Adele Peters
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Staff writer for @FastCompany focused on sustainability and social impact stories. Send me pitches at apeters at fastcompany dot com.
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Articles by Adele Peters
How Waymo got Chinese EVs onto American roads
Want to ride in a Chinese-built EV? If you live in the U.S., your best bet might be hailing a Waymo robotaxi. Waymo’s custom-made Ojai vehicles, which started public rides in San Francisco, L.A., and Phoenix this summer, are manufactured in Ningbo, China, and then shipped to the U.S., where Waymo adds its own autonomous driving technology. Hundreds are on the road now, and as the company rolls them out in Denver, Las Vegas, and San Diego later this year, that number will jump to the thousands.
How Waymo got Chinese EVs onto American roads
The company chose the platform because it was designed from the ground up for autonomous ride-hailing, with the safety, accessibility, and durability that Waymo needed, says company spokesperson Ethan Teicher. Previously, the company retrofitted Jaguar I-Pace cars with its technology.
Olvídate del bambú. Esta empresa emergente quiere que el próximo papel higiénico esté hecho de paja de arroz.
En la última década, el papel higiénico de bambú se popularizó como alternativa a desechar árboles . Ahora, una empresa emergente llamada Paddy Paper quiere utilizar un material alternativo más inusual: la paja de arroz, un subproducto del cultivo de arroz. El proyecto comenzó durante un viaje a Bangkok en 2022, cuando el cofundador Matt Dye se percató de los altos niveles de contaminación atmosférica.
Rivian’s new R2 lives up to the hype
For the last week, I tried driving Rivian’s new R2. One of the first things I noticed was a feature that nearly didn’t make it into the car. The haptic “Halo” controls on either side of the steering wheel are Rivian’s answer to a common complaint about modern cars: Drivers miss physical knobs and buttons. But they also added cost to a vehicle designed to be as affordable as possible.
Rivian's new R2 lives up to the hype
Robotaxis 3 hours ago Before Selling Tesla Stock, Check These Robotaxi Stats First AOL - Damilola Esebame, CFEI® • 3h National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data through mid-2026 shows only four incidents where Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TSLA) autonomous driving system was arguably at fault across its entire robotaxi operation, all at speeds between 1 and 5 mph, the Motley Fool reported via Nasdaq on … Jimmy Kimmel Live! 1 day ago Jelly Roll Stuns ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Audience With...
Rivian's new R2 lives up to the hype
For the last week, I tried driving Rivian's new R2 . One of the first things I noticed was a feature that nearly didn't make it into the car. The haptic “Halo” controls on either side of the steering wheel are Rivian's answer to a common complaint about modern cars: Drivers miss physical knobs and buttons. But they also added cost to a vehicle designed to be as affordable as possible.
Forget bamboo. This startup wants the next toilet paper to be made from rice straw
Over the past decade, bamboo toilet paper started to go mainstream as an alternative to turning trees into something we flush down the drain. A startup called Paddy Paper now wants to use a more unusual alternative material: rice straw, a byproduct of rice farming. The project started on a trip to Bangkok in 2022, when cofounder Matt Dye was struck by the high levels of air pollution.
Forget bamboo. This startup wants the next toilet paper to be made from rice straw
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Forget bamboo. This startup wants the next toilet paper to be made from rice straw
Flipboard provides you with personalized news and content based on your interests. We use Essential cookies and similar technologies to (i) help tailor content based on how you interact with content in our services and (ii) analyze site usage. We also work with our 58 partners to use Advertising cookies and similar technologies as described below: You can object to the processing of your information for advertising purposes at any time.
Sur La Table is adopting the Patagonia playbook with its new resale site
If you can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a copper pot from Sur La Table, the cookware retailer now offers another option: It’s launching a resale site where the same item could cost as much as 70% less. After fashion retailers embraced brand-owned resale, it’s starting to show up in more categories, from toys to bikes.
