A newly discovered pig manure bioadhesive has been developed by civil engineer Ellie Fini and a team at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Turns out the oils in swine manure are similar to petroleum, but are too low-grade for gasoline and perfect for asphalt. First, just to be clear, the asphalt created with this…
Tag Archives: Science and Tech
18
Jun
Jun
HUmanihut is an Australian start-up company that makes refugee shelters that are highly portable and durable. They contain sanitary facilities as well as living and sleeping quarters.
09
Dec
Dec
When it is cold outside, Freeaire Refrigeration is busy helping customers save money on electricity use. As spokesman Josh Sarnowitz puts it, “Although many despise the frigid cold that comes with a New England winter there is one company embracing it, putting it to work for their customers in order to save thousands of dollars…
06
Dec
Dec
BE-Wind* is taking what you think you know about small wind technology and turning it on its head. It has improved performance and made its windmills quieter by blocking the wind! How does the company do that? The Science of Wind Power Generation Current vertical wind generation systems are inherently inefficient because the wind that…
17
Aug
Aug
Umisol Infrared Blocking Filter was recently installed at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Brussels.  The project is expected to create a net profit of 14 €/m²/year. Energy efficiency is central to the European strategy with the 2020 – 2030 – 2050 EU Directives for smart and sustainable growth and the progression to a resource-efficient economy.  By 2050…
03
Aug
Aug
New technology from Bangalore promises clean drinking water by drawing moisture from the air.  Rain Tunnel Technology, invented by Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, Chief Scientific Officer at the De Scalene Research Organization, will soon be available for both commercial and household use. Getting water from the atmosphere is not new. It has been around for more…
01
Jun
Jun
SunCentral has announced the release of a new skylight system that claims to promote vitamin D production by providing natural sunlight in interior spaces that would not normally see sunlight. “Our goal was to develop an indoor lighting system that provides much of the sun’s health benefits, including boosting the body’s ability to produce Vitamin…
31
Dec
Dec
The Facebook game Power House may finally make all those hours spent mindlessly playing games online pay off! Â The object of the game is to guide a family of four through daily activities using as little energy as possible. Â It is addicting and challenging, and teaches players how to save energy in real life. The…
29
Dec
Dec
For those of us who are deep in the dark of winter, this is a great time to think about bringing sunlight into our homes. Â The Light Bandit allows sunlight to be directed fiber-optically to any room in the house – even one with no windows! Like the luminous ceiling we covered back in 2010,…
27
Oct
Oct
In a Brazilian neighborhood plagued by blackouts, panels under the turf of a neighborhood soccer field, fueled by players running over them, provide electricity to light the field and the surrounding homes. Â A typical soccer player can run up to seven miles during a football game. Â Most of the players in this neighborhood are local…
08
Oct
Oct
Imagine a building that self-regulates its temperature without electronics. A building that adapts, allowing outside air in as needed and eliminating the need for air conditioning, but that uses no energy in doing so. Â A University of California-Berkley research team has developed a new type of “building skin” that can do just that, and they…
14
Sep
Sep
A new smart home study released by Lowe’s found that while Rosie the Robot is the futuristic feature consumers would want most from “The Jetsons,” more than 70 percent of smart phone users in America just wish they could control something in their home from their mobile device without getting out of bed. Lowe’s 2014 Smart Home…
25
Jul
Jul
In design, when concepts become creations that the world hasn’t seen before, then the job is well done. A young and upcoming firm is Penda and their goal is to create nothing that isn’t unique and thought out. Penda was started in 2012 by Chris Precht and Dayong Sun. Every project that they undertake becomes…
23
Jun
Jun
Last week the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that it will consider issuing a research lease for Oregon State University to study ocean wave energy off the Oregon coast. Â The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center is seeking approval to build a test site about 5 miles off the Newport coast to study utility-scale…
29
May
May
There is something amazingly raw and beautiful in cast concrete forms and buildings. These forms can become any shape imaginable and all that is required is the form to hold the concrete as it dries. Panels of remarkable sizes can be placed on site in construction zones, allowing buildings to rise in record breaking time…
26
May
May
These futuristic building materials will change the way we construct buildings in the years to come. 1. Graphene Graphene is a one-atom thick layer of carbon. Â It is thin, strong, flexible, conducts electricity, and is virtually transparent. Â Researchers won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics for developing graphene. Â It’s potential uses include solar cells, touchscreens,…
22
May
May
Biomimicry is the practice of using nature to inspire design.  It has become more popular as the green building movement has grown.  The Biotic-Tech Skyscraper City by GPT Architecture in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, is inspired by squid, using the qualities of transparency, flexibility, movement and protective pigmentation.  The design was the Jury Winner in the Architizer A+ awards for…
24
Apr
Apr
Will the buildings of the future be printed? Chinese construction materials company Winsun New Materials says it has printed 10 houses on its new 3-D printer that cost them about $3.2 million to develop and took 12 years to build. Winsun’s 3D printer is 6.6 meters (22 feet) tall, 10 meters wide and 150 meters…