What do you get when you mix human urine, loose sand, and bacteria? The answer is urine-based bio-bricks: A more environmentally friendly substitute for kiln-fired bricks, according to researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Civil engineering master’s degree student Suzanne Lambert recently unveiled the newly formulated bricks. Similar to seashell formation, the bio-bricks result from a process called microbial […]
Bio- Bricks Cuts Construction Costs
App That Works Like ECG
A newly developed smartphone app has shown promise for determining if a person is suffering from a serious heart attack. A study into the app’s accuracy revealed it was almost as effective as a traditional electrocardiogram (ECG) at identifying a serious form of heart attack. The system currently focuses on identifying a very specific, and deadly, form of heart attack […]
Uber Targets To Deliver To You By Drones
Uber has joined a growing list of companies keen on using drones for delivery. It wants to integrate the technology into UberEats, its meal-delivery service, and envisions dropping off its first drone-delivered dinners as early as 2021. The company better known for ridesharing revealed earlier this year that it’s keen to utilize drone technology for its UberEats meal-delivery service, but […]
Biophillic Design For Healthier, Happier Workplace
A new experimental office on the 12th floor of The Shard in London offers a breath of fresh air … literally. Wrapped in bamboo surfaces and punctuated by living plants, facilities management company Mitie’s headquarters in London was created by local practice DaeWha Kang Design. The biophilic project — dubbed the Living Lab at The Shard — mimics nature from […]
How to Create an Offer Your Potential Client Cannot Turn Down
Being successful in business requires having the ability to close the deal. It involves getting potential clients to say yes, even if they initially respond with a no. Though this seems like it should be relatively easy, especially since you have confidence in your products and services, the reality is that no business has a 100 percent close rate. But […]
First Solared Power Airport
More than 1,000 flights depart out of Cochin International Airport each week. The travel hub is the seventh busiest airport in India, handling more than 10 million passengers every year. Located in the southwestern coastal state of Kerala, it hosts 27 airlines and some three dozen shops and restaurants — and the whole thing runs on solar energy. Cochin International […]
Abandoned Miami Lot Turned Into Beautiful Park
When Meg Daly broke both her arms in an accident four years ago, she put her car keys away and started using the Miami Metrorail. She quickly noticed how much space was not being utilized under the elevated train tracks and from there an idea was born. Daly founded Friends of The Underline with the goal to reinvent the 10-mile […]
Calgary Snowflake Library
Calgary’s new Central Library has just opened its doors to the public — and it’s a thing of elegant, energy-efficient beauty. International architecture firm Snøhetta teamed up with North America-based multidisciplinary design firm DIALOG to create the new main branch of the Calgary Public Library, one of the largest library systems on the continent. Wrapped in a dynamic, triple-glazed facade […]
Conceptual Living On Mars
During a recent Beijing event focused on the future of housing, Open Architecture, in collaboration with Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi, unveiled a tiny shelter for Mars. It’s very conceptual and there’s no suggestion the dwelling will actually be installed on the Red Planet, but it’s interesting to see architects tackle the idea. The Mars Case prototype is inspired by Henry […]
Can Coffee Finally Be Good?
For years, scientists have suspected that drinking coffee helps lessen the chances of getting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. A new study indicates that this may indeed be the case, and that the darker the roast, the better it works. Led by Dr. Donald Weaver, scientists at Canada’s Krembil Brain Institute compared three types of Starbucks 100-percent Arabica instant coffee – […]