Researchers at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources have developed a plasma-based process that converts wet coffee grounds into coal-grade biochar in under 90 seconds, with no pre-drying required. The system, described in Chemical Engineering Journal, uses high-temperature plasma flames to process moisture-rich biomass directly, with the water content working as part of the conversion rather than against it. Why wet biomass has been a persistent problem High moisture content has long been one of the harder obstacles in biomass energy recovery. Most conversion technologies require feedstocks to be dried before processing, which adds cost, energy, and time to a supply chain that is already difficult to operate at scale. Spent coffee grounds are particularly moisture-heavy, and conventional approaches treat that water as a problem to be removed before anything useful can happen. The KIGAM team’s Flame Plasma Pyrolysis system takes a different approach. Plasma flames generated from liquefied petroleum gas and compressed air reach temperatures between 1,470 and 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit (800 to 900 degrees Celsius). At those temperatures, water trapped inside coffee particles vaporizes rapidly, building internal pressure until the particles fracture. Researchers call this the “popcorn effect”: the steam-driven bursts open the biomass structure, increase porosity, and accelerate carbonization faster than dry processing allows. Under optimized conditions, complete conversion takes 90 seconds. What the resulting material delivers The biochar is competitive with anthracite coal in energy content. Its heating value of 29.0 megajoules per kilogram is about 33 percent higher than untreated coffee grounds, and fixed carbon content rose from 15.6 percent to 46.2 percent. Sulfur compounds were fully eliminated, removing a combustion emissions concern that conventional coal does not clear. The material’s specific surface area also increased substantially, producing a porous carbon product with uses beyond fuel: activated carbon production, filtration, and industrial adsorption. How it compares to other biomass processing methods Speed is where Flame Plasma Pyrolysis separates itself most clearly. Hydrothermal carbonization, one of the more established approaches for wet biomass, typically requires one to six hours; torrefaction runs 30 minutes or more. The KIGAM system completes the same conversion in 90 seconds, using combustion-generated plasma rather than electricity-intensive electrode-based devices, which keeps energy costs lower. The process also produced minimal smoke and tar compared to conventional biomass treatment, reducing downstream handling considerably. Beyond coffee grounds Although the study focused on spent coffee grounds, lead researcher Dr. Taejun Park described the potential as considerably broader. Food waste, sewage sludge, and agricultural residues all share the high-moisture characteristics that have historically made biomass recovery expensive and difficult, and the team believes the same approach applies. Park put it plainly: wet organic waste is a feedstock, not a disposal problem. Commercial-scale testing with additional waste types is the next step. Source study: Chemical Engineering Journal— Rapid conversion of wet spent coffee grounds into high-calorific biochar via drying-free flame plasma pyrolysis for process intensification    The post Wet coffee waste becomes coal-grade fuel in under two minutes first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

You know the skincare aisle. You’ve stood there long enough to know that the options are overwhelming and the prices are humbling: serums, creams, collagen-boosting masks, each one promising the same thing in a slightly different bottle. A good topical routine does matter. But even the most expensive serum only works on the surface. It can’t give your skin what it needs to rebuild from the inside. The vitamins your body uses to make collagen, the antioxidants that keep inflammation in check, the healthy fats that hold the skin barrier together: all of it has to come from food. No single meal turns back the clock, but the right ingredients, eaten consistently, make a real difference over years. Here are ten worth building into your plate. Vegetables that pull their weight Broccoli Broccoli earns its overachiever reputation. It carries vitamins C and K, calcium, folate, fiber, and lutein, the same nutrient linked to better