Each week in our Sunday newsletter, we look back on the past seven days. We always do so at the initiative of our cartoonist, Albert Jan Rasker. He chooses a subject, draws a picture, and we take it from there.
When there aren’t enough critical resources on land to meet our energy needs, we’ll just graze the bottom of the oceans, won’t we? In times of resource scarcity and geopolitical pressure, the step to the deep sea suddenly becomes a lot smaller. Not that we have suddenly forgotten that there is also a lot of vulnerable nature deep under the surface of the oceans and seas, but hey, if we don’t take it, someone else perhaps will…
One of the stories in our magazine about the oceans was about this very dilemma. What weighs more heavily: helping solve the climate crisis with materials we extract from the ocean floor or protecting the already sensitive nature at any cost? In this article, our editor-in-chief, Aafke Eppinga, describes how the race for rare metals threatens our marine ecosystems. For Albert Jan Rasker, it was a welcome prompt for his cartoon of the week.
By the way, it’s not just deep-sea mining that threatens the seas; we also have to be a little careful with the wind turbines we are now putting up in more and more places, we showed.
What can we learn from the sea? What role can the ocean play in generating renewable energy? And how can innovations help us take better care of the sea? Find out in our newest edition: IO Next: The Ocean.
Jakajima
Not for everybody the name Jakajima will immediately ring a bell. Yet, in “our world,” it is a major player in the field of events and conferences on topics such as 3D Printing, photonics, healthcare, agrifood, and green energy. Some long-running titles include Agrifood Innovation Event, 3D Medical Conference, LiFi Conference, and Optical Wireless Communication Conference. Media52 – the parent company of Innovation Origins – is active in the same thematic areas, so cooperation can bring great synergy benefits, according to both parties. And so last week we completed a big and exciting step: we acquired Jakajima’s event business. Read all about it here.
Gerard & Anton Awards
It’s already almost time for the G&A Awards. Wednesday, July 3, is the day. For the tenth time, we put ten startups from the Brainport region in the spotlight. These companies have in common that we expect great things from them in the coming year. The previous nine editions show that such an award helps: the success rate of the former winners is above average. Would you like to attend the event? Then sign up in advance! Last year, we had a waiting list, so don’t wait too long. Clicking on the image above will take you to the registration page.
Our weekly podcast
This also caught our eye this week:
- Elcke’s What-If column: How a tidal wave of will makes for a spotless North Sea – with the right mindset and advanced technology, we’ll get our beloved sea as clean again as it was hundreds of years ago.
- Seaweed forests play a crucial role in carbon storage
- Blue energy: there is an ocean of opportunity for marine energy
- SeaO₂ harnesses the power of the ocean to tackle the climate problem
- Making the Wadden Islands sustainable: innovation from water
- New ultrasound technology reveals secrets of the womb
- Hackers with good intentions: white hats vs. black hats
- How living dikes enhance biodiversity while matching traditional strength
- Lowering feed-in tariff for solar energy changes the Dutch energy market
- Dutch chip sector risks loss of billions due to growth stagnation
Yes, this week’s offering is indeed dominated by the results of our ocean special… You can read the rest of the articles we wrote last week here. Have a great weekend!
