Design
This multi-directional wind turbine could change the wind power game
A remarkable wind turbine design that may soon revolutionize the way we use wind to harness energy has won an international innovation award. The device represents a spinning 25cm sphere with geometric vents at different angles that allow for wind to be captured from many different directions. This Read More...
Your future smartphone could fix its broken screen by pulling carbon from the air
Carbon-fixing materials — substances powered by the sun that use atmospheric carbon dioxide to grow and repair themselves, just as plants do — don’t yet exist outside the lab. But scientists are getting tantalizingly close to making them a commercial Read More...
French car-pool app Blablacar branching into bus lines
French car ride-sharing app Blablacar said on Monday it had offered to buy Ouibus, a bus operator owned by state rail firm SNCF, in the first major departure from its digital business model toward building a broader transport company. Blablacar did not disclose financial terms but said it had also Read More...
This ingenious hack turns anti-terror bollards into furniture
In the last few years, vehicle-aided terrorism has become a horrible reality for many cities. To protect pedestrians, cities have expanded efforts to install street bollards, peppering the urban landscape with these three-foot-high metal Read More...
Riding your bike in this city gets you free beer and ice cream
If you’ve ever felt that your green credentials have gone unrewarded, it might be worth considering a move to the Italian city of Bologna. For six months a year, an initiative called Bella Mossa (“Good Job”) operates within the city, which rewards users of sustainable forms of transport Read More...
These beautiful energy-efficient homes were built in a factory
A company in Quebec has introduced a factory-built house to the market that runs entirely on solar power. Even though the house takes only five days to assemble, the look and feel of the home is that of a chic, modern living space. What’s more, the home costs no more than $147 per square meter Read More...
Buildings could soon be constructed using concrete solar panels
One ton of CO2 is generated by making one ton of cement, which is made from limestone and a few other things heated to an extremely high temperature. But what if concrete could generate its own energy? It seems we’re getting very close to that reality after the world’s largest cement maker Read More...
Bionic leaf is 10 times better at photosynthesis than real plants
Plants take in carbon dioxide, water, and sunshine to create a sugary fuel. Now researchers have done the same, but even Read More...
In Norway, an ambitious new standard for green building is catching on
In Drøbak, Norway, there’s a little school that’s one of the most unique — and possibly the greenest — in the world. On top, solar panels face the sun at a 33-degree angle, and beneath, energy wells tap geothermal Read More...
The rural Brazilian school that enraptured the architecture world
The young architects behind a school in rural Brazil didn't expect international recognition for their work. Their goal was simply to serve disadvantaged students in the remote community of Formoso do Araguaia, a municipality around 500 kilometers (311 miles) northwest of the country's capital, Read More...