memory and brain function. For skin, the vitamin C is the workhorse: your body needs it to produce collagen, the protein that keeps skin firm and elastic. The calcium and vitamin K support bone health and help ward off osteoporosis. Few vegetables do this much at once. Raw works fine for a snack. Lightly steaming it makes certain nutrients more available. It holds up well roasted, blended into pesto, or added to whatever you’re already making. Red bell peppers Red bell peppers have more vitamin C than most people expect, which makes them consistently useful for collagen. They also contain carotenoids, the pigments behind the vivid reds, oranges, and yellows you see across produce. Carotenoids have solid anti-inflammatory credentials, and since chronic inflammation drives accelerated skin aging, that matters in practice, not just on paper. Slice them for hummus, add them raw to a salad, or cook them into a stir-fry. Spinach Spinach is deeply hydrating and carries vitamins A, C, E, and K alongside magnesium, iron, and lutein. Vitamin C supports collagen; vitamin A may play a role in hair health; vitamin K turns up in several of the body’s metabolic processes. It disappears into a smoothie, wilts in minutes in a sauté, and works as a salad base without any effort at all. Sweet potatoes The orange color in sweet potatoes comes from beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A, a nutrient tied to skin elasticity and cell turnover. Sweet potatoes also carry vitamins C and E, which may help protect skin from oxidative damage. They’re starchy, yes, but dense with nutrients. Watercress Watercress gets overlooked next to kale and spinach, which is a shame. It packs calcium, potassium, manganese, phosphorus, and vitamins A, C, K, B1, and B2 into a small peppery leaf that also supports immune function, digestion, eye health, and heart health. Those benefits tend to matter more the older you get. Try it as a grain bowl base or folded into a salad where you’d normally use arugula. Fruits that earn a regular spot on your plate Avocados Avocados are high in monounsaturated fats with anti-inflammatory properties, and a 2022 study found that eating one daily was linked to better skin health in women specifically. They’re also a reliable source of vitamins K, C, E, A, several B vitamins, and potassium. Here’s the part worth knowing: the fat in avocados helps your body absorb fat-soluble nutrients from whatever else is on the plate. So the avocado you slice into a salad is also helping you get more out of the spinach underneath it. Blueberries Blueberries carry vitamins A and C along with a range of other nutrients, and they may help protect skin from sun damage by reducing inflammation and slowing collagen loss, though research here is still developing. They’re low in sugar, taste good, and take seconds to add to a smoothie or bowl. Hard to argue with. Papaya Papaya is nutrient-dense in a way that surprises people: vitamins A, C, K, and E, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and B vitamins, plus papain, an enzyme that aids digestion. Fermented papaya has been studied specifically for reducing age-related effects on the body. Some research has also linked it to a possible reduced risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, though that work is still in early stages. The simplest way to eat it: fresh slices with a squeeze of lime for breakfast. Nuts and seeds Nuts Most nuts are a reliable source of vitamin E, which helps repair skin tissue, supports moisture retention, and may offer some protection against UV damage. Almonds are the most concentrated source; pistachios have been linked to lower type 2 diabetes risk; walnuts bring omega-3 fatty acids that support the skin’s cell membranes and heart health both. One thing to know: if you eat almonds, leave the skin on. Research puts 50 percent or more of their antioxidant content in that outer layer. Pomegranate seeds Pomegranates have been used medicinally for centuries, and the science is starting to explain why. They carry vitamin C and antioxidants that may reduce free radical damage and lower systemic inflammation. The peel and extract contain punicalagin, a compound with anti-inflammatory properties. There’s also urolithin A, produced when gut bacteria break down pomegranate compounds, that may support mitochondrial health. Early animal studies hint at a connection to muscle function as we age. That hasn’t been confirmed in humans yet, but it’s one of the more interesting