A retired Swiss biology teacher has built one of the most unusual diving devices ever featured on Green Prophet: a sleek, fish-shaped underwater breathing system called Hydrophilis. Inspired by the hydrodynamics of marine animals and refined through dozens of test dives, the compact rebreather allows its inventor, Oliver Isler, to glide underwater with dramatically less effort than conventional scuba gear.

When Green Prophet first wrote about Hydrophilis, readers were fascinated by its futuristic form and almost mythical appearance. Some compared it to a dolphin, others to a torpedo. Later, commenters made some funny and crude jokes about the diving gear.

Since then, Isler has continued testing and refining the prototype in Swiss lakes and warm-water seas, completing 54 dives and proving that his idea is far more than a whimsical experiment.

Isler is not an engineer. Before retirement, he taught biology in a Swiss secondary school. His ambition was not to launch a company or disrupt the diving industry, but to create a device that would allow him to move through the water as effortlessly and quietly as possible. “The search for symbiosis — to blend into the marine environment — means seeking ease of movement and discretion, in order to disturb the local fauna as little as possible,” he tells Green Prophet in an exclusive interview.

To achieve this, he adopted a NACA airfoil profile, the same aerodynamic geometry used in aircraft wings and submarine bodies. The result is a streamlined shell that dramatically reduces drag.

Faster Than Conventional Scuba

Traditional scuba equipment places cylinders, hoses, and buoyancy devices across a diver’s back and sides, creating significant resistance in the water on the back side of the diver.  Hydrophilis was built different.

At age 75, using a soft monofin designed for endurance rather than speed, Isler reached 2.2 meters per second in a swimming pool. By comparison, he says that conventional scuba divers rarely exceed 0.7 meters per second even under intense effort. This reduction in drag means less energy expenditure, less noise, and a more meditative experience underwater. You can become one with the water instead of being pressured to maintain buoyancy.

How the Hydrophilis System Works

Hydrophilis is a miniature closed-circuit rebreather. Instead of releasing bubbles with every breath, the diver reuses exhaled gas after carbon dioxide is absorbed by soda lime.

The prototype Isler built includes:

A 1-liter, 300-bar cylinder
A custom 3-liter counterlung
Integrated soda lime scrubber
Modified mouthpiece
Compact helmet and fairing
Weighted belt using dense cobalt shot

Isler dives with pure oxygen to depths of 6 meters, with 90 to 100 minutes of autonomy, or with Nitrox 55 to 20 meters, where he achieves 45 to 50 minutes of dive time.

He says it’s safety through simplicity: Unlike commercial rebreathers, Hydrophilis has no redundant backup system. If anything fails, Isler removes the helmet and ascends directly to the surface while exhaling. This is the nature of the system. Using traditional systems, a diver would face nitrogen poisoning requiring a decompression chamber.

“With pure oxygen or Nitrox 55%, even from 20 meters, no decompression stop is required,” he says. The philosophy is radical miniaturization rather than electronic complexity.

Will Hydrophilis Ever Be Sold?

Probably not, he says. But would Cousteau be happy? Hell yeah!

Certification standards currently require a counterlung volume of at least 5 liters, while Hydrophilis uses only 3 liters, which Isler says is entirely sufficient. He also questions whether there is a large commercial market for a device requiring soda lime and specialized training.

“My primary goal has always been to explore this hydrodynamic concept and enjoy the experience myself, without aiming for commercialization.”

Hydrophilis is not intended to replace scuba: “I see Hydrophilis as a freediver who does not need to hold their breath,” Isler says.

That may be the best description of this extraordinary invention: a personal experiment in biomimicry, engineering, and underwater grace.

For those who dream of moving like a fish, Oliver Isler has shown that sometimes the most compelling innovations come not from corporations, but from curious individuals willing to challenge convention.

Below is our Q&A interview with Oliver Isler, in his own words:

Green Prophet: Your design seems inspired by fish, dolphins, and the natural shapes of marine animals. Was your goal to mimic nature, or was the streamlined form primarily driven by hydrodynamic engineering?

The goal was to achieve a streamlined shape with minimal drag (resistance to forward motion). While I did want to disturb marine animals as little as possible, the constraints of physics led me to adopt a NACA profile. So it was primarily a technical constraint.

Green Prophet: You are a retired biology teacher, not a professional diving engineer. How did your background in biology shape the concept of Hydrophilis?

I am not a diving engineer. Before retiring, I was a biology teacher at a secondary school. The search for symbiosis — to “blend into” the marine environment — means seeking ease of movement and discretion in order to disturb the local fauna as little as possible.

Green Prophet: Scuba diving equipment has remained largely unchanged for decades. Why do you think there has been so little innovation in underwater breathing systems?

That is a broad question! Indeed, there have been relatively few changes. That said, the basic equipment is functional, and for a standard diver who simply wants to observe the underwater world, it is sufficient. In addition, a second regulator has very often been added, which has further improved safety.

Green Prophet: What are the main performance advantages of Hydrophilis compared with traditional scuba gear?

The original idea was truly to achieve the best possible penetration through the water. Dive duration is not greater than with traditional scuba equipment, but it is very good considering the extremely compact size. Improved hydrodynamics inevitably result in a major reduction in drag, while also allowing faster movement.

I conducted a speed test in a swimming pool. At 75 years old, using a soft monofin (stiffness 3 on a scale of 8), intended more for endurance swimming than pure speed, I was able to reach 2.2 meters per second, which is not bad for my age! With traditional scuba gear, it is difficult to reach even 0.7 m/s under intense effort.

Regarding safety, the only real advantage is the reduced effort required to move forward. Otherwise, in case of a problem, the procedure is simply to return to the surface. With pure oxygen or Nitrox 55%, even from a depth of 20 meters, no decompression stop is required. Therefore, in the event of a breathing-system failure, ascent is normally straightforward.

