Latest news with #TheEarthPrize
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Pioneering teenagers win acclaim for invention that could change the future of clean water: 'We'll refine our prototype'
Two European teens have won a prestigious prize for their invention, which could change the future of clean water. Earlier this month, Tomáš Čermák, an 18-year-old from the Czech Republic, and Anna Podmanická, a 19-year-old from Slovakia, were named the European winners of The Earth Prize. The two were recognized for their invention, PURA, which uses light and plasma to purify wastewater. As writes, PURA is an "energy-efficient, cost-effective solution [that] could transform water purification and ensure a healthier future." Podmanická's research specializes in water purification using photocatalysis, in which light sets off a chemical reaction that breaks down organic matter at a molecular level, leaving water and carbon dioxide behind. Čermák researches how cold plasma can destroy pollutants and bacteria, and they combined their specialties to create PURA. reports that PURA is already working on a small scale, removing impurities from wastewater and making it suitable for drinking water and other household uses. "Our next step is to scale PURA," Cermak said in a video accepting the award. "We'll refine our prototype, test it in real-world conditions, engage students, and work with policymakers to lay groundwork for this new technology." Finding an affordable way to bring clean water to all people would truly change the world. The United Nations estimates that 2 billion people, or roughly 25% of the world's population, don't have access to clean drinking water. And recent studies show that PFAS, or "forever chemicals," are prevalent in drinking water globally. The Earth Prize is an international competition, awarding teenagers who develop solutions that move the world toward environmental sustainability. Each of the seven regional winners, such as Čermák and Podmanická, receives $12,500 to help implement their idea. A public vote determines the global grand champion, with the winner announced in late April. Previous projects from the competition include an AI-powered wildfire sensor, a tool that helps predict flood patterns, and technology that uses plasma to boost crop yields and create eco-friendly fertilizer. How often do you worry about the quality of your drinking water? Never Sometimes Often Always Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Teens invent refrigerator that doesn't need electricity; aim to help rural communities
The Brief Three teens from India created a refrigerator that doesn't need electricity to work. The Thermavault uses salt to stay cool. The creators aim to help rural areas that don't have access to electricity. Three teens from India have created a salt-powered refrigerator and their goal is to help medical facilities in rural areas that don't have access to electricity. Dhruv Chaudhary, Mithran Ladhania and Mridul Jain are all students at the Shishukunj International School Indore. Their recent invention, called the Thermavault, was submitted to The Earth Prize which inspires students to solve environmental sustainability problems across the world. Dig deeper The Thermavault uses "ionocaloric cooling based on the dissolution enthalpy of ammonium chloride in water to fuel its cooling process," according to the official website. This type of system will allow whatever is inside the Thermavault to remain cold without the use of electricity, which is a crucial workaround for rural areas. What they're saying "The COVID-19 pandemic served as a reminder of the lack of electricity availability in rural areas; we've seen, firsthand, the problems with transporting vaccines, food and essential supplies to these locations. Thus, we redesigned our science-fair cooling system into our solution," the group shared on The Earth Prize website. What's next While Chaudhary, Ladhania and Jain did not win the global Earth Prize, they did win the regional competition. Their inventions won them $12,500 from The Earth Prize and the group plan to use the money to build more Thermavaults, according to Business Insider. Chaudhary, Ladhania and Jain plan to build 200 more Thermavaults and send them to 120 hospitals for testing. "We have been able to keep the vaccines inside the Thermavault for almost 10 to 12 hours," Dr. Pritesh Vyas, an orthopedic surgeon who tested the device at V One hospital in Indore, said in a video on the Thermavault website. The Source Information for this article was gathered from a Business Insider report, The Earth Prize website and the Thermavault website. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
Forbes
08-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Students Answer The Question 'What Can I Do About Climate Change?'
I received so many emails in response to last month's article High Schoolers Offer Hope For A Post-Climate Future that I decided to post an update on the ongoing regional awards for The Earth Prize 2025. The Earth Prize is the world's largest environmental competition and idea incubator for 13-19-year-olds, providing project participants with mentorship and funding. Like me, many readers were moved by the inventiveness and verve of these future scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who have answered the question, 'What can I do about climate change?' This year, The Earth Foundation's panel of distinguished judges will award one prize to each of seven regional winners in Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, Oceania and Southeast Asia, Asia, and South and Central America. Each regional winner will receive a monetary prize and continued coaching and mentoring to help them commercialize their innovations. Once the regional winners have been announced, a global winner will be determined by an online vote. Here is the link to cast your vote. The European winner has already been announced: PURA, a two-person team that developed a household-sized wastewater purification device using a novel combination of photocatalysis and cold plasma technologies. Team PURA is comprised of Tomáš Čermák (18) from Czechia and Anna Podmanická (19) from Slovakia. Anna had been researching using photocatalysis for water purification, while Tomáš was working on a way to use cold plasma to destroy pollutants and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in agricultural and hospital wastewater streams. They decided to combine their research to develop a unique solution to water quality issues exacerbated by climate change. While photocatalysis and cold plasma solutions to water purification have been studied separately, PURA's innovative combination of these technologies is a pioneering advance. PURA has built two household-size prototypes that they hope to scale up into a new tool to fight antibiotic resistance, which the World Health Organization projects will cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050. The North American winner will be announced today (Tuesday, April 8, 2025), followed by another regional winner each day until the end of the week. Once all regional winners are announced, the public will vote for the overall winner. The regional winners are announced on this page. Just as this article was going to print, the North American winner of The Earth Prize 2025 was announced! A team from New York City took the prize for an innovative packaging solution that reduces plastic packaging waste. North America's winning team, the StuyBigCompGroup is made up of three students, Zhi Han (Anthony), Flint, and James, from Stuyvesant High School. I spoke with The Earth Foundation's founder, Peter McGarry, about the prize and was so impressed by his work that I volunteered to mentor next year's winners. McGarry felt so strongly about the need for productive action that he bootstrapped the organization himself—his enthusiasm is palpable and infectious. If you are asking what you can do about climate change, take a page from Tomáš, Anna, Zhi Han, James, and Flint's playbook and lean into building creative solutions to help our civilization and our planet. Politicians come and go; our world needs practical, durable climate tech solutions!
