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Take an Immersive Journey Through an Ancient Rainforest’s Mycelial Network in ‘Fungi: Web of Life’

13 Dec, 2023

This post was originally published on Colossal



“Everywhere you look, there are stories unfolding around fungi, connecting all life in the forest. But of all the fungal species on Earth, we’ve only described about five percent,” says biologist Merlin Sheldrake (previously) in the trailer for the visually stunning, immersive new film Fungi: Web of Life.

Narrated by Björk, and produced by K2 Studios, the movie follows Sheldrake—who has devoted his career to the remarkable and mysterious world of mycelium and mushrooms—as he embarks on a journey through the ancient Tarkine rainforest of Tasmania. Timelapse cinematography reveals up-close details of rarely seen fungal phenomena, from the dispersion of spores to vast subterranean networks known fondly as the “wood wide web.”

 

All images © ‘Fungi: Web of Life’

The documentary comes face-to-face with the reality of habitat loss due to deforestation and the climate crisis. “We’re burning the library—a library of different ways to rise to the challenge of living,” Sheldrake warns. He visits scientists and designers at the forefront of their fields, discovering never-before-seen species and learning from mycelium to create new, sustainable products and environmental solutions.

Fungi: Web of Life is currently showing in five theaters across North America, including IMAX Victoria at the Royal B.C. Museum in Vancouver, with numerous releases scheduled across the U.S. and the U.K. next year. Find a screening near you and learn more on the film’s website.

Sheldrake also authored the bestselling book Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds. You might also enjoy the astonishing mycological photography of Barbora Bartokova in the Czech Republic or collaborative duo Danny Newman and Roo Vandegrift in Ecuador.

 

A gif of timelapses showing growing mushrooms.

A still from a film about fungi, showing the undersides of a cluster of blue mushrooms.

A gif of a timelapse of mushrooms growing.

A still from a film about fungi, showing a cluster of delicate, bright pink mushrooms.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Take an Immersive Journey Through an Ancient Rainforest’s Mycelial Network in ‘Fungi: Web of Life’ appeared first on Colossal.

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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