Without going as far as meditation, the pleasure of effortless movement is obviously present on every dive.

Green Prophet: Switzerland has a history of precision engineering and unusual inventors. Do you think there is something in Swiss culture that encourages independent experimentation?

Difficult to answer. Does the serious — sometimes overly serious — and orderly Swiss mentality encourage people to break free from that psychological framework by attempting somewhat unconventional experiments? Perhaps, but that is only a hypothesis, and I am not sure it is something specifically Swiss.

Green Prophet: Some people on social media have mocked the appearance of Hydrophilis. How do you respond to criticism and jokes about your invention?

With social media, one must expect every possible reaction: supportive or mocking. Comparing my prototype to a penis is not particularly flattering. My hypothesis is that those who reacted that way did so emotionally, without even taking the time to read my article in In DEPTH. Or are they frustrated? Perhaps.

My response to that kind of reaction is this: people who never attempt anything, who have no projects or challenges in their lives, certainly avoid failure. That is true. But I do not envy them, because I find such an existence somewhat dull.

I also believe that any innovation may first be rejected before eventually being accepted.

Green Prophet: Without a traditional backup air source, how do you manage safety if the breathing system fails underwater?

As I explained earlier, safety does not depend on someone else. I trained to simulate a failure scenario. In such a case, I remove the helmet (see photos) and ascend, freediving if necessary, while exhaling slightly to avoid pulmonary overexpansion. Once at the surface, I simply swim back to the boat, for example.

A different protocol would be incompatible with miniaturization, since there is no room for a backup system.

Green Prophet: Do you see Hydrophilis as a replacement for scuba diving, or as an entirely different category of underwater experience?

I see Hydrophilis more as a different approach. Something like a freediver who does not need to hold their breath!

It will never compete with traditional scuba diving, but rather offer a different way of diving and moving through the marine environment.

Green Prophet: What was the greatest engineering challenge in building such a compact underwater breathing system?

For optimal penetration through the water, the fairing had to occupy the smallest possible volume. Miniaturization therefore became an obsession, while still respecting breathing-hose diameters and mouthpiece dimensions compatible with effortless breathing.

For example, I had to modify a mouthpiece so that it would take up the least possible space. The miniature cylinder (1 liter / 300 bar), with its optimal shape, the soda lime filter integrated into the body of the prototype, and the counterlung specially built to conform as closely as possible to the interior of the fairing were all part of this process.

The weighting system as well, using cobalt shot (18 g/cm³), is worn underneath the freediving suit.

Green Prophet: Could Hydrophilis ever become a commercial product?

I honestly have no idea.

The major issue with certification is that the required counterlung volume is at least 5 liters. Mine is about 3 liters, which is entirely sufficient. So it would first require convincing certification experts to change their mindset so that such a design could be recognized. Not simple.

Then there is the question of whether there would even be a market for Hydrophilis. That is uncertain as well, because the use of soda lime means it will never become a true mass-market product.

Personally, my primary goal has always been to explore this hydrodynamic concept and enjoy the experience myself, without aiming for commercialization.

Could it inspire similar projects in the future? Time will tell.

The post Hydrophilis rebreather, an interview with Oliver Isler appeared first on Green Prophet.

AI makes it easy to dream, develop, and create images of what could be world-changing ideas, until the reality sets in. A new project making the rounds is Aqua Solaire, an alleged French concept for a solar-powered desalination vessel designed to bring drinking water to coastal communities facing drought, storms, and infrastructure failures.

According to project materials attributed to the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the French Ministry for Overseas Territories, and SUEZ Water France, the vessel is designed to produce up to 500,000 liters of WHO-standard drinking water per day using 1,200 square meters of bifacial solar panels and onboard battery storage.

The ship, they posit, would anchor offshore and begin operating within hours, pumping fresh water ashore through flexible pipelines. This mobile approach could help small islands, cyclone-hit regions, and remote coastal communities that lack permanent desalination plants. The technology itself is not new.

But the package looks fresh because desalination technology usually looks like a factory with pipes, pools and pumps. But commenters on LinkedIn are going crazy over the idea, practically willing it into existence. Aqua Solaire, at least the concept of it, uses reverse osmosis membranes, the same desalination process used in some of the world’s largest water plants, including those in Israel. What is novel is the integration of solar power, battery storage, and marine mobility into one platform.

Desalination is an extremely energy-intense method for creating drinking water. And water experts like Gidon Bromberg say it should always be used as a last resort. The brine disturbs and harms sealife. Carbon emissions are catastrophic. Paired with renewables already takes some of the pressure off but it’s not a golden ticket to free water.

Israel has become the world’s proving ground for desalination. The country now gets roughly 70–80% of its household drinking water from five giant reverse osmosis plants along the Mediterranean coast, including the landmark Sorek facility, which for years was the largest seawater desalination plant on Earth.

That experience matters.

Israelis know what it takes to turn seawater into affordable drinking water at scale. They understand the energy demands, the membrane fouling, the brine disposal, and the economics. So when Israeli water professionals reacted to the widely shared Aqua Solaire concept, their comments were enthusiastic but grounded in engineering reality.

Ravid Levy, an Israeli water technology consultant with more than two decades of experience in cleantech R&D and climate resilience, put the numbers in perspective:
“500 m³/day is not a lot but could be good for small islands or coastal towns and resorts.” We are thinking about Shebara in Saudi Arabia, but they’ve already built a sedentary system on the island.

Levy’s point is important. Aqua Solaire’s claimed production of 500,000 liters per day sounds impressive, but it is tiny compared to Israel’s utility-scale desalination plants.

For comparison:

Aqua Solaire: 500 m³/day
Sorek desalination plant (Israel): ~624,000 m³/day
Ashkelon plant (Israel): ~330,000 m³/day

In other words, Aqua Solaire would produce less than one-tenth of one percent of what Israel’s largest facilities deliver each day.

