Cardano is a blockchain platform and cryptocurrency that aims to provide a secure, scalable, and sustainable infrastructure for the development of decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. It was created by a team of researchers and engineers led by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum.

Cardano's development is driven by a scientific philosophy, emphasizing peer-reviewed research and evidence-based design principles. The project aims to incorporate academic rigor and formal methods to ensure the security, scalability, and sustainability of the platform.

Key features of Cardano include:

Layered Architecture: Cardano is designed with a layered architecture, consisting of two main layers—Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) and Cardano Computation Layer (CCL). This separation enables flexibility and scalability, allowing for future updates and improvements without disrupting the core protocol.

Proof-of-Stake Consensus: Cardano uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism called Ouroboros. PoS allows participants, known as stakeholders, to validate transactions and create new blocks on the blockchain based on their stake (the amount of ADA, Cardano's native cryptocurrency, they hold).

Smart Contracts: Cardano supports the execution of smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with predefined rules and conditions. These contracts enable developers to build decentralized applications and execute complex transactions on the Cardano platform.

ADA Cryptocurrency: ADA is the native cryptocurrency of the Cardano platform. It can be used for various purposes, including staking, transaction fees, and as a medium of exchange.

Governance and Treasury: Cardano has a decentralized governance model that allows ADA holders to participate in decision-making processes, including proposing and voting on system upgrades and funding development projects. It also has a treasury system, funded by a portion of transaction fees, which is used to finance the growth and development of the ecosystem.

Sustainability and Environmental Impact: Cardano aims to address concerns about the energy consumption of blockchain networks. It strives to be energy-efficient by utilizing the PoS consensus algorithm and conducting ongoing research to reduce its carbon footprint.

Cardano has gained significant attention and has a strong community of supporters and developers. Its roadmap includes various phases, such as Byron, Shelley, Goguen, Basho, and Voltaire, each introducing new features and improvements to the platform. It's important to note that my knowledge is based on information available up until September 2021, so there may have been updates and developments in Cardano since then.