling theory has established that, as cities grow larger, they tend to produce more of pretty much everything from pollution and crime to patents and wealth. On average, people in larger cities are better off economically. But a new study published in […]
Creating more resilient supply chains through nature-inspired design: Diverse supply chains that mimic ecological systems can more readily adapt to unforeseeable disruptions
A new paper in Nature lays out the way natural ecosystems parallel U.S. supply chains and how American cities can use these tools to strengthen their supply chains. The paper, “Supply chain diversity buffers cities against food shocks,” is co-authored by Benjamin Ruddell, director of the FEWSION Project and the School of Informatics, Computing, and […]