It takes 3,781 litres of water to make a single pair of jeans.Circular production methods could trim the amount of water and other resources denim consumes.Many leading brands are backing a circular economy for jeans. For millions of people around the world, denim is a wardrobe staple. Yet a single pair of jeans uses 3,781 litres of water in its production lifecycle. Now top brands are having a rethink and backing a circular economy for denim. Bi...

What if globally designed products could radically change how we work, produce and consume? Several examples across continents show the way we are producing and consuming goods could be improved by relying on globally shared digital resources, such as design, knowledge and software. Imagine a prosthetic hand designed by geographically dispersed communities of scientists, designers and enthusiasts in a collaborative manner via the web. All knowled...

As concern mounts over the impacts of climate change, many experts are calling for greater use of electricity as a substitute for fossil fuels. Powered by advancements in battery technology, the number of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on U.S. roads is increasing. And utilities are generating a growing share of their power from renewable fuels, supported by large-scale battery storage systems. These trends, coupled with a growing volume of ...

We've probably all been there. We buy some new smart gadget and when we plug it in for the first time it requires an update to work. So we end up spending hours downloading and updating before we can even play with our new toy. But what happens when we can't update our gadgets any further? Vintage technology Every year vendors such as Apple and Google add to their list of vintage devices that no longer get operating system or security updates. Fo...

As the number of COVID-19 cases in China falls, it is also recovering from the effects on industry.Companies have been exploring creative ways to restart global supply chains.More work is needed to ensure long-term resilience. China seems to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of fighting the COVID-19 outbreak domestically. Last week the country reported no new cases of coronavirus for the first time since the outbreak began, and people ...