Videos
Brainwaves Video Lab to Farm
At Brainwaves we have developed systems to use duckweed for water remediation & have been busy growing duckweed in indoor and outdoor laboratory conditions.
Now the work is starting to scale this system up and the technologies that have been developed in the laboratory are moving to real world setting on farms. The team spent a day on site recording this final video on a local dairy farm in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
The Duck-Feed project is now continuing this fascinating work with duckweed for a sustainable protein source for Ireland.
A Duckweed Film by Luke Ring
Research-led teaching provides students with relevant and in-depth learning experiences, while at the same time inspiring staff with new ideas, questions and enthusiasm.
Luke Ring is a 4th year honours student in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University College Cork, who joined the duckweed research group and studied the question to what extent duckweed will tolerate saline water. This is an important question, as many waste streams that can potentially be used to grow duckweed contain elevated levels of salinity. As part of his project, and to emphasise the importance of clean water, Luke made this inspiring video.
Brainwaves Project, Aberystwyth University
Scientists at Aberystwyth University in Wales explain how they are addressing the challenge of delivering sustainable food production systems in the 21st century through circular economy principles – valorising a waste product and generating added value. Farm slurry is cleaned and a new resource in the form of a high protein biomass is produced, all with the help of native duckweed plants.
Celebrating World Water Day 2022
World Water Day has been held annually on March 22 since 1993. It celebrates water and aims to raise awareness of people living without access to safe water.
The idea of observing a water day around the world was first discussed during the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The UN General Assembly then adopted a resolution declaring March 22 World Day for Water.
A principal focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6, which is to ensure safe water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Every year, the World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. The theme for 2022 is 'Groundwater - making the invisible visible'.
Celebrating Europe Day 2021
Europe Day is commemorated this year on May 9th 2021, marking the 71st anniversary of the historic ‘Schuman declaration’, the starting point of the journey towards new political co-operation in Europe. At a speech in 1950, Robert Schuman, the French foreign minister, set out his proposal for joint control of the coal and steel production, the most important materials for the armaments industry. The basic idea was that whoever did not have control over coal and steel production would not be able to fight a war. In 1950, the nations of Europe were still struggling to overcome the devastation wrought by World War II, which had ended 5 years earlier. Determined to prevent another such terrible war, European governments concluded that pooling coal and steel production would – in the words of the Declaration – make war between historic rivals France and Germany "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible".
The merging of economic interests would help raise standards of living, offer peace and be the first step towards a more united Europe. This proposal is considered to be the genesis of what is now the European Union. It wasn’t until 1985, at a European summit held in Milan, that the Heads of State and Government decided to celebrate this date as Europe Day.
Now, each year thousands of people take part in visits, debates, concerts and other events to mark the day. Brainwaves is just one of the thousands of European Regional Development Fund and Interreg research projects underway all across Europe, made possible by EU funding.