Sur La Table is adopting the Patagonia playbook with its new resale site
This is the only budget ergonomic office chair to get a 10/10 review from Creative Bloq, and it's now reduced by 22% The one cheap office chair we actually wanted to keep is now just $132.53. Our ecom editor has been waxing lyrical about the Sihoo M18 office chair …
A massive clean energy IPO made enhanced geothermal the hot renewable. What has to happen next for it to succeed
For decades, geothermal was the clean energy technology that was stuck in the margins, a tiny sliver on a pie chart dominated by solar and wind. Despite providing power around the clock, regardless of the weather, it was geographically limited and expensive to build. Over the past two decades, as wind and solar boomed across the grid, geothermal continued to make up only a minuscule fraction of the American electricity supply—more a piece of energy trivia than a viable source of power.
A massive clean energy IPO made enhanced geothermal the hot renewable. What has to happen next for it to succeed
It’s only the third such project to hook up to the U.S. grid. It comes as surging electricity demand drives interest in the source of …
Jeans usa 75 litros de água para ser tingido; nova técnica usa duas colheres
A clássica cor azul do jeans tem um custo ambiental: tingir uma única calça jeans consome cerca de 75 litros de água e exige produtos químicos industriais. Mas uma nova abordagem de impressão digital reproduz o mesmo visual usando cerca de duas colheres de sopa de água e corantes de origem biológica.
La mezclilla tiene un problema de agua. ¿Podrá solucionarlo este nuevo tinte digital?
El clásico color azul de los jeans tiene un enorme costo ambiental: el teñido de mezclilla sin agua parecía prácticamente imposible en una industria donde teñir un solo par puede requerir 76 litros de agua y productos químicos industriales. Ahora, una nueva técnica de impresión digital busca cambiarlo: recrea el mismo aspecto con aproximadamente dos cucharadas de agua y tintes de origen biológico.
Tech is helping grocery stores waste less food. That’s a problem for food banks
First, the good news: Grocery stores are getting better at cutting food waste. AI tools can help better predict demand for each product, for example, and help a store reduce waste by more than a third. Other tech can help stores sell food before it expires. But there’s a catch—some food banks say that now they’re getting fewer donations.
Denim has a water problem. Can this new digital dye solve it?
The classic blue color of denim has an environmental cost: Dyeing a single pair of jeans uses 20 gallons of water and requires industrial chemicals. But a new approach to digital printing re-creates the same look with around 2 tablespoons of water and bio-based dyes. A startup called Wtrlss, now beginning to work with major brands, developed a patented biochemistry dye that’s added directly to rolls of fabric using its industrial-scale inkjet printers.
Denim has a water problem. Can this new digital dye solve it?
The classic blue color of denim has an environmental cost: Dyeing a single pair of jeans uses 20 gallons of water and requires industrial chemicals. But a new approach to digital printing re-creates the same look with around 2 tablespoons of water and bio-based dyes. A startup called Wtrlss, now beginning to work with major brands, developed a patented biochemistry dye that’s added directly to rolls of fabric using its industrial-scale inkjet printers.
Denim has a water problem. Can this new digital dye solve it?
3 hours ago Sign up for alerts on breaking news and exclusive reporting from NPR Meta was infused with a culture in which employees obsessed over user numbers and consistently pushed safety to the side, according to Arturo Béjar, a former employee turned whistleblower, who testified today in the landmark child …
How Australia made electricity cheaper while U.S. prices keep rising
Electricity prices keep rising in the U.S. Last year, home electric bills surged at more than twice the rate of inflation. By 2030, by one estimate, residential electricity prices in some areas could be as much as 40% higher than they were in 2025. At least one in three American households struggle to pay energy bills. But the opposite is happening in Australia. Over the past 12 months, wholesale electricity prices dropped nearly in half.
How Australia made electricity cheaper while U.S. prices keep rising
The government originally aimed to support 1 million home battery installations by 2030. But the program was so popular that lawmakers have doubled the goal to 2 million. Meanwhile, electricity prices continue to fall. All of this is possible because rooftop solar is also widespread in Australia. More than one in three homes has solar panels. That's not just because the country is sunny—Griffith points out that two-thirds of the U.S. is equally sunny.
