Entering the Enchanted Realm by www.lichtjahre.eu
Entering the deep blue of this 50 m (164 ft) long, 10 m (33 ft) wide and 1.8 m (6 ft) high ice cave on the frozen lagoon of the Svínafellsjökull glacier in Skaftafell, Iceland caused an awe-inspiring atmosphere. This up to 1000 years old snow has metamorphosed into highly pressurized glacier ice that contains almost no air bubbles. Thus it absorbs the visible light despite the scattered shortest blue fraction, giving it its distinct deep blue waved appearance. This cavity in the glacier ice formed as a result of a glacial mill, or moulin. Rain and meltwater on the glacier surface is channelled into streams that enter the glacier at crevices. The waterfall melts a hole into the glacier while the ponded water drains towards lower elevations by forming long ice caves with an outlet at the terminus of the glacier. The fine grained sediments in the water along with wind blown sediments cause the frozen meltwater stream to appear in a muddy colour while the top of the cave exhibits the deep blue colour. Due to the fast movement of the glacier of about 1 m per day over uneven terrain this ice cave cracked up at its end into a deep vertical crevice, called cerrac. This causes the indirect daylight to enter the ice cave from both ends resulting in homogeneous lighting of the ice tunnel.
(Source: ethereo)
(Source: ethereo)
A look at another great piece of robotics from Festo.
BionicOpter
Remote-controlled drone that flies and is in the form of a dragonfly - video embedded below:
With the BionicOpter, Festo has technically mastered the highly complex flight characteristics of the dragonfly. Just like its model in nature, this ultralight flying object can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air and glide without beating its wings.
An interesting green building.
These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings.
For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement.
The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.This is what progress looks like.
OH GOD CAN THEY DO THIS IN SAN FRANCISCO PLEASE?
San Jose too, although we don’t have nearly as many street canyons…
Awesome…
Our imaginations know no bounds
Ask anyone around you and I’m willing to bet the majority will tell you that organic is somehow superior to conventionally grown crops. Whether it be the taste, the micronutrient quality, the overall freshness and safety, or the gaping hole it burns into your wallet, organic foods have been touted as “nutritionally superior” almost everywhere you look.
But is this true? Is there really any benefit from eating organic as opposed to conventionally grown crops? I hope this blog post will help shed some light on the topic and hopefully by the end of this, I’ll be able to answer those questions. Let’s jump right into it.
Most people preach going organic for the simple reason that there aren’t any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, food additives, GMOs, etc. used when growing them [1]. Conventional crops, however, allow for growing out of season, greater resistance, and a much higher yield of crops.If you don’t think that “buy organic” is a marketing ploy to take more of your money then you need a serious wake up call. Don’t be sheep when it comes to your health.
Let the take away from the post be about how there is negligible difference in nutrient composition, but a major difference in price. Being healthy isn’t costly. Understand that you’re paying for the word “organic” being on a product.
Don’t like the article? Read the studies (like you should be doing) and develop your own opinions. Don’t be sheep.
I’d like to keep it simple, as long as that pesticide don’t hurt me, and it’s affordable, proteins are proteins, carbs are carbs.
An interesting educational approach - a floating school in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Cost & Energy-Efficient Floating Schools (by NLÉ)
The Makoko Floating School is an ambitious project that is currently under construction in the water community of Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria by NLÉ, a collaborative agency whose mission is to provide architectural change for developing cities. The project seeks to create floating buildings that are designed to serve as educational classrooms for neighborhood children.
The three-story architectural structure, built as a triangular prism, is intended to float on water with a base made of 256 plastic drums. The floating construct is built with locally sourced wood, electrically powered with solar panels, and designed to house about 100 students.
While this first generation of floating buildings is being designated solely as educational center, the project is opening a new chapter in architectural design that can be applied to a variety of facilities for poor communities like Makoko to urbanize efficiently. Because of the project’s green initiatives, each building is more affordable and cost-effective. Additionally, they accommodate for the climate changes that are resulting in the rise of sea levels.