threads in aging research right now. Scatter pomegranate seeds over a spinach and walnut salad and you’ve brought several of these foods together without trying very hard. Building a plate that works for your skin Consistency is the whole point. No single food makes or breaks your skin, and no diet undoes time. What it can do is build a better foundation, one that pays out slowly over years of eating well. The easiest starting point is color: deep reds, purples, and oranges signal high antioxidant concentration. The more variety on your plate, the more your skin has to draw from.The post 10 best anti-aging foods for skin health and longevity first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

Ribal Zebian, a student from the city of London in Ontario, Canada, already made headlines for building an electric car out of wood and earned a $120,000 scholarship from it. Now, he’s in the news again for something a little different. Concerned with homelessness in his hometown, Zebian got to work creating a different kind of affordable housing made from fiberglass material. In fact, he’s so confident in his idea that the 18-year-old plans on living in it for a year to test it out himself. Currently an engineering student at Western University, Zebian was concerned by both the rising population of the unhoused in his community and the rising cost of housing overall. With that in mind, he conjured up a blueprint for a modular home that would help address both problems. Here’s what the home is actually made of Zebian’s version of a modular home would be made of fiberglass panels and thermoplastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foam. He chose those materials because he believes they can make a sturdy dwelling in a short amount of time—specifically in just a single day. “With fiberglass you can make extravagant molds, and you can replicate those,” Zebian told CTV News. “It can be duplicated. And for our roofing system, we’re not using the traditional truss method. We’re using actually an insulated core PET foam that supports the structure and structural integrity of the roof.” And they don’t have to look boring either Zebian also believes these homes don’t have to be purely utilitarian. They can also offer attractive design and customizable features to make them personal and appealing. “Essentially, what I’m trying to do is bring a home to the public that could be built in one day, is affordable, and still carries some architecturally striking features,” he said to the London Free Press. “We don’t want to be bringing a house to Canadians that is just boxy and that not much thought was put into it.” Beginning in May 2026, Zebian is putting his modular home prototype to the test by living inside of a unit for a full year with the hope of working out any and all kinks before approaching manufacturers. “We want to see if we can make it through all four seasons- summer, winter, spring, and fall,” said Zebian. “But that’s not the only thing. When you live in something that long and use it, you can notice every single mistake and error, and you can optimize for the best experience.” He’s clear about what this can and can’t do While Zebian knows that his modular homes aren’t a long-term solution to either the homeless or housing crisis, he believes they could provide an inexpensive option to help people get the shelter they need until certain policies are reformed so the unhoused can find affordable permanent dwellings. @hard.knock.gospel What to buy for the homeless at the grocery store. Most people get it wrong. After being there myself, these are the survival items that actually matter The 2nd to last one is about more than survival—it’s about DIGNITY. We are all one circumstance away from the same shoes SAVE this for your next grocery run. IG@hardknockgospel Substack@ Outsiders_Anonymous #homelessness #helpingothers #kindness #payitforward #learnontiktok ♬ Cozy Day (Lofi) – The Machinist Beats Zebian’s proposal and experiment definitely inspires others to try to help, too. If you wish to lend a hand to the unhoused community in your area in the United States, but don’t know where to look, you can find a homeless shelter or charity near you through here. Whether it’s through volunteering or through a donation, you can help make a difference. This article originally appeared in January. It has been updated. The post Ontario teen says he’ll live in ‘modular home’ invention for a year to prove it can end homelessness appeared first on Upworthy.

