Design
Snake scales protect steel against friction
"Friction and wear are two of the biggest challenges in systems of several individual components," Christian Greiner of the Institute for Applied Materials says. A solution is found in nature: Snakes, such as the ball python, or li ards, such as the sandfish skink, use friction to move forwards, Read More...
Want a bike path? Pay for it yourself
Your friends ask you to fund their marathon training, their home renovations, even their potato salad. Why not crowdfund something you'd actually use, such as a bike path or a public park? That's what a growing number of startups are helping people do, as communities with a goal look for sources Read More...
This is how mussels glue themselves to rocky shorelines, and yes, this is knowledge we can use
A few weeks ago, we reported on a new surgical glue inspired by mussels, which stops bleeding wounds in 60 seconds. Now, there's more mussel-news. Scientists never knew how exactly mussels protect themselves from the crashing waves and strong currents. But they recently discovered that Read More...
How Driverless Cabs Could Reduce Urban Traffic
A huge amount of urban traffic comes from cars circling for available parking. Robot fleets could change all that. Traffic jams aren’t exactly Zen. People are anxious about getting somewhere else instead of being happy about where they are. To make matters more frustrating: In many cases, the Read More...
This clever house transforms itself to adjust to different types of weather
This is still a design idea, but a clever one: this house takes on different shapes for different types of weather. On a hot day, a screen and shell move out to wrap around the entire home. On cold days, it gets rid of these layers again so the sun can warm all areas of the house. On top of this, Read More...
Inspired by Nature
Researchers are borrowing designs from the natural world to advance biomedicine. When biomedical engineer Jeff Karp has questions, he looks to animals for answers. In 2009, Karp gathered his team at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston to brainstorm novel ways to capture Read More...
Butterfly may know how to make solar energy cheaper and more efficient
Biomimicry is the burgeoning field describing how designers look at nature's solutions for today's problems. Experts from the University of Exeter have taken the approach. They found that if you want to make solar energy cheaper and more efficient, it may be good to look at butterflies. By Read More...
Activists make cities more friendly for the homeless with mattress project
In an attempt to discourage homeless loitering, some cities have introduced spikes, covering flat, raised ledges to stop people from sitting or sleeping on them. So a group of London activists have created the Anti Anti Homeless Spikes project. They glue mattresses over a set of spikes, and create Read More...
Rainbow mural brings together community in Mexican "drug capital"
Somewhere over the rainbow, you will find this Mexican town called Palmitas, in the district of Pachuca. A youth organization called Germen Crew teamed up with the Mexican authorities to beautify this neighborhood, previously known as the "drug capital" of the region. According to the Facebook Read More...
Japanese architect unveils plans to reuse earthquake rubble to build Nepal relief shelters
He did it again. Shigeru Ban, the Japanese architect known for his work on emergency shelters, unveiled a plan to reuse brick salvaged from collapsed buildings as construction material for relief shelters in Nepal. After the earthquake in April, the Nepalese are still in dire need of shelters Read More...