50042839
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Elliot Chang writes:
What if floodwaters and storm surges could fight themselves? Sorg Architects' Water Dyke is a design that would basically be hidden until high tides begin to inflate it, thus creating a barrier that protects the shore against those same waters.
50020659
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formaggio writes:
The next-generation 2015 model of the Toyota Prius will feature wireless charging capability. It will also have at least a 55 MPG rating with a longer range than the current model.
49739455
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AmiMoJo writes:
Radioactive water has leaked from a storage tank into the ground at Japan's Fukushima plant, operator TEPCO says. Officials described the leak as a level-one incident — the lowest level — on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (Ines), which measures nuclear events. This is the first time that Japan has declared such an event since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A puddle of the contaminated water was emitting 100 millisieverts an hour of radiation, equivalent to five year's maximum exposure for a site worker. In addition up to 300 tonnes a day of contaminated water is leaking from reactors buildings into the sea.
49724669
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oritonic1 writes:
Germany is rapidly developing a tradition of shattering its own renewable energy goals and leaving the rest of the world in the dust. This past July was no exception, as the nation produced 5.1 TWh of solar power, beating not only its own solar production record, but also eclipsing the record 5TWh of wind power produced by German turbines in January. Renewables are doing so well, in fact, that one of Germany's biggest utilities is threatening to migrate to Turkey.
49465555
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Taffykay writes:
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk finally unveiled design plans for the $6 billion Hyperloop, which will transport passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in half an hour for $20. Comprised of two steel tubes side by side that allow capsules or pods to travel both ways, the system would be built on pylons above ground. The system includes solar panels mounted on the tube that provide all of the necessary energy, as well as an electric motor similar to the one used in the Tesla Model S except that it is rolled flat.
49456479
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oritonic1 writes:
The first Solar Decathlon to be held in China has been won by UOW Australia, whose Illawarra Flame House "is the first retrofitted structure to be entered into the competition... Built using Living Building Challenge standards, the dwelling features a 9.4 kW photovoltaic array, greywater treatment and rainwater capture systems, garden, skylights, and ample ventilation. All materials are low in VOC content and come primarily from recycled sources."
49214321
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sciencehabit writes:
If you take some scientists' word for it, the biggest agricultural revolution since the domestication of livestock is starting on Monday—in an arts center in London. At a carefully orchestrated media event, Dutch stem cell researcher Mark Post is planning to present the world's first test-tube hamburger. Its patty--financed by an anonymous billionaire--is made from meat that Post has laboriously grown from bovine stem cells in his lab at an estimated cost of $375,000, just to prove a point: that it is possible to produce meat without slaughtering animals.
49212441
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oritonic1 writes:
Smugglers delve into all kinds of strange techniques to transport animals illegally, but few are as downright bizarre as the efforts of a Chinese man identified as Li who wanted to travel with his beloved turtle. Replacing a KFC patty with his pet, Li was stopped by airport security screeners when they noticed "odd protrusions" emerging from a burger in the man's luggage .
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formaggio writes:
A Chinese research team, based at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, used stem cells from human urine to grow “rudimentary teeth”.
49086233
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Elliot Chang writes:
BMW debuted its 2014 i3 EV in New York City this morning. The new car is the world's first purpose-built electric vehicle made primarily of lightweight carbon fiber. See photos of the i3 here.
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oritonic1 writes:
During their long, cold winters, the Norwegian town of Rjukan doesn't enjoy much by way of daylight—so the town (population 3,386), installed three giant sun-tracking mirrors to shine a steady light over a 2000 square foot circle of the town square.
48759437
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eldavojohn writes:
According to RT, the 39th president of the United States made several statements worth noting. Carter said that 'America has no functioning democracy at this moment' and 'the invasion of human rights and American privacy has gone too far.' The second comment sounded like the Carter predicted the future would look favorably upon Snowden's leads — at least those concerning domestic spying in the United States — as he said: 'I think that the secrecy that has been surrounding this invasion of privacy has been excessive, so I think that the bringing of it to the public notice has probably been, in the long term, beneficial.' It may be worth noting that, stemming from Zurcher v. Stanford Daily, Jimmy Carter signed the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 into law and that Snowden has received at least one nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
48758357
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Taffykay writes:
Swedish designers developed the Sweat Machine to drain perfectly good drinking water from sweaty clothes! PR Agency Deportivo has teamed up with UNICEF to show off the machine at the Gotha Cup youth soccer tournament in order to highlight how many people around the world lack access to basic drinking water.
48752745
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mikeoride writes:
Oil giant Chevron has been granted access to "more than 100 email accounts, including environmental activists, journalists, and attorneys" involved in a long-running dispute involving damage "caused by oil drilling" in Ecuador, reports the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) which, with EarthRights International (ERI), is opposing the New York court's decision says:
After years of litigation, an Ecuadorian court last year imposed a judgment of over $17 billion on Chevron for dumping toxic waste into Amazon waterways and causing massive harm to the rainforest.
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Taffykay writes:
Chinese researchers discovered in 2010 that a tomato plant infected with leaf blight alerts other plants, which then activate genes to ward off the disease. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen expanded that original study with broad bean plants, and discovered that the plants communicate with one other through a fungus messenger in the soil.
