More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin in what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake—similar to today’s Death Valley—slowly evaporated under the sun’s gentle heat. As the water disappeared it left behind crystals of halite, or rock salt. The world back then was nothing like the one we know today. Bacteria dominated life on Earth. Red algae had only just appeared. Complex plants and animals would not evolve for another 800 million years.

As the lake water concentrated into brine, tiny pockets of liquid and air became trapped inside the growing salt crystals. These microscopic bubbles were sealed off as the crystals were buried under layers of sediment, preserving samples of ancient air and water—unchanged for roughly 1.4 billion years. Until now.

Scientists have been able to analyze the gases and fluids locked inside these ancient salt crystals, effectively pushing our direct record of Earth’s atmosphere back by more than a billion years. By carefully separating air bubbles from the surrounding brine—no easy task—they were able to measure oxygen and carbon dioxide levels from a deep chapter of Earth’s past.

Opening these samples is like cracking open air that existed long before dinosaurs, before forests, before animals of any kind. As lead researcher Justin Park put it: “It’s an incredible feeling to crack open a sample of air that’s a billion years older than the dinosaurs.”

The results are striking. Oxygen levels during this period were about 3.7% of today’s atmosphere—surprisingly high, and theoretically enough to support complex animal life, even though such life would not appear until much later.

Related: Living water holds ancient memories in Ontario

Carbon dioxide levels, meanwhile, were about ten times higher than today. This would have helped warm the planet when the sun was much dimmer than it is now, creating a climate not unlike the modern one.

This raises a natural question: if there was enough oxygen to support complex life, why did it take so long for animals to evolve?

The answer may lie in timing. The sample represents only a brief snapshot of a vast stretch of Earth’s history—a period often nicknamed the “boring billion” because of its relative stability and slow evolutionary change. It’s possible the oxygen levels recorded reflect a temporary rise rather than a permanent shift.

“Despite its name, having direct observational data from this period is incredibly important because it helps us better understand how complex life arose on the planet, and how our atmosphere came to be what it is today,” Park said.

Still, having direct evidence from this era is invaluable. It helps scientists understand how Earth’s atmosphere developed and how conditions gradually became suitable for complex life.

Earlier estimates of carbon dioxide from this period suggested much lower levels, which conflicted with geological evidence showing there were no major ice ages at the time. These direct measurements, combined with temperature clues preserved in the salt itself, suggest a milder, more stable climate than previously assumed—perhaps surprisingly similar to today’s.

Notably, red algae emerged around this time and remain a major source of oxygen on Earth. The relatively elevated oxygen levels may reflect their growing presence and increasing biological complexity.

Far from being boring, this moment may represent a quiet but pivotal turning point—one that helped set the stage for the living world we know now.

The post Ancient air trapped in Canadian salt bubbles foretells climate future appeared first on Green Prophet.

Grocery prices and mortgages in cities are going through the roof. You’ve decided to go rural and you are looking at the options. What about an inflatable concrete home like the one built by Robert Downey Junior? If you’ve chosen this path, over superadobe, you wonder, how can you make the numbers work and make it sustainable? Read our article on inflatable concrete homes and how much they cost.

Let’s start: Imagine buying a modest rural plot, somewhere near Sudbury, Ontario, or in the Sierra foothills of California—and building a 1,000-sq-ft (93 m²) home using an inflatable-shell method like that created by Binishell. A flat, fabric form is inflated on-site and filled with a low-carbon concrete mix that hardens into a seamless, dome-like shell.

Inside, the walls are finished and insulated with hempcrete, a breathable, carbon-negative material that stores carbon as it cures. The entire build aims to reduce dependence on expensive mortgages, rising energy bills, and urban living costs while embodying resilience and ecological balance.

Because there’s no heavy scaffolding or formwork, construction is quick and more or less clean. Inflation and concrete pumping take a day; curing takes a week or so. The costs?

Ontario: Shell cost ≈ US $25–40 / sq ft.

