The price of tomorrow

Climate change is one of the major causes of biodiversity erosion on Earth. The glaciers and their streams host an invisible and rich biodiversity, threatened by the massive glacier shrinking. Most of the microorganisms that thrive in these hostile environments are still unknown to scientists, but they are already in danger. To fill this gap, the RIVER LAB of EPFL embarked on a scientific odyssey, the Vanishing Glaciers Project. For four years, 12 expeditions on the major mountain ranges of the World lead us to explore the invisible life of almost 200 glacier-fed streams, a big scientific exploit and an exciting human adventure. And after dozens of important publications, the team continues to decipher the “invisible architects” of the glacier streams - before they could disappear.

Could a better future be closer than we think? Can we imagine neighborhoods where most daily needs are just 8 minutes away, where living well requires little energy, and where biodiversity is seen as life around us that sustains us. Reaching such a future is first a cultural and democratic challenge, much more than technical or financial. It means reclaiming power from special interests, rethinking what truly matters, and shaping together places that are more connected, resilient, and joyful.

Are you curious about mycelium? When you see a mushroom popping out of the ground, you're only seeing a small part of the organism. Below the soil, mycelium spreads out as a root-like network of fine threads, sometimes stretching for metres. Our research takes advantage of some key features of mycelium to grow new materials from unlikely starting points, like spent coffee grounds and banknotes at the end of their life. In this talk, I'll lay out the basics of mycelium-bound composites, and show some of their properties and applications. I'll finish with a few case studies from our lab where we give waste materials a second life through mycelium.