2021
![A boat sits on the water while the bush behind it (on the edge of the lake) is on fire.](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/fire.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
One House to save many
Sometimes playing with fire is actually the safest option – especially when you’re building houses designed to withstand extreme events.
![Researchers at Heron Island](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Coral-IVF-Heron-Island_20201207_001©Southern-Cross-University.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
Sea-lebrating coral restoration efforts
Our researchers have been on the larvae lookout of the coral kind on the Great Barrier Reef to trial new, innovative techniques to restore damaged parts of the Reef.
![aeroplane wing with clouds](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/aviation-ross-parmly-rf6ywHVkrlY-unsplash.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
Turning carbon from a waste into a resource
Using carbon dioxide for commercial applications that support emissions reductions and industry growth will be the focus of CSIRO’s upcoming Commoditisation of CO2 Roadmap.
![Tractor in field harvesting carrots. Image by Kagome](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/carrpots-being-harvested.-credit-Kagome.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
Fighting food waste one carrot at a time
It's a case of down the hatch instead of down the drain for carrot pulp thanks to a new way of using it for burger patties.
![A young female vendor sells plastic cans for carrying holy water at a market around the river Ganga, India.](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Plastics_India-1-scaled.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
Australia and India waste experts aim to put the fantastic back into plastic
An ambitious project between the two countries to reduce plastic waste could bring global solutions.
![Showing the dry land and shrub of the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (or APY lands) in South Australia](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/APY-Lands-Brady-Flinchum.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
How science found liquid gold in the desert
Researchers have teamed up to uncover an ancient buried water source in South Australia.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/john-cameron-F_EooJ3-uTs-unsplash-Copy-scaled.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
Supercharging Australia’s lithium-ion battery recycling industry
Australia could have a $3.1 billion industry in lithium-ion battery recycling, according to a new report.
![CSIRO's Deborah Lau looking at the camera with her hands in a bag of small fragments of plastic](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CSIRO_EPW_NP__214_20210314.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
Reimagining the future of plastics
With our oceans littered with trillions of pieces of rubbish, how do we solve the plastic pollution crisis?
![Pictures of discarded computer circuit boards. Biomining is an innovative way of mining valuable metals from printed circuit boards like these, which usually end up in landfill.](https://i0.wp.com/ecos.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IMG_4003-scaled.jpg?resize=385%2C256&ssl=1)
Motherboards as mother lode
Did you know there is up to 100 times more gold in a tonne of mobile phones than in a tonne of gold ore? Microbes could underpin a new urban biomining industry, where gold, silver, copper and other e-waste metals are extracted more cleanly and more economically than through conventional mining.