Euronews
07-04-2025
- Science
- Euronews
Meet the teen duo that won this year's Earth Prize Europe with their groundbreaking clean water tech
ADVERTISEMENT Two teenagers have been named as the European winners of The Earth Prize 2025 for their groundbreaking innovation that promises safer drinking water for all. 18-year-old Tomáš Čermák from Czechia and 19-year-old Anna Podmanická from Slovakia developed a unique filtration device they call PURA. They are the first from either Czechia or Slovakia to win the Earth Prize. 'I couldn't believe it,' Tomáš tells Euronews Green. 'I'm still processing that out of all those thousands of proposals, ours was picked as the best in Europe.' Since 2021, The Earth Prize has been empowering the next generation with the tools they need to make a difference. As well as funding of $100,000 (€90,600) to scale up their project, winners also receive one-to-one mentoring and learning resources. How does the winning clean drinking water innovation work? Tomáš had been working extensively with cold plasma (AC corona) to destroy pollutants and antibiotic-resistant bacteria . Anna was researching water purification through photocatalysis - using light energy to fuel a chemical reaction. By bringing these two specialisms together, they were able to create PURA. PURA uses a unique combination of plasma and light energy to remove contaminants from water. The Earth Foundation Plasma is already proven to be effective in water purification. When it interacts with water, plasma generates various small reactions that combine to break down organic pollutants and effectively inactivate bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Photocatalysis also has potential for purification. Using light energy like sunlight, reactions are stimulated that break down harmful organic pollutants and damage the cell walls of microorganisms like bacteria. Anna and Tomáš are the first to bring these two schools of research together into one product. Their prototypes are proving effective at purifying water on a small, household scale. With the help of the Earth Prize, the team is working to develop a much larger prototype, capable of filtering more water. How polluted is Europe's drinking water? The European Environment Agency reported last year that less than 40 per cent of Europe's groundwaters are currently healthy. One in four groundwater bodies are chemically contaminated, despite providing two-thirds of Europe's drinking water. Among the pollutants are some long-lived heavy metals like mercury, as well as so-called 'forever chemicals' collectively known as PFAS, and various pharmaceuticals . While most water treatment plants are capable of filtering out heavy metals, they are ineffective at removing drugs and 'forever chemicals'. Perhaps the most worrying persistent pollutants are antibiotics. Sulfonamides, tetracyclines, and quinolones have all been detected in European drinking water. Resistant bacteria enter wastewater systems through discharge from pharmaceutical companies, healthcare facilities, and even human waste. Hospital wastewater is also a significant source of antibiotic contamination. ADVERTISEMENT In aquatic ecosystems, antibiotic residues cause the spread of antibiotic-resistant genes by selectively favouring the bacteria that survive. As they reproduce, they spread these genes to other bacteria, leading to the emergence of 'superbugs' that antibiotics struggle to tackle. Conventional wastewater treatment processes are designed to remove larger particles, pathogens, and organic matter, but they are not designed to target and remove antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is projected to cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050, and is considered one of the most pressing challenges facing global healthcare. Related Rivers polluted with antibiotics could cause the 'next pandemic', warn scientists European rivers and lakes are chemically polluted, water security in danger Water pollution: How the EU is working to restore our rivers, lakes and seas What's next for the water purifying invention? As the European winners of the Earth Prize, Tomáš and Anna will receive $12,500 (€11,332) to scale up their idea into a larger prototype. ADVERTISEMENT 'At the moment, we're able to process milliliters and litres of water,' Tomáš explains. 'We want to get to the stage where we can handle dozens of litres.' Ultimately, the goal is to scale the technology so it can be used in wastewater treatment plants, tackling pollution at its source. The young scientists will be put forward for a chance at the global prize. The Earth Foundation While that's going to take time, the next big event for the young scientists will come later this month, when the global winners of The Earth Prize are announced. Timed to coincide with Earth Day , the big reveal will come on 22 April. 'My hopes are high,' says Tomáš of the international competition. 'I'm trying to mobilise everyone and to really communicate and explain our solution. It's not an easy concept to explain in simple terms, but I want to continue to convey the idea. ADVERTISEMENT 'I'm very hopeful. I think we can do this.' Public voting for the global winner opened yesterday, Sunday 13 April, and closes on 22 April. Cast your vote for the most innovative idea at The Earth Prize website.
