Seaweed

In a bid to reduce the detrimental environmental impact of seaweeds on the Black Sea coast, a project spearheaded by a Turkish university aims to utilize these seaweeds to produce fertilizer and bioplastics.

The word "onigiri" became part of the Oxford English Dictionary this year, proof that the humble sticky-rice ball and mainstay of Japanese food has entered the global lexicon.

For centuries, it's been treasured in kitchens in Asia and neglected almost everywhere else: those glistening ribbons of seaweed that bend and bloom in cold ocean waves.

Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has come up with an ambitious plan to build futuristic ocean skyscrapers made from 3D-printed plastic waste 1,000 meters below the water’s surface.

His water city is called Aequora and would be situated off the coast of Rio de Janerio. Its name comes from a type of jellyfish called aequorea victoria.