Levy added another sobering observation: “We can make this capacity in a 20-foot containerized RO system. So the new thing here, and the massive size of vessel, is for the PV and batteries.”

This is perhaps the most important reality check.

The desalination component is not novel. Companies around the world, including Israeli firms, already build compact reverse osmosis systems that fit inside shipping containers and can be deployed rapidly to remote communities.

What is different is the floating solar platform?

Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of theDOCK, Israel’s maritime and water innovation hub, questioned whether the vessel exists at all: “Can you share more, company name? Vessel registration? Can’t find anything that supports such in relevant databases.”

Green Prophet searched online and unless this is in stealth mode, we can probably just boil it down to another dream of wishful thinking.

This skepticism reflects a culture shaped by necessity. Israel built its desalination industry under severe water scarcity, where technologies had to perform under real conditions, not just look good in renderings.

Despite the skepticism, Israeli experts acknowledge that the concept could fill a niche. If commercialized, Aqua Solaire could become an important tool for humanitarian response, island resilience, and water security in a warming world. Pair it to a floating bar around the beaches of Sicily and it can help brew endless pints of beer without refilling for water back on shore.

The post Desalination experts debunk Aqua Solaire, the floating desalination barge appeared first on Green Prophet.

When Green Prophet first wrote about the experimental Hydrophilis rebreather by Swiss inventor Oliver Isler, the internet reacted exactly the way the internet reacts to unusual design.

(We have an exclusive interview on the Hydrophilis rebreather here.)

People compared the sleek underwater breathing device to a phallus. Others joked that divers wearing it would become “shark bait.” Some called it ridiculous. Others said it looked like science fiction. But underneath the mockery there was something else: curiosity. A lot of curiosity.

The original article on Hydrophilis, Isler’s radically streamlined underwater rebreather system, sparked strong reactions because the device doesn’t look like normal scuba gear. Instead of bulky tanks and hoses strapped awkwardly to the back, Hydrophilis wraps the diver into a smooth hydrodynamic shape designed to move through water more like a dolphin than a machine.

And while many commenters laughed, others were fascinated by the possibility of quieter, bubble-free diving with less drag and less physical effort. We reached out to Oliver Isler after the reaction online and asked him what he thought about the sudden attention.

We reached out to Oliver Isler after the reaction online and asked him what he thought about the sudden attention.

“Thank you for article, which explains very well the philosophy behind my prototype, designed to be as much as possible in symbiosis with its environment, moving easily with the least possible effort,” Isler tells Green Prophet.

“The greatest challenge was the miniaturization of everything that could be reduced in size, while still remaining comfortable from a breathing standpoint. I dive either on pure oxygen (0 – 6 m), with an autonomy of about 90 – 100 min., or on Nitrox 55 down to 20 m depth, with an autonomy of 45 – 50 minutes.

“I have completed 54 dives so far. My 2 mm freediving wetsuit is intended for warm water (above 18 degrees).”

The original article on Hydrophilis, Isler’s radically streamlined underwater rebreather system, sparked strong reactions because the device doesn’t look like normal scuba gear. Instead of bulky tanks and hoses strapped awkwardly to the back, Hydrophilis wraps the diver into a smooth hydrodynamic shape designed to move through water more like a dolphin than a machine.

“The goal was never to make something provocative. The idea came from a dream I had more than fifteen years ago where I was swimming peacefully among whales and dolphins.”

That dream eventually became Hydrophilis, a chest-mounted closed-circuit rebreather system that attempts to rethink how humans move underwater. Instead of treating diving like hauling industrial equipment into the sea, Isler designed the system around hydrodynamics and low resistance.

“The ideal shape for minimum resistance is the NACA airfoil,” he explains, referring to the aerodynamic forms developed for aircraft engineering. “Everything was built around that principle.”

The Hydrophilis rebreather currently weighs about 10 kilograms and integrates ballast, breathing equipment, and streamlined body shaping into a single form. Unlike traditional scuba tanks worn on the back, the breathing system sits on the chest. Isler says this decision was partly made “to avoid Immersion Pulmonary Edema (IPE), a dangerous affliction whose risk is higher when inhaling from a back-mounted counterlung.”

The device is still experimental. There is no commercial model yet and no announced certification process. Isler says he has completed several dozen dives while continuing to refine buoyancy, visibility, and breathing performance underwater.

Some divers online questioned whether the design is practical. Others wondered whether the unusual shape could attract sharks.

“Suddenly I feel a little inadequate, wrote one commenter.”

But for many underwater enthusiasts, freedivers, futurists, and marine technology fans, Hydrophilis represents something refreshing: an attempt to rethink scuba from the ground up instead of endlessly refining the same tanks and hoses developed decades ago.

Traditional scuba equipment made humans capable underwater. Hydrophilis asks whether humans can become more natural in the water itself.

That difference may explain why people reacted so strongly.

“There is still work to do,” Isler says cautiously. “It’s impossible to say whether it will become a model for the future.”

Still, the project has already succeeded in doing one thing rare in the diving world: getting people to imagine a completely different relationship between the human body and the ocean.

And maybe that’s why even the critics couldn’t stop talking about it.

Green Prophet looks forward to following Hydrophilis as the technology develops and hopes to speak again with Oliver Isler in future interviews about underwater mobility, silent diving systems, and the future of human interaction with the sea.

Background from Green Prophet’s original Hydrophilis feature.

The post Hydrophilis Rebreather: After the Penis Jokes and Shark Bait Memes, Oliver Isler Says His Underwater Dream Is Serious appeared first on Green Prophet.

