A video series looking at concepts for truly huge structures that we might see in the future. We begin with ground-based and Low Orbit structures to help us get up into space and proceed up through artificial habitats and planets to structures which encompass stars and can even move them. Audio-only version for mobile devices available at: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-arthur-148927746/sets/
US-based entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Boring Company is developing a tract of land in Texas near as housing for its employees.
Called Project Amazing, the development will be located in Bastrop County near Austin and contain 110 homes built for workers at the nearby facilities of the Boring Company.
Developed by homebuilder Lennar, the community will be situated in a largely rural area on a tract of land owned by Gappes Bass, an affiliate of the Boring Company, according to Business Insider.
Japanese “calm technology” company Mui Lab has unveiled the consumer-ready version of its Mui Board – a minimalist control hub for the smart home that looks like an unassuming block of wood.
Designed for wall mounting, the Mui Board is a plank of timber that lights up from within using a subtle white LED dot matrix display.
This can be used like a touch screen to control lighting, curtains, thermostats, speakers and other elements of the home.
A ground fault normally occurs in one of two ways: by accidental contact of an energized conductor with normally grounded metal, or as a result of an insulation failure of an energized conductor. When an insulation failure occurs, the energized conductor contacts normally non-current-carrying metal, which is bonded to a part of the equipment-grounding conductor.
In a solidly grounded system, the fault current returns to the source primarily along the equipment-grounding conductors, with a small part using parallel paths such as building steel or piping.
The PneumoPlanet inflatable lunar habitat offers an opportunity for future lunar astronauts to comfortably live, eat and work on the moon, its designers say.
ICON has also completed a series of 3D-printed homes in Tabasco, Mexico. The company partnered with charity New Story in order to build 500 square-foot (47 square-metre) houses for families in need of shelter.
This community of homes withstood a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in June 2020 with no visible damage.
The Texan construction technology company is collaborating with BIG on a robotic construction project for the Moon.
Continue reading “ICON builds 3D-printed houses from disaster-proof concrete in Texas” »
Researchers from UNSW Sydney have analyzed millions of satellite photos to observe changes in beaches across the Pacific Ocean. The findings, published in Nature Geoscience today (Feb. 10), reveal for the first time how coastlines respond to different phases of the El-Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
ENSO is a natural climate phenomenon that causes variations in sea surface temperatures over the Pacific Ocean. The warming phase, known as El Niño, and the cooling phase, known as La Niña, affect weather patterns across different coastlines depending on the cycle.
Continue reading “Beach erosion: Satellites reveal how climate cycles impact coastlines” »
Veronica Roth (Tor)
THERE isn’t much world-building in Veronica Roth’s sci-fi retelling of Sophocles’s classic Greek tragedy Antigone. Then again, in Arch-Conspirator, there isn’t much world. A dusty dystopian city (Thebes in the original, but it isn’t clear where we are in the reboot) is all that remains after a thinly sketched environmental polycrisis has turned humanity into an endangered species.
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have discovered a connection between the risk of functional disability or death in older adults and the distance they are willing to walk or cycle to reach common destinations (such as a friend’s house or a supermarket).
As they age, physical or cognitive decline can make it difficult for some older adults to navigate their community, affecting their quality of life and becoming a burden on society. However, a recent study by researchers at the University of Tsukuba demonstrates that a willingness to travel longer distances by walking or cycling may help reduce the risk of early functional disability and mortality.
A recent study published in Health and Place presents a model linking death and functional disability rates in older adults to the distances they are willing to travel on foot or bicycle for common community trips. The research found that older adults who were only comfortable with short distances – such as 500 meters or less for walking, or 1 kilometer or less for cycling – faced higher risks of functional disability and death.