Australia just figured out how to offer electricity cheaper. Why can't the U.S.?
Plants Struggling After the Heatwave? Here’s How to Revive Them – and Why More Water Isn’t Always the Answer This summer has been long, hot, and dry, and it's taken a toll on my garden. So many of my plants are drooping, discoloring, and have stopped growing …
This stunning NASA map tracks our summer of wildfire smoke
Welcome to the new normal: When the sky in New York City or Detroit turns a sickly shade of orange, your first thought might be to wonder what part of Canada is burning now. 2026 is the fourth consecutive year that smoke from Canadian fires has caused severe air pollution in cities hundreds or even thousands of miles away. A NASA visualization tracks how wildfire smoke traveled from hundreds of fires in North America from mid-July to early August, showing the sprawling size of the impact.
This stunning NASA map tracks our summer of wildfire smoke
19 hours ago The devastating hurricane grazes the Big Island in Hawaii in the US, but avoids making landfall. Hurricane Lala has weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm after passing south of Hawaii, but meteorologists warned that hurricane-force gusts could still batter the islands with …
Maior “data center biológico” do mundo pode tornar testes em animais obsoletos
Há uma grande falha na maneira como as empresas farmacêuticas desenvolvem e testam medicamentos atualmente: o que funciona em um camundongo muitas vezes não funciona em um ser humano. Há décadas, o setor depende de testes em animais. Mas, em um laboratório na Califórnia, uma startup chamada Vivodyne está ampliando uma abordagem diferente.
Um besouro inspirou o material superbranco que a Ikea está testando
Por décadas, o dióxido de titânio foi usado para deixar produtos bem brancos, de tintas a donuts cobertos de açúcar. Ele é eficaz, barato e difícil de substituir. Mas, depois que a União Europeia (UE) proibiu seu uso como aditivo alimentar em 2022 devido a possíveis riscos à saúde, empresas passaram a buscar alternativas melhores. Um novo corante aposta em um design improvável.
Como a IA está turbinando as emissões da indústria de combustíveis fósseis
A pegada de carbono da inteligência artificial é ainda maior do que parece. Não se trata apenas do fato de que novos data centers estão levando à construção de novas usinas movidas a combustíveis fósseis, como uma usina a gás no Texas apoiada pela Amazon que pode se tornar a maior fonte individual de poluição por CO₂ dos Estados Unidos.
The world’s largest ‘biological datacenter’ could help make animal testing obsolete
There’s a big flaw in the way that drug companies develop and test medicines today: What works in a mouse often doesn’t work in a human. For decades, the industry has relied on animal testing. But in a laboratory south of San Francisco, a startup called Vivodyne is scaling up a different approach. Inside wardrobe-size mini labs, robots grow human tissue and run thousands of AI-designed experiments that could better predict how well a new drug will work—and whether it will be safe.
The world's largest 'biological datacenter' could help make animal testing obsolete
Artificial Intelligence 9 hours ago From the people building it to the ones who have to use it, AI is creating all types of anxiety Business Insider - Dan DeFrancesco • 9h The hottest new spot for tech workers is their therapist's couch. A combination of layoffs, AI, and massive paydays has Silicon Valley questioning … everything. BI's Tracy Connor spoke to Silicon Valley therapists about how the people building the next great tech revolution are feeling pretty rattled.
This startup wants to turn your water heater into a smart thermal battery
Unless your shower turns cold, you probably don’t give much thought to your water heater. But it’s a major energy user in the home, and unlike solar panels or heat pumps, it’s gotten relatively little attention as a piece of smart home tech. A new startup is trying to change that. The company, called Reservoir, designed a heat pump water heater that predicts when you’ll need hot water and heats up in advance, when electricity is cheapest.