All air conditioners release water. That’s Physics. Cities like Los Angeles pour billions of water down the drain every year. And while home owners who are savvy to water reuse are finding ways to use AC water in the garden (here are 5 ways to use air con water at home), or in art studios (it’s basically free distilled water), cities could save water in meaningful ways by using creative ideas. These are solutions you can send to urban planners and those running smart city accelerator programs. Pick one of them and you might win the grant!

AC condensate for public urinals and washrooms

In high-traffic areas of parks, beaches, and transit hubs, air con condensate can feed overhead tanks for continuous urinal flushing. Or imagine a new kind of urinal that connects to condensate and greywater ponds? It’s a perfect non-potable use for air con water and pairs naturally with greywater systems. In hot climates, the flow is steady enough to make a real dent in municipal water use.

AC water for street cleaning crews

Why are we washing sidewalks with drinking water? I see street cleaners in my town connecting to fire hoses to fill up the tanks they are using for street washing. Condensate can be captured at the building level and fed into local tanks for street cleaning and sanitation. It’s low-cost, decentralized, and immediately deployable in dense neighborhoods. I bet it’s healthier to add to machines than tap water full of calcium carbonate.

AC-powered street cooling in heat zones

This is my idea and you can credit Green Prophet on pitch day: On extreme heat days, cities could release stored condensate onto pavement or through cooling strips along sidewalks. As it evaporates, it drops surface temperatures and makes streets more livable. Think of it as micro-climate management, not just water reuse.

Public misting systems using AC water
You see this in Paris on hot summer days: the city sprays a fine mist, cooling people in public squares. Condensate can power these systems without touching potable supply. In a heatwave, this becomes a public health tool, not a luxury. We bet it could also be used in splash pads, which anyway are full of chlorine.

AC condensate in urban irrigation networks
Trees, medians, and rooftop gardens really don’t need drinking water. Just imagine in dry cities like Amman where people get their household water delivered by truck every week. Condensate can be integrated into drip irrigation systems, especially in commercial zones where AC output is highest. It’s a quiet way to green cities without increasing water demand at all. And more green makes cities cooler.

Building-scale greywater integration
Condensate should be treated as part of a broader greywater mix. Combined with shower and sink runoff, it can supply flushing, irrigation, and cooling systems in cities and regions where these kinds of water may be seperated. Smart buildings can manage this automatically with minimal retrofitting. Can AC water generate energy as it’s running down the pipes of huge apartment buildings? We bet it can.

Cooling towers topped up with AC water

Think Desert Coolers meet the Wind Catchers of Yadz. Large buildings already use water for cooling towers. Feeding them with condensate closes the loop within the HVAC system itself. It’s one of the easiest wins for commercial properties.

Free distilled water for municipal maintenance
Condensate is low in minerals, which makes it ideal for cleaning glass, equipment, and vehicles without leaving residue. Cities could use it for maintenance fleets or public infrastructure cleaning. It’s a small shift with instant efficiency gains.

Wildlife hydration in urban heat zones

Cities get brutally dry during heat waves. Redirecting condensate into small basins or green corridors can support birds, street cats, pollinators such as bees, and urban wildlife. It’s a low-cost biodiversity intervention that fits naturally into park design.

AC water for eco-materials and circular construction

Condensate can be used in mixing lime plasters, clay, and other low-impact materials. Any potter knows that glazes and terra sigalattas are best made with distilled water. Using it, connects modern buildings with older, more sustainable construction methods. In large projects, even this small substitution adds up to quality and results.

The post 10 Surprising AC Water Uses Cities Are Ignoring appeared first on Green Prophet.

“The future,” says Elon Musk, “is going to be weird.”

Sounds logical, given the billionaire entrepreneur’s typical far-seeing plans, like creating a station on the moon.

But now Neuralink, a company founded by Musk in 2016, has successfully implanted a chip in a human brain. It’s a brain-to-computer interface technology (BCI) called “the Link.” It records and decodes brain activity, passing neural signals on to devices.

Current goals are to treat neurological disease like Parkinson’s and restore autonomy to people with severe physical limitations by controlling exoskeletons and prosthetics. There’s also huge potential to improve cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, and languages.

Even the power to communicate silently via thought alone isn’t out of vision: telepathy, in other words.

The Link has already granted speech to a man made mute by ALS; allowed people paralyzed by spinal cord injury to control a cursor and use their computer to not only play video games but also to study and work, or manipulate a robotic arm – by power of their thought.

Musk foresees a BCI placed in the visual cortex that will allow the blind to “see” their surroundings in real time. The project is called “Blindsight.” Theoretically a blind person will be able to see at high resolution at multiple wavelengths.

Musk says, “You can be like Geordi La Forge in Star Trek and see in radar, infrared, and ultraviolet. Superhuman capabilities. Cybernetic enhancement, essentially.”” He also sees a time when, thanks to BCIs implanted in a person’s brain and spinal cord, corresponding Optimus robotic devices developed by Tesla will replace the functions of missing limbs.

Tesla has already developed a functioning robotic hand whose appearance is designed to mimic the human hand. Potentially, an Optimus robot may restore full body functionality, such that a person will “inhabit” the robot.

Yes, the future does look weird.

How it works

The link between brain and computer is a coin-sized implant. It records neural activity via 1,024 thin, flexible electrode threads inserted into the brain. Neurons are the nerve cells that send messages all over the body to drive nearly all human functions. Where there’s neural damage due to ALS, stroke, or injury, the brain’s signals to, for example, pick up a cup, don’t transfer to the muscles. One of the Neuralink engineers, Skylar Granatir, compares this to a severed internet cable.

“With the BCI, you bypass this (interrupted) pathway completely. You can read directly from your brain to a device that will do the thing you want to do.”

In other words, the BCI makes a bridge that goes past damaged brain areas to the computer or other device that serves you in real time.

