AL Media

To save more rhinos, scientists are coming up with nuclear ideas. ⚛️🦏

In a collaborative project to combat poaching, including South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, Texas A&M University, and Colorado State University, a group of inspiring individuals has launched The Rhisotope Project — injecting rhino horns with trace amounts of radioactive isotopes. ☢️

Harmless to the animals, the isotopes are detectable by radiation sensors at airports and ports worldwide, leveraging existing technology to turn every illegal horn into a beacon for customs officials and helping prevent the illegal trade. It's a cost-effective, easier method than existing efforts of dehorning the animals, preserving the Rhinos' natural beauty.💡

According to the International Union For Conservation Of Nature, there are only ~27,000 rhinos left globally (down from 500,000 just a century ago), and over 500 are killed each year in South Africa alone. Fighting illegal poaching requires new interventions. This may be our best shot at protecting these magnificent beings.

Would you support more high-tech solutions like this in the fight to protect endangered wildlife? 🦏🌍

Full article, found online here:
https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-rhinos-poaching-nuclear-5ac06bea1fba938ee2ce3b1f9bfa5675

Photos courtesy of AP News, featuring Professor James Larkin drilling a hole into a rhino's horn and adding radioactive isotopes, at a rhino orphanage in Mokopane, South Africa, Thursday, July 31, 2025.
(AP Photo/Alfonso Nqunjana).

Kudos to the incredible work being done by The Rhisotope Project! Check them out. 🔎
https://rhisotope.org/

Curious to learn more about the relationship between humans and wildlife? Watch the documentary, "Humans and Elephants," for free on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/yb8u60cxgDg?si=MC3rIrvJNynJ4QmY

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"The Imperial College of London has made great breakthroughs in solar panel technology. ☀


Not only do they borrow from the design from leaves but actually emulate them by collecting around a liter of water from processed water v***r and self cooling the panels at the same time. 💧

The leaf design is a clever trick as solar panels use tubes or piping to cool them as they have percantages of waste heat that range from 75-90% waste heat. 🔥

The passive strategy reduces potential energy waste and is more efficient in it's energy allocation with this special transpiration layer. ⚡

This is a big deal as the other methods are either less passive or require more upfront work such as:
ambient cooling
wind turbines
liquid nitrogen