This startup wants to turn your water heater into a smart thermal battery
Unless your shower turns cold, you probably don’t give much thought to your water heater. But it’s a major energy user in the home, and unlike solar panels or heat pumps, it’s gotten relatively little attention as a piece of smart home tech. A new startup is trying to change that. The company, called Reservoir, designed a heat pump water heater that predicts when you’ll need hot water and heats up in advance, when electricity is cheapest.
This super-white coating was inspired by a beetle’s scales
For decades, titanium dioxide has been used to make products bright white, from paint to powdered donuts. It’s effective, cheap, and hard to replace. But after the European Union (EU) banned it as a food additive in 2022 over potential health risks, companies have been searching for better alternatives. One new colorant uses an unlikely design.
AI’s biggest climate problem may not be data centers
AI’s carbon footprint is even worse than it seems. It’s not just that new data centers are leading to new fossil-fueled power plants—like an Amazon-backed gas plant in Texas that could be the largest single source of CO2 pollution in the U.S. AI also is making the fossil fuel industry more productive, and a new study finds that those productivity gains could generate as much as 13 times more emissions than data centers do today.
This super-white coating was inspired by a beetle’s scales
For decades, titanium dioxide has been used to make products bright white, from paint to powdered donuts. It’s effective, cheap, and hard to replace. But after the European Union (EU) banned it as a food additive in 2022 over potential health risks, companies have been searching for better alternatives. One new colorant uses an unlikely design.
How humanitarian organizations are using AI to reach people faster
Minutes after catastrophic earthquakes struck Venezuela in June, GiveDirectly got an AI-generated snapshot of the disaster from an internal tool. Then it used other AI tools that analyze satellite imagery to pinpoint the hardest-hit neighborhoods, paired that with poverty data, and posted flyers in person inviting families to apply for aid. Three weeks later, it started sending cash directly to the phones of the people who needed it most.
This fusion startup just raised another $1 billion for its first commercial power plant
For decades, fusion energy has seemed just out of reach. The technology, which could provide cheap clean energy around the clock, still isn’t proven. But companies are now betting that it’s ready to finally leave the lab. CEO Bob Mumgaard [Photo: Commonwealth Fusion Systems] Last month, the MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised another $1 billion to help it begin to build its first power plant in Virginia, set to come online in the 2030s.
This fusion startup just raised another $1 billion for its first commercial power plant
2 days ago The AI boom needs colossal amounts of clean, always-on power, which has turned fusion into one of tech’s hottest bets. Commonwealth Fusion Systems, already the best-funded player, has raised another $1bn to reach $4bn. And its new CFO, the man who took Moderna public, is a sign it is eyeing the …
This fusion startup just raised another $1 billion for its first commercial power plant
Skip to navigation Skip to main content Skip to right column For decades, fusion energy has seemed just out of reach. The technology, which could provide cheap clean energy around the clock, still isn't proven. But companies are now betting that it's ready to finally leave the lab.
Cómo la IA puede ayudar a que las rutas marítimas más transitadas sean seguras para las ballenas
Durante los últimos meses, una tableta en el tablero de un ferry que cruza la bahía de San Francisco ha tenido una función inusual: alertar a la tripulación cuando hay ballenas cerca. Cada vez que un sistema con inteligencia artificial detecta una ballena frente al ferry, la tableta emite una señal, lo que le da al capitán tiempo para reducir la velocidad o cambiar de rumbo y evitar una colisión con el mamífero de 14 metros de largo.
How AI can help make busy shipping routes safer for whales
For the last few months, a tablet on the dashboard of a commuter ferry crossing San Francisco Bay has had an unusual job: warning the crew when whales are nearby. Whenever an AI-powered system detects one in front of the ferry, the tablet pings, giving the captain time to slow down or change course and avoid a collision with the 45-foot-long mammal. The system is part of a pilot that will last at least two years as researchers look for a way to address a growing problem.