The United States Artificial Intelligence Institute defines how a Neuralink BCI works:

“The fundamental principle of Neuralink’s brain-implant technology is a mixture of neuroscience, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

The implant has over 1,000 electrodes linked by ultra-thin threads, which are implanted in the motor cortex of the brain. These threads pick up the electrical activity of the neurons and relay it to the external devices.

How The System Works

When one wants to move or do something, the brain triggers electric signals.The Neuralink implant identifies these signals by using electrodes.The neural data gets transmitted wirelessly to a computer. The commands are decoded by machine learning algorithms. Those commands are then able to govern digital systems such as a cursor, keyboard, or robotic device. Since the implant is far too dependent on AI models and AI algorithms, the system gets better as it becomes accustomed to trends in the neural activity, and the interaction becomes smoother over time.”

The electrode threads are too fine for human hands to handle without damage. To ensure their precise precise placement in the brain, Neuralink developed a specialized robotic surgeon that inserts these micro-threads into the cerebral cortex, the area of the brain containing functions like learning and emotion.

A chip within the implant processes thought signals and transmits them to a digital device through a standard Bluetooth connection.

Currently 21 humans with limited, some with even no physical functionality, are undergoing clinical trials. Surgery – implanting the BCI in the brain – requires only minutes, and causes almost no discomfort. The patient goes home the next day. Neuralink claims there has been no sign of damage to the brain since clinical trials began.

Competition

Neuralink has competitors. Several other companies have been developing surface electrodes offering similar technology for decades. One in particular, Paradromics, uses platinum-iridium microwire electrodes and a hermetically sealed titanium alloy body, as opposed to the flexible polymer threads and plastics in Neuralink’s implant. We have a post on Neuralink’s rival here.

For the love of everything, make it so it can NEVER. EVER. stream ads directly into our brains.

Called “Connexus,” the Paradromics BCI is water tight, which is critical for the salty and warm environment of the body. Neuralink doesn’t claim that advantage. In addition, the Connexus electrodes have a longer longevity as compared to Neuralink’s.

On their website, Pardomics states,

“Platinum-iridium is a medical-grade metal alloy that has been used in implants (like pacemakers and deep brain stimulators) for decades without corrosion or significant degradation. By choosing robust materials, Paradromics aims for its electrodes to last for many years or even decades inside the brain. This focus on durability directly tackles the implant lifespan issues, giving Paradromics an edge in achieving the 10+ year functional lifetime that many BCI users expect.”

The goals of these breakthrough technologies are to reduce suffering and enhance human capabilities. Musk even hopes to explore and expand consciousness. Another of Musk’s concerns is to mitigate the risks of unchecked AI.

Criticism

From Wikipedia: “Neuralink has faced substantial criticism over its animal testing practices. Between 2018 and 2022, at least 1,500 animals—including monkeys, pigs, and sheep—were used in experiments, with reports of complications leading to euthanasia in some cases. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prompting an investigation.”

Neuralink has said that animal testing followed regulatory standards and was necessary for development.

In human trials, the first patient’s implant experienced partial thread retraction in 2024, reducing the number of functional electrodes, though software updates restored much of the lost performance.

Bioethicists have raised concerns about informed consent, long-term patient support, and the absence of trial registration on ClinicalTrials.gov for some studies.

Broader ethical debates include risks of hacking, loss of privacy, and potential misuse of neural data. One person left a cry from the heart under the YouTube Neuralink update: “For the love of everything, make it so it can NEVER. EVER. stream ads directly into our brains.”

Altogether, it’s clear that the lives of clinical trial participants have improved amazingly. One participant, disabled by ALS and unable to communicate for four years movingly says, “Neuralink has given me a purpose. We work together to make this thing (the BCI) better. Maybe I can’t cure ALS, but I can participate in research, I can give feedback. It will give us back a voice.

“It would be a total waste of who I am if I didn’t do all the good I possibly could before I check out to be with the Lord. That’s the number one reason I’m doing this – because I’m doing good for others, and that’s the best thing of all.”

Others, who have regained a part of independence via their computers, are returning to studies and work abandoned when paralysis set in. Some mention the joy of having a purpose again.

So how about this weird future? Are you optimistic about the advances in medicine, health care, and disabled people’s quality of life that BCI offers, or are you worried that cyborgs will overtake control of the planet? I confess to both.

The post How does Neuralink work? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Oliver Isler didn’t begin with a product idea. He began with a dream. “More than fifteen years ago,” he said to In Depth Magazine, “I had a beautiful dream in which I was swimming peacefully among whales and dolphins,” he writes, recalling the moment that set everything in motion. When he woke, the thought stayed with him: perhaps with a small, integrated breathing system, a human could move through the ocean with something closer to that same ease.

We have an exclusive interview with Oliver Isler on Hydrophilis here.

From that idea came Hydrophilis, a device that looks less like dive gear and more like an attempt to reshape the human body into something hydrodynamic. When I first learned to dive, it was no easy task connecting all the parts of the breathing apparatus. Under the water, it never really felt like it belonged to me. Could this new invention make Scuba diving more accessible and safe?

Related: Are diving trips to the Rea Sea safe? 

The problem Oliver is trying to solve is not simply how to breathe underwater. That problem was addressed long ago. The deeper issue is how awkward, noisy, and inefficient humans remain in the water even with modern equipment. Complicated tanks, hoses, and regulators turn the diver into a slow, bubbling machine.

Even advanced rebreathers, while quieter, are still bolted onto the body, creating drag and distance between the diver and the environment. Hydrophilis tries to erase that separation. Isler approached the design as an aerodynamics problem, noting that “the ideal shape for minimum resistance is the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoil,” and he built the entire form around that principle.

The result is a system where the breathing apparatus is not worn but integrated. The rebreather sits on the chest rather than the back, which he chose deliberately “to avoid Immersion Pulmonary Edema (IPE), a dangerous affliction whose risk is higher when inhaling… from a back-mounted counterlung.”