California: Shell cost ≈ US $45–60 / sq ft.

After adding foundations (will you have a finished basement?), utilities, and finishes, total cost lands between US $120–16/sq ft—far below conventional rural builds, which often exceed US $250/sq ft. The finished home is highly energy-efficient: thick hempcrete walls and thermal-mass concrete stabilize interior temperature, lowering heating and cooling bills by up to 50%. Over 15 years, savings on mortgage and energy can reach tens of thousands of dollars. For people who want to start a regenerative farm or an online business in the country, this is a no-brainer.

Concrete’s carbon footprint is its biggest flaw, but newer mixes cut emissions dramatically. Take calcined-clay blends (LC³), fly-ash or slag substitutes, and carbon-mineralization technologies like CarbonCure which can reduce CO₂ output by 40 %. In California, renewable-energy credits further offset embodied carbon; in Ontario, pairing solar panels or micro-hydro with low-carbon materials can make the structure nearly net-zero.

Look out for hidden costs and restrictions. Some people prefer to buy land in unorganized townships to avoid too much government oversight. That doesn’t mean you can do what you want. Permits are still needed. In Ontario, you need a building permit for any new structure over 10 square meters (108 sq ft), or for any structure, including sheds, over 15 square meters (sq ft), depending on the municipality.

Hempcrete adds another layer of sustainability, absorbing CO₂ during curing and improving indoor air quality. Together, these materials turn a traditionally high-carbon building type into a model of circular design. Hempcrete is also fire resistant, and added bonus for people in forest fire prone areas in California.

The biggest barrier today in new sustainable building isn’t technology—it’s building codes. Inflatable concrete shells fall outside most standard residential classifications. In both provinces and states, permits require engineering certification, structural testing, and often a variance from conventional framing standards. Builders must collaborate with local inspectors early, providing proof of structural integrity, insulation values, and fire ratings. If you are into dealing with those hassles you can create a model home for your neighbors to follow.

Inflatable-shell homes offer a credible path to affordable, durable, and lower-carbon living. For those willing to navigate permitting and pioneer new methods, this approach could define the next generation of rural housing—fast to build, low in cost, and light on the planet. It always takes the first movers to start new dreams.

Inflatable Concrete Domes in Canada

The Monolithic Dome Institute (MDI) has helped bring air-formed concrete construction to Canada, proving that dome-shaped, energy-efficient homes can thrive even in cold northern climates. Its method, known as the Monolithic Dome system, relies on an inflatable air-form, steel-reinforced concrete, and foam insulation to create one continuous, highly durable shell.

In Yorkton, Saskatchewan (shown below), Canadian Dome Industries built a 40-foot (12.2 m) hemispherical home that demonstrates the system’s practicality and strength.

Another dome, located in central Alberta, measures 55 feet in diameter and was built off-grid in 2005. This structure uses passive-solar orientation, thick insulation, and thermal-mass concrete to remain comfortable year-round, reducing energy demand in both heating and cooling seasons.

Construction begins with a flexible Airform membrane anchored to a circular foundation. The membrane is inflated to the desired dome shape, and workers spray its interior with polyurethane foam to form a stable surface. Steel reinforcement is attached to the foam, and layers of shotcrete (sprayed concrete) are applied, hardening into a self-supporting structure. The finished shell functions as roof, walls, and insulation all in one piece—eliminating many of the weak points found in conventional buildings.

According to the Monolithic Dome Institute, these domes use up to 50% less energy than standard homes. Their rounded shape sheds wind and snow efficiently, making them highly resistant to storms, mold, fire, and pests—key advantages in Canada’s variable climate. We just need a new shape of bed to fit a square in a rounded room.

While MDI’s technique differs from newer “inflatable concrete bladder” methods—where the form itself is filled with concrete rather than sprayed over—the principle remains the same: air replaces formwork.