How AI can help make busy shipping routes safer for whales
14 hours ago Californian firms still are announcing big layoffs, and this time it is not only tech companies. Visa announced in a memo to staff on Tuesday that it would be laying off 2,600 employees, or nearly 7% of its workforce. The San Francisco-based card payment company has not confirmed how many affected …
Este impresionante mapa muestra la red eléctrica mundial a detalle
En un nuevo mapa increíblemente detallado de la red eléctrica, se pueden observar las más de 120,000 centrales eléctricas del mundo; desde parques solares y eólicos hasta sistemas de almacenamiento de baterías y centrales de carbón y gas, junto con casi 5 millones de kilómetros de líneas de transmisión y cientos de miles de subestaciones. Otras capas incluyen gasoductos, riesgo de inundaciones y centros de datos con alto consumo energético.
This stunning map shows the world’s electric grid in detail
The map was built by Brian Bartholomew, an energy consultant who created it as part of a side project called OpenGridWorks, which provides publicly accessible data and modeling tools for the electric grid. “I’m a big grid infrastructure nerd,” he tells Fast Company. “It’s kind of all I think about all day for my day job.” It’s fascinating to zoom in and browse. I realized that I live near a community solar farm; a controversial new data center is also in the permitting stage not far away.
This stunning map shows the world’s electric grid in detail
On an incredibly detailed new map, you can look through the world’s 120,000-plus power plants, from solar and wind farms to battery storage and coal and gas plants, along with nearly 3 million miles of transmission lines and hundreds of thousands of substations. Other layers include gas pipelines, flood risk, and power-hungry data centers.
This stunning map shows the world's electric grid in detail
1 hour ago HONG KONG (AP) — China pushed back Tuesday against claims of overcapacity in the world’s second largest economy, ahead of the release of results of a U.S. probe on the matter that could result in new tariffs. Massive capacity in a slew of Chinese industries, from automaking to solar panels, cement …
Cómo China está alimentando sus nuevos centros de datos con energía limpia
El número de centros de datos en China está aumentando exponencialmente gracias a la inteligencia artificial (IA), al igual que en Estados Unidos (EU). Pero a diferencia de EU, China se apresura a alimentarlos con energía limpia. Por ejemplo, un centro de datos en Mongolia está conectado a 200 megavatios de energía eólica, 100 megavatios de energía solar y 45 megavatios de almacenamiento en baterías. En la remota Qinghai, un centro de datos piloto funciona completamente con una microrred solar.
How China is powering new data centers with clean energy
The number of data centers in China is surging thanks to AI, just like in the U.S. But unlike the U.S., China is racing to power them with clean energy. A data center in Mongolia, for example, is connected to 200 megawatts of wind power, 100 megawatts of solar power, and 45 megawatts of battery storage. In remote Qinghai, a pilot data center runs fully on a solar microgrid. In another part of northern China, a data center is connected to 500 megawatts of solar and 1.5 gigawatts of wind power.
How China is powering new data centers with clean energy
The number of data centers in China is surging thanks to AI, just like in the U.S. But unlike the U.S., China is racing to power them with clean energy. Most Read from Fast Company A data center in Mongolia, for example, is connected to 200 megawatts of wind power, 100 megawatts of solar power, and 45 megawatts of battery storage. In remote Qinghai, a pilot data center runs fully on a solar microgrid.
Los químicos eternos están ocultos en los suelos agrícolas. La ciencia descubrió nueva forma de eliminarlos
En 2020, poco después de que Winslow y Laura Robinson compraran una granja en Maine, se sorprendieron al descubrir que décadas atrás se habían utilizado lodos residuales (de alcantarilla) como fertilizante, y que estos lodos habían dejado residuos químicos eternos en el suelo. Los agricultores de Maine han estado en la primera línea de detección de un problema que afecta a las tierras de cultivo en todo el país.
Forever chemicals are hidden in farm soil. Scientists found a new way to remove them
In 2020, just after Winslow and Laura Robinson bought a farm in Maine, they were surprised to learn that sewage sludge had been used as fertilizer there decades earlier—and that the sludge had left behind “forever chemicals” that remained in the soil. Farmers in Maine have been at the forefront of uncovering a problem that exists on farmland across the country.
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