The helmet extends forward in a smooth cone, reducing turbulence, while the body remains close-fitted and free of external weights that would disrupt flow. Even the ballast is hidden in the fabric. Everything is shaped to move water aside rather than fight it.

There is also a philosophical shift here. Traditional dive gear assumes resistance and compensates for it with power and air supply. Hydrophilis assumes that the better solution is to reduce resistance until less effort is needed in the first place. Isler reports that the system allows “reasonably good” speed with minimal effort, especially when paired with a monofin, and that autonomy reaches between 60 and 90 minutes depending on exertion.

That is achieved with a remarkably small system, built around a one-liter tank and a compact rebreather, far removed from the heavy configurations divers are used to.

Still, the project is not finished. Isler has completed a few dozen dives and continues to refine the design, adjusting buoyancy, improving visibility, and solving issues like occasional leakage under certain breathing conditions. There is no commercial version yet (angel funding anyone?), no certification pathway announced, and no clear date when something like this might be available beyond experimental use.

Even he is cautious about its future, writing that “it’s impossible to say whether it will become a model for the future,” though he clearly finds satisfaction in having built something entirely original.

What Hydrophilis does offer, even in its unfinished state, is a different direction. Jacques Cousteau helped free divers from the surface by giving them independent air, but the systems that followed defined the diver as someone carrying life support into an alien world. (Related: we interview Cousteau’s grand-daughter here).

Isler’s work suggests another path, one where the human form adapts to the physics of water instead of overpowering it. The silence of a rebreather, the reduced drag of a continuous shape, the possibility of moving without bubbles or strain, these are not just technical improvements. They change the relationship between diver and ocean.

The post Hydrophilis SCUBA gear could make us one with the sea appeared first on Green Prophet.

Unlike solar power on Earth, which is limited by night cycles, weather, and seasons, the Moon offers something close to uninterrupted exposure to the Sun. By placing solar infrastructure in orbit or along the lunar surface, engineers could generate continuous clean energy at a scale that may exceed global electricity demand,  the Japanese scientists say.

The concept relies on wireless power transmission, converting solar energy into microwaves or lasers and beaming it to receiving stations on Earth. While this might sound like science fiction, the underlying technologies are already being tested in smaller applications.

If successful, a lunar solar ring could solve one of renewable energy’s biggest challenges: intermittency. Instead of relying on storage systems or backup fossil fuels, power would flow steadily, day and night.

Related: America’s biggest renewable energy station SunZia just went online

But the challenges are immense. Building infrastructure on the Moon would require breakthroughs in space transport, robotics, and materials engineering. Costs would be astronomical, and questions remain about efficiency, safety, and geopolitical control of such a system.

Still, the proposal reflects a growing shift in thinking. As energy demand rises and climate pressures intensify, researchers are beginning to look beyond Earth-bound solutions. Space-based solar power, once dismissed as impractical, is being reconsidered as part of a long-term energy strategy.

The Moon, long a symbol of exploration, could become something else entirely: a power station for a planet in transition.

Whether this vision becomes reality or remains speculative, it signals something important. The future of clean energy may not just be about improving what we have on Earth—but about expanding where we look for it.

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Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.

That shift helps explain why eco-friendly flashlights are getting more attention. They support two goals at once. They provide travelers and households with a reliable source of light and reduce the need for piles of disposable batteries. For people trying to live a little lighter or prepare a little better, that is a practical combination.

Why Off-Grid Travel Is Pushing Better Lighting Choices

Off-grid travel tends to expose weak gear fast. A flashlight that drains quickly, feels bulky, or depends on a constant stream of fresh batteries becomes a hassle. In that setting, simple design matters. So does efficiency.

That is why flashlights remain one of the most useful items in a travel kit. A good flashlight handles short tasks, longer nights, and unexpected situations without taking up much room. Green Prophet’s coverage of greener off-grid living has highlighted rechargeable lighting as part of a more thoughtful setup, especially for people who want dependable gear with a lighter footprint.

The eco-friendly case starts with power. Rechargeable flashlights cut down on battery waste and reduce the cycle of buying, storing, and tossing single-use cells. That makes travel easier in a practical sense, but it also supports a more responsible approach to gear. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that better battery management helps reduce waste, recover materials, and prevent pollution. For people who spend time outdoors, that is not a minor point. It connects a small buying choice to a larger environmental habit.

Efficiency also helps in the field. LED-based lighting uses far less energy than older lighting technology and tends to last much longer. With a flashlight, that can mean fewer charges, less strain on backup power, and more confidence when an outlet is nowhere in sight. A traveler using a small power bank, solar charger, or compact generator benefits from every bit of saved energy.

There is also a comfort factor that often gets overlooked. Off-grid travel already asks people to think about water, power, weather, and storage. Lighting should reduce stress, not add to it. A dependable flashlight that charges easily and performs consistently can make a campsite, cabin, or vehicle setup feel more manageable.

Why Home Preparedness and Sustainability Work Well Together

Preparedness has become less of a niche concern and more of a basic household habit. People do not need to live far from the grid to understand the value of backup light. Storms, outages, and other disruptions can happen almost anywhere, and they rarely arrive at a convenient time.

That is one reason flashlights still show up on official emergency supply lists. Ready.gov includes flashlights in its kit guidance, and Green Prophet’s own preparedness coverage points readers toward keeping one, or more than one, available. A dedicated flashlight is easier to rely on than a phone light during a longer outage. It keeps a phone battery free for calls, messages, alerts, and maps. It is also usually easier to aim, store, and hand to someone else in the house.

Eco-friendly models bring extra value here. A rechargeable flashlight is easier to keep in regular use, making it more likely to be ready when needed. It can live in a kitchen drawer, near the bed, in a closet, or in a car and be topped off as part of a simple routine. That is very different from the old pattern of finding a flashlight during an outage, only to discover the batteries are dead or missing.