These Canadian dome homes demonstrate that air-formed, reinforced concrete shells are a proven, climate-resilient housing solution and a foundation for more sustainable, low-carbon building methods in the future. With builds for industry, the Monolithic Domes aren’t as pretty as Binishells.

The post Inflatable concrete homes: a California and Ontario case study appeared first on Green Prophet.

What’s that saying? You have to travel halfway around the world to find what you are looking for and then you find it in your backyard? I was at my parent’s house in Ontario this past Spring, and on my quest to find the coolest aquaponics set ups in the city (which I managed to find at Fresh City Farms!), my trail led me “UpStream” to Newmarket.

Steven Looi from Richmond Hill has set up UpStream, an urban water farm inside a large garage of offices on Main Street North. In this garage startup, you’ll find a special surprise: pools of fish nurturing fresh greens.

The aim of Looi, with his experiment, is to show a viable model for food stamps of the future. To show that food staples which are healthy and fresh can be grown right at home or in the middle of the city. No dirt. Worms need not apply. We are talking about food grown on water, with fish for protein – fish that you eat.

Growing fish and plants together is an ancient way called aquaponics. It was actually discovered in ancient China (where Looi’s family is from) that if you add some fish into the rice paddies the rice will grow better.

The excrement of the fish gives organic nutrients to the plants, completing a cycle of life the way nature intended. Looi, 33, who comes from the world of high-tech “fell ass-backwards” into technology he tells Green Prophet. Always interested in sustainable business, he started a video game company, a company with “no physical footprint.”

Two years ago, he started learning about aquaponics, or AP, and with some smuggled tilapia fish that he bought over the US border “as pets” Looi started farming at his home in Richmond Hill. Along with the fish he’s grown tomatoes, lettuce, kale using the fish waste as nutrients, using water, some pumps and grow lights.

But he wanted to do more than grow fresh kale at home: “I wanted to have an impact. So I thought about the local foodbank.”

Looi went to the York Region Food Network and wrote up a grant proposal which they accepted. The fruits of his labor are now apparent in the Newmarket garage he operates out of.

Construction started on April 2013, and he’s attracted interest from local people like carpenters and schools that “just want to be a part of it,” says Looi.

Late last August was his first harvest and later in October he brought the fish. Due to the trouble sourcing the fingerlings, he probably won’t harvest the fish this year but will “keep them as fertilizer.”

Otherwise “I’d have to substitute petroleum-based fertilizers,” Looi tells Green Prophet.

The York Region Food Network remains his partner.

While he is not sure how much extra food the unit can make to make a real dent in the food insecurity issue in Canada he would like to have an impact on providing people jobs, supplementing the food bank, and offering locally grown food which is in essence organic, but reasonably priced.

I throw in a hand of food and the fish jump to the top of the pool, about the size of a large kiddie pool but a couple meters deep.

It’s astounding to think that such underground activities are happening in Newmarket, where Big Box shops have taken a hold of the consumer mentality. Can my hometown be saved by swimming UpStream? Will the people support it?

UpStream is attempting to teach those willing how to do AP at home. He estimates that a single person needs two acres of soil to support their own food bill for the year. While AP can be done at home, and augment about 25 percent of a person’s food bill.

It’s especially attractive in Middle East locations like Israel where this year, the shmita year, Jews are forbidden from gardening or tilling or reaping harvest from the land.

Hydroponics and aquaponics which uses water is exempt from this religious proscription. In the large facility in Newmarket, he sees as a pilot, Looi is hoping to scale up to 20,000 to 40,000 square feet. He is also hoping to get into the medical cannabis business in Canada. Growing pot on water –– with organic fish nutrients? Sounds like a great opportunity for using less fertilizer and potentially less pesticides.

For now Looi keeps everything under control at his facility measuring in steps how he will grow. He invites visitors and the curious to drop by his farm, quaintly situated beside a tiny stream, the Tannery Creek, I used to wade around in as a kid. I was hunting for old bottles and would cash them in at the local convenience store for treats. Recycling at its sweetest.

More on Upstream here on their Facebook page.

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