One of a young person’s greatest fears is becoming their parents. Then, as you get older, take on more responsibility, and start a family, small things begin to happen. You spend Saturday mornings at Home Depot. You start feeling nostalgic for the music and trends of your teens. You realize the importance of cooking at home. It happens to just about everyone. A few years back, a lot of ink was spilled on the generational fights between idealistic, sensitive, and possibly a bit entitled young people and their Baby Boomer parents, who, as stereotypes go, went from being idealistic flower children to selfish, grumpy conservatives in the 2000s. The Baby Boomers blamed the Millennials for being entitled because they all received participation trophies as kids (which their parents gave them). In contrast, the Millennials blamed their parents for creating an untenable future. Gen X was nowhere to be found in the great generational debate. Millennials are getting a bit older, with the oldest now hitting 44 or 45 and the youngest around 29 or 30. Now, with all this experience under their belts, and possibly kids of their own, have they learned to appreciate the life lessons their Boomer parents tried to impart? The wisdom of older generations who have lived life can be valuable. Photo credit: Canva A Redditor asked the Millennials subforum: “What things were the older generations accidentally right about?” and a lot of Millennials agreed that their parents and grandparents weren’t totally wrong about a lot of the old-school advice they shared when they were growing up. The 15 things Millennials now admit 1. Don’t waste money eating out “We do, in fact, have that food at home.” “Won’t stop me from getting takeout on my way home from grocery shopping!” 2. Appreciate your youth “Enjoy being young. Stop being in a rush. ‘One minute you’re 15 and the next minute you’re 50.’ – My dad all the time when I was young. He was right.” “I’ve said it many times, I thought they were exaggerating. Those first 20 years felt like centuries. The second 20 years? 2003 is 20 years ago!! That feels scarily recent. 1983 may as well have been a century ago in 2003. It’s so strange how our brains process time.” 3. Gardening is rad Growing your own food can be extremely rewarding. Photo credit: Canva “Gardening is fun, and the reward of eating tomatoes that I grew is amazing.” “Only two things that money can’t buy, that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.” 4. Social media “They were right about social media. But then they all joined it anyway and contributed to it becoming lame.” “I agree. I noticed a direct correlation between when the boomers started joining Facebook in droves, and when social media suddenly became a festering swamp of fake info and unfunny ‘I’m a Taurus born in Alabama who drives a Jeep! Don’t Mess With Me!’ memes.” 5. Life is hard “I spent a lot of time with my grandma. Lived with her during college. I came to her on numerous occasions bitching about my troubles, and I remember her saying, on more than one occasion, “Life is hard.” I still hear her saying that all the time.” “I think a lot of us view the post-war boom as some kind of magical egalitarian utopia, but their lives were so much more uncomfortable and harder on average than ours. My dad told me about being terrified of getting polio as a kid, he and tons of other men in that generation got drafted to Vietnam, some people had stable jobs but god I think I’d be bored to tears putting a bumper on Fords for 30 years. No air conditioning. Much harder to have a niche hobby without the internet. Even just the difference in the variety of entertainment we can consume is massive. I simultaneously understand why a lot of millennials are nihilistic and want more out of life while also seeing how someone who grew up in an objectively harsher world would want to hammer home the “life is hard” message.” 6. Pain comes out of nowhere “Your body hurts at 30? Wait until 40. Boy, were they right.” “At 50, you get all the pains you had at 40, but now add in arthritis.” 7. The importance of working hard “The importance of a solid work ethic. But… Not the way they meant it. Work ethic for yourself. Stop seeing yourself as an employee and start seeing yourself as a small business owner selling your services to the companies you work for. Know your value and leverage it often. Bust your ass for yourself and yourself alone.” Where they really nailed it on trust 8. Don’t trust anyone over 30 “Baby Boomer Hippies were right to not trust authority or the government.” “They became everything they hated. And more.” 9. Turn off the A/C “I learned the hard way that running air conditioning really is fucking expensive. ONE week of running it at night cause it’s too damn hot to sleep and it increased electricity bill by $50 . So yes dad I will in fact turn off the air conditioning.” “And close the door. ‘We aren’t trying to air condition the whole outdoors.’ Same with the fridge lol.” 10. Things used to be of better quality “Things made in the ‘old days’ are a lot more durable than the stuff manufactured now. 1950s fridge still runs, yet my 2 year old Samsung fridge crapped out on me.” 11. Don’t let him waste your time “Tbh and this is a gross one and I’m a feminist but damn, marry in your 20s or 30s and don’t wait for the guy to ‘be ready’ after 5+ years. I thought we were going to be together forever and we were just artists who didn’t believe in marriage. LOL. Dumps me and marries someone and has a kid within a year. Single at 40 after a decade of loyal commitment without marriage = zero assets.” “I don’t think it’s gross. A person who refuses to marry you is often wasting your time.” 12. Take pride in your work “Taking pride in your work. Even if your job sucks, half-assing it sets the precedent for half-assing everything.” “Hard work gets you places, being lazy and complaining does not.” 13. No one keeps a secret “Mine said if you don’t want someone to know something, don’t talk about it or write about it, and I would add don’t text it either.” 14. Be careful what you ask of your partner “The biggest one I’m realizing is the lack of the whole soulmate thing. That quest to find the perfect (IE unattainable) person that you do everything with, know everything about, and put before everything else seems to me why so many people are getting divorced or are just single these days. Its too much to ask of another person or of yourself. My grandparents were married for sixty years. They had separate interests, separate groups of friends, and sometimes even took vacations separately from each other. They very much loved each other, but only because they spent an appropriate amount of time with each other, IE, not the whole time. The joke from that generation goes ‘How did we stay together so long? We go out every Friday and Saturday. She goes out Friday, I go out Saturday.'” This last one goes somewhere unexpected 15. Beware of Yancy “In 1955, over 70 years ago now, Philip K Dick wrote a story called The Mold of Yancy. In it, a future space colony hires an investigator to figure out why their colony is stagnant. Upon visiting, he discovers a single TV channel available to all citizens. On it, an artificial persona named Yancy delivers advice and opinions on every part of daily living, with a charming Mr. Rogers type of kindness. It’s explained that the colony has a secret studio that writes and designs Yancy’s content and persona. They always write the most acceptable, status-quo opinions, viewing themselves as simply feeding the colony’s values back to itself. But there is never any contradiction. So in the society, anyone who behaves in a way that Yancy has spoken against is shunned and reviled. People measure their own morality and success through the eyes of Yancy. The investigator identifies the issue, that the people have not been exposed to the idea of questioning the message or thinking for themselves. It wasn’t that Yancy’s positions were particularly terrible, it was that his opinions were the only ones allowed to be expressed. So he worked with the team to introduce a new character who would kindly but clearly disagree with Yancy, and the two characters would respect each other’s individuality. Because this was early in his career, the ending is notably much happier than a lot of PKD’s work, but it shows a very clear understanding of the danger of propaganda media. While our society today doesn’t have a singular Yancy, it’s very easy to get sucked into a Yancy’s bubble, where you’re trained to distrust any amount of contradiction.” What getting older actually teaches you It turns out the generational divide wasn’t quite as wide as it seemed. The Boomers were working from a different playbook, one shaped by polio scares, Vietnam drafts, and no air conditioning, and some of what they learned stuck for good reason. That doesn’t mean they got everything right. But neither did the generation that spent years insisting they got nothing right. Growing up, it seems, means figuring out which advice was worth keeping and which was worth leaving behind. The Millennials on this thread have clearly started doing exactly that. This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated. The post Aging Millennials proudly admit their Boomer parents were right about 15 things appeared first on Upworthy.