There is a clutter benefit too. Households that rely on disposable batteries often end up managing extras, checking expiration dates, and throwing away old cells. Rechargeable options simplify that process. Fewer loose batteries, less waste, and a more predictable system all make preparedness easier to maintain.

This is where sustainability becomes practical, not abstract. Reducing battery waste is a meaningful goal, but it also makes daily life simpler. An item that supports both readiness and lower waste tends to earn a permanent spot in the home.

What to Look for in an Eco-Friendly Flashlight

Not every flashlight marketed as eco-friendly will be the right fit. The best choice depends on how it will actually be used. For off-grid travel, portability matters. For home preparedness, ease of access and ease of charging may matter more. In either case, a few features stand out.

Rechargeable power is the obvious one. It cuts battery waste and makes the flashlight easier to maintain over time. LED performance is another strong sign of efficiency. Durability matters too. A product that lasts longer is usually the better environmental choice than one that needs early replacement.

Battery life should also match real use, not just marketing language. Some people need a flashlight for quick household checks. Others need one for longer periods outdoors or during outages. Brightness matters, but so does control. A flashlight that offers practical light levels without draining too fast tends to be more useful than one built only around maximum output.

The larger trend is simple. People want gear that fits everyday life, supports preparedness, and does not create unnecessary waste. Eco-friendly flashlights fit that need well. They are small enough to keep close, useful enough to rely on, and efficient enough to support a lower-waste routine.

A Smarter Light for Uncertain Moments

A flashlight may seem like a small purchase, but it does a lot of work when conditions are less than ideal. It helps on dark trails, in quiet camp setups, during power failures, and in the everyday moments when dependable light matters most.

That is what makes eco-friendly flashlights stand out. They offer the steady usefulness people expect, while reducing battery waste and supporting a more efficient way to prepare. For anyone building a better home kit or packing for time off-grid, flashlights remain one of the simplest upgrades with the most lasting value.

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When I first studied forestry at the University of Toronto with Professor Sandy Smith, I didn’t realize how deeply the school’s ecological roots would shape the way I look at the world. The University of Toronto has always been, at its core, an environmental university. from its forestry program and plant biology labs to courses in sustainable cities.

So it’s not surprising that one of Canada’s emerging cleantech companies tackling plastic pollution also began there. Meet erthos, a Toronto-area startup developing plant-based materials designed to replace traditional petroleum plastics and help move the global economy toward a circular model.

The company began as a student project at the University of Toronto, where the founders started exploring alternatives to plastic while studying subjects ranging from environmental economics to plant biology. Their early work focused on whether agricultural byproducts and plant-derived ingredients could replicate the performance of conventional plastics, without leaving behind the same environmental legacy.

What began as a campus sustainability idea has since grown into a cleantech company that uses AI to design bio-based resins that can replace common plastics such as polypropylene or polystyrene, while still working within existing manufacturing systems. One of their recent talks was with Colgate-Palmolive.

That compatibility with industry matters. One of the biggest barriers to replacing plastics is the massive infrastructure already built around them. Factories, molds, and production lines are designed for petroleum-based materials. If a sustainable material requires entirely new manufacturing systems, adoption slows dramatically. We see that working with big brands isn’t enough. The pineapple textiles and leather company Pinatex, which uses pineapple waste, emerged to great fanfare and worked with brands like Stella McCartney, but one-off and non-committal marketing opportunity can’t build a business. We need more commitment and responsibility taken by brands such as Colgate-Palmolive, H&M, and all ranges of food and plastics industries.

Can erthos help? It focuses on designing materials that can fit into the systems companies already use, making it easier for brands to transition away from fossil-fuel plastics without rebuilding their supply chains. Getting a product to fit into existing moulds and machines is the key for change from plastics to bio-plastics.

The company combines biomaterials science with advanced data tools, they say, to design plant-based formulations made from renewable ingredients such as plant fibers, starches, and oils. By using AI to test and refine formulations quickly, the goal is to create materials that match the durability and functionality of traditional plastics while reducing environmental impact. See Tipa, a brand that works.

The stakes are enormous. Hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, and only a small portion is recycled. The rest accumulates in landfills, waterways, and ecosystems where it can persist for centuries. Worse even, bits of plastics called microplastics are getting into our lungs, our waterways, our food, our brains.

Startups like erthos are trying to change that equation by addressing plastic at its source, replacing the material itself rather than simply managing the waste it creates.

Today the company works with brands exploring alternatives for packaging, consumer products, and other plastic-heavy industries, helping design materials that can be recyclable, compostable, or derived from renewable feedstocks.

Erthos is a Canadian cleantech startup developing plant-based materials designed to replace petroleum plastics and support a circular economy. Founded in 2019 by Nuha Siddiqui, Kritika Tyagi, and Chang Dong at the University of Toronto, the company combines biomaterials science with artificial intelligence to create sustainable plastic alternatives.

Its proprietary platform, ZYA, uses AI to design bio-based resins that can perform like traditional plastics while working within existing manufacturing systems.

Erthos has raised $11.2 million in total funding, including a $6.5 million oversubscribed Series A led by Horizons Ventures, with participation from The51 Food & AgTech Fund, Thrive Venture Fund at BDC Capital, Francis Family Fund, TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, DcarbonVC, Middle Cove Capital, and earlier investors Golden Ventures and Bee Partners.

::erthos

More Bio Plastics News from Green Prophet

• This Plastic Is Made From Corn: A Biodegradable Alternative to Fossil Plastics
• Sustainable Plastics That Emerge From the Sea
• Teen Scientist Creates Bioplastic from Banana Peels
• Eco-Friendly Compostable Food Packaging for Restaurants
• DuPont Turns to Algae to Create Alternative Seafood

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Every day, the Middle East’s desalination industry produces more brine than freshwater. Aquifers are drying up and becoming full of brine. Companies like Iyris claim to be able to farm on brackish water, solving part of the problem of access to freshwater. But a a small Saudi startup has found a solution to the problem inside the problem itself.

