How ships can make green fuel, and natural winds are key to cooling a city

Caffeine speeds up a reaction with aluminum in seawater to produce hydrogen fuel

Described in a research paper, the discovery helps engineers who are developing a reactor that could run a waterborne vessel with clean energy.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dropped small aluminum pellets, treated with a gallium-indium alloy, into filtered seawater. The rare-metal alloy enables the aluminum to react with water to release hydrogen. The team learned that the ionic solution of seawater allows the alloy to be collected and reused, and that adding imidazole, a compound in caffeine, speeds up the process from two hours to five minutes. They envision a marine vessel carrying aluminum as fuel, with the hydrogen being generated and used on demand.

A startup founded by one of the paper’s co-authors is already using scrap aluminum, which has double the energy density of diesel, in a reactor to generate heat and hydrogen. Found Energy, the startup, says the system has the potential to decarbonize heavy industry or to power homes.
Sources: MIT News, The Boston Globe

Brazil apologized for persecuting Japanese people during and after World War II

The Amnesty Commission, an advisory board of Brazil’s Human Rights and Citizenship Ministry, acknowledged the government abuse of 172 immigrants in a prison camp from 1946 to 1948 and the forced relocation of 6,500 people to camps in 1943.

After joining the Allied forces, Brazil did not allow Japanese citizens to gather in groups or speak Japanese publicly, and confiscated Japanese-owned properties. The commission reconsidered a request submitted by descendants in 2015 and rejected in 2022, delivering a formal apology in Brasília spoken in Japanese.

Though Japanese people detained in the United States and Canada received monetary reparations, Brazilian petitioners did not ask for financial compensation. Descendants of the victims said the apology brought some comfort. “We can’t erase the atrocities,” said Mario Jun Okuhara. “But we can learn from these sad episodes and prevent them from happening again.”

In Brazil, 2.7 million people of Japanese descent make up the largest such community outside Japan.
Sources: The Associated Press, Kyodo News, The Japan Times

Frankfurt’s master plan takes wind patterns into account to combat excessive heat

In a country with little air conditioning, dense neighborhoods rely on fresh air to lower high temperatures. A city climate atlas has mapped hot spots and air corridors to show areas that should be kept free of buildings, so that cooling air from three major wind systems can flow through. To ease a housing shortage, Frankfurt needs 68,000 more apartments this decade.

To improve neighborhood microclimates, new statutes mandate rooftop gardens and green facades on new construction. A network of 45 parks and 350 green spaces is also credited with reducing overheating in the city.
Source: Bloomberg

South Africa appointed its first woman as chief justice

Mandisa Maya rose to the top of the nation’s highest judicial body after being inspired during childhood by Black lawyers, who were instrumental in winning rights for Black South Africans amid apartheid.

Chief Justice Maya has broken glass ceilings before: She was the first Black woman judge on the Supreme Court of Appeal, the country’s second-highest court, where she later became the first woman to be appointed president. She wrote the country’s first court opinion in Xhosa, which is one of South Africa’s official languages but is not usually used in judicial decisions, and she founded a law journal that focuses on publishing articles by women lawyers and judges.

Chief Justice Maya replaces Raymond Zondo on the Constitutional Court. “My aim always is – and I make no apologies for this – to set an example that will encourage young women and girls to reach for the stars,” she said.
Sources: The Associated Press, Duke Law Magazine

Nepal’s Supreme Court recognized a transgender woman’s chosen gender

Since 2007, Nepalis have been able to obtain official documents that list their gender as “third gender” or “other.” But to change labels to “male” or “female,” transgender people must undergo gender-affirmation surgery and have a medical professional in Nepal perform a genital examination.  

On behalf of herself and others, law student Rukshana Kapali has sued the government 50 times since 2021 to obtain legal recognition of her gender without medical intervention. In its recent decision, the court cited the Yogyakarta Principles, a human rights framework that was drafted in Indonesia and declares that gender identity is “one of the most basic aspects of self-determination, dignity and freedom.”

The verdict applies only to Ms. Kapali, who hopes to see progress in other branches of government besides the courts. Nepal’s track record on LGBTQ+ issues is strong relative to other countries in Asia, and its constitution has specifically protected LGBTQ+ people from discrimination since 2015.
Source: Human Rights Watch