There are a number of ways to determine intelligence beyond traditional IQ tests. Tossing aside standardized testing, academic scores, and verbose vocabulary skills, people may be able to determine if someone is highly intelligent based on certain habits they display. These aren’t things like reading more than ten books a month or flexing their high IQ or comprehension skills in casual conversation. It’s actually the opposite. Many things very intelligent people do may be seen as weird, or labeled as what an unmotivated or lazy person would do. Some of these behaviors may even come across as antisocial or introverted. Recently, Slightly Smarter, a YouTube channel dedicated to “learning better, thinking sharper, and making progress without the pressure,” posted a surprising video on intelligent people. According to their research, intelligent people have some pretty weird habits that don’t seem smart at face value, but indicate high intelligence. In no particular order, here are ten things people may consider strange but are actually signs of high intelligence: Young genius tackles equations with confidence and style! Photo credit: Canva Here are all 10, in no particular order 1. Organized chaos When you walk into someone’s office or bedroom, you expect it to be tidy, or at least straightened enough to look presentable. But for those who are smarter than the average bear, their working area may be chaotic, at least to you. To them, the chaos serves a function. It’s a trail of ideas and projects to get back to, and surprisingly, they can locate everything they need on a second’s notice. It may appear like clutter and disorganization, but it’s functional for them, which is what matters most in their space. 2. Alone time is the best time This is something that may cause people to think an intelligent person is introverted or antisocial. However, the truth is that they have a limited social battery due to processing more information than the average person in social situations. “Intelligent people need more alone time because their brains constantly process complex information. Social situations require reading expressions, interpreting tone, and following multiple conversations. For active minds, this is exhausting. Solitude allows your brain’s default mode network, where your mind wanders, processes experiences, and makes connections,” Slightly Smarter says. 3. Daydreaming People who daydream are not always imagining some fantasy world. Some intelligent people daydream when faced with boring, repetitive tasks or situations they can do on autopilot. This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not being productive; in fact, they’re often problem-solving for something they feel is more important. 4. Very few close friends The Slightly Smarter video reveals, “Intelligent people have smaller social circles but deeper relationships. This isn’t an inability to make friends; It’s choosing quality over quantity. Higher IQ people report feeling happier with fewer substantial friendships. Maintaining friendships requires emotional and cognitive energy. Intelligent people invest deeply in a few relationships rather than spreading thin across surface connections.” the smartest people I know: 1. obsessively read books 2. pursue new mental models 3. quickly admit when they're wrong 4. comfortable changing their opinion 5. surround themselves w/ intelligence 6. seek to understand every perspective on a topic— Ekta (@ektaamd) June 26, 2026 5. Rabbit hole addiction Finding yourself deep into research on some obscure topic may seem weird to some people, but according to research, it may indicate above-average intelligence. Sure, you may wind up with a hodgepodge of highly specific knowledge, but it’s fuel for those deep conversations you love. 6. Overthinking Overthinking may be a habit that can annoy friends at times, but it’s actually a sign of intelligence. “Neuroscience shows overthinkers have more active prefrontal cortices, your complex reasoning center. You’re not indecisive, you’re thorough,” Slightly Smarter notes. The downside to overthinking, however, is decision fatigue. 7. Small talk is not the vibe Small talk is something people with high IQs may not enjoy. This is because small talk keeps things on the surface. It’s something polite to do to pass the time, but it doesn’t always foster deeper connections, which is what highly intelligent people crave. 8. Self-amusement “You laugh at your own jokes, even if no one else does. You crack a joke, nobody laughs, but you’re chuckling five minutes later. That awkward moment is actually independent thinking and high intelligence,” Slightly Smarter states. They also explain that this habit shows a person has high self-confidence. 9. Sarcasm as a love language Using sarcasm requires the use of several parts of the brain at once, especially when it’s well timed. “Harvard and Columbia research shows sarcastic people score higher on creativity tests. Why? Sarcasm forces multi-layer thinking, literal, physical and social. It’s intellectual multitasking,” the video explains. 10. Patterns everywhere Intelligent people are very good at pattern recognition. To others, the patterns may seem coincidental, but to someone with above-average intelligence, they recognize the patterns to assist in decision-making. In short, it shows higher cognitive function. Sometimes others may see you as the guy with red yarn connecting random pictures on a corkboard, but you’re picking up on subtle patterns others miss. Want to see the full breakdown? Watch the full video here: The common thread running through all ten of these habits is that they tend to look like flaws from the outside. A messy desk looks like disorganization. Daydreaming looks like distraction. Skipping small talk looks like rudeness. Overthinking looks like indecision. But each one, looked at differently, is actually the brain doing something more demanding than average. Which is probably the most useful takeaway here: the next time someone makes you feel weird for how your mind works, remember that “weird” and “broken” are not the same thing. This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated. The post These 10 ‘weird’ habits might be an indicator of high intelligence appeared first on Upworthy.