The math of desalination has long been troubling. Its energy-intensive and polluting. For every gallon of water pulled from the sea, a typical reverse osmosis plant discharges roughly 1.5 times the among of concentrated, chemically laden brine back into the ocean. Multiply that across the Middle East and North Africa, which is the region responsible for more than half of the world’s desalination output, and the scale of brine becomes alarming.

Global brine discharge now exceeds 140 million cubic meters per day, according to a 2019 UN-backed study, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for 22 percent of the world’s total, according to a UN University Institute for Water study. The Arabian Gulf, already naturally one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth at 45 grams of salt per liter compared to a global ocean average nearer 35, is absorbing the consequences.

Into this problem has stepped Qalzam, a Saudi startup with a counterintuitive proposition: the brine is not the problem. It is the raw material.

Founded in Riyadh and incubated at the Saudi Water Innovation Center (SWIC), Qalzam has developed a process to extract sodium hypochlorite (the active compound in chlorine disinfectant) directly from the waste brine produced by reverse osmosis plants. That sodium hypochlorite is then fed straight back into the same plant to disinfect the freshwater it has just produced, closing what Qalzam describes as a circular loop within the desalination process itself. In conventional plants, sodium hypochlorite must be manufactured separately, transported to site, and purchased as a chemical input.

Qalzam eliminates all three steps simultaneously.

The chemistry is not new. Sodium hypochlorite can be generated electrochemically from saline solutions, which is a process long understood in laboratory settings and applied at small scales in wastewater treatment. What Qalzam is engineering is the industrial translation of that process specifically for the high-salinity, high-volume conditions of Gulf desalination, where brine concentrations are substantially higher than those seen elsewhere in the world, and where the scale of operations can make even marginal improvements in cost or chemistry enormously significant.

“The chemicals should be all neutralized,” said Noreddine Ghaffour, a research professor at the Water Desalination and Reuse Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), speaking about brine management at Saudi desalination plants more broadly. His comment reflects a growing scientific and regulatory consensus: the era of dumping chemically complex brine into already-stressed marine environments is approaching its limits.

The timing is propitious. Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as a global leader in desalination capacity, doubling its output in recent years and announcing $9.33 billion across 60 new projects in its latest expansion.

The Saudi Water Partnership Company is targeting a near-tripling of national desalination capacity to 7.5 million cubic meters per day by 2027. Each new plant that comes online represents both a new source of brine and a potential customer for Qalzam’s on-sitewater

disinfectant solution. The startup has also graduated from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources’ “Numuw” industrial incubator and accelerator program, giving it institutional credibility at a formative stage.

The wider scientific case for brine valorization is strengthening rapidly. Research published in the journal Water in November 2025 modeled a 100,000-cubic-meter-per-day reverse osmosis facility and found that a sequential brine recovery process could achieve over 90 percent total salt recovery while producing marketable materials including sodium chloride, magnesium hydroxide, and bromine.

The estimated revenue from recovered materials in such scenarios ranges between $4.5 million and $6.8 million per year, potentially offsetting 65 to 90 percent of annual desalination operating costs, with a payback period of three to five years.

Qalzam’s narrower focus on sodium hypochlorite extraction and reuse sits within this broader economic logic but is considerably simpler to implement, requiring no complex mineral separation trains or crystallization equipment. This matters because complexity has consistently been the enemy of adoption in industrial water treatment. The technologies that scale are typically those that integrate cleanly into existing infrastructure rather than requiring its wholesale redesign. A bolt-on electrochemical unit that converts waste brine into a disinfectant that the plant already needs is, in engineering terms, a much easier sell than a full brine-mining operation requiring downstream chemical processing and commodity markets for the outputs.

Beyond the economics, the environmental calculus is straightforward. Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coastline is already under documented ecological stress from brine discharge, with dense, oxygen-depleted plumes affecting benthic marine life near major outfalls. Over in the Red Sea, dolphins, coral reef and at-risk species cannot tolerate more stress on the already noisy and polluted shipping areas.

Any technology that reduces both the volume and chemical load of that discharge addresses a concern that regulators, ecologists, and increasingly the operators themselves recognize as unsustainable at the scale to which the region is building.

Qalzam is still early-stage, with its team small and its first commercial deployments ahead of it. But the company sits at the intersection of three converging forces: a region building desalination capacity at a pace unmatched anywhere on earth (despite the scaling back of Saudis’ Vision 2030 with lowering prices of oil), a scientific community that has spent a decade documenting the harms of brine disposal, and a policy environment.

Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 strategy incentivize circular economy approaches to industrial water management.

The Middle East did not choose to become the world’s desalination laboratory. Geography and hydrology made that decision for it. But the region’s sheer scale of operations means that solutions proven here, including whatever Qalzam refines on the shores of the Gulf, will be exportable to every water-stressed coast on the planet.

Red Sea Farms (now Iyris) who we interviewed here, is a separate but thematically related KAUST spinout worth contextualizing alongside Qalzam, not as partners, but as parallel examples of Saudi water innovation coming out of the same university ecosystem.

Not far away, with Jordan between them, Israel’s IDE Technologies, founded in 1965 and headquartered in Kadima-Zoran, built the Sorek desalination plant south of Tel Aviv, which for years was the largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination facility on earth, producing 624,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day and supplying roughly 20 percent of Israel’s municipal water demand.

Today, desalination supplies over 70 percent of Israel’s domestic water consumption, a figure that has effectively drought-proofed a country that receives less than 200 millimeters of rainfall annually across much of its territory.

::Qalzam

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