Miscellaneous
Drops in coal demand from US, China hint that we have hit peak coal
Earlier this month the White House announced a plan to scale back CO2 emissions from coal–fueled plants. The initiative aims to reduce pollutants that result from coal burning by 30% over the next 15 years. While China still consumes 50% of the world’s coal, 10 years ago the demand for coal in Read More...
Adding tech to agriculture saves water, doesn't impact crop yield
The average American uses 80 gallons of water per day for bathing, laundry, drinking, etc. That number blows up to 2000 gallons per day if you factor in the water used to produce the clothes you wear, or the water used to refrigerate your food, or the biggest culprit– agriculture. Agriculture Read More...
Ai Weiwei’s “Forever” bicycle installation gives cycling a new perspective
The “Forever” bicycles installation is currently on display at the 14th Biennale of Architecture, an exhibition of contemporary art that happens every other year in Venice, Italy. Weiwei’s piece is made of 1,179 bicycles affixed together rendering them immobile, but they are arranged in such Read More...
Cardboard desks improve posture, learning for Indian school children
In many schools in India children have no desks, so they have to sit and write on the floor during class, causing back pain, poor handwriting, and an environment not conducive to learning. Aarambh, an NGO based out of New Bombay, takes cardboard donated from businesses around New Bombay and creates Read More...
9.6 billion mouths to feed Oh boy, will there be enough food for a growing world population?
Failed crops due to extreme drought. High food prices. More hungry people in the world … Reason enough to ask ourselves if it will all work out. We’ll start with the good news: so far food production has increased faster than the population. Agriculture per capita has increased by about thirty Read More...
Habits common in exceptionally likable people that are worth picking up on
Outlined by Napolean Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, in his upcoming essay Develop a Pleasing Personality are some traits everyone should pick up. A few of the traits don’t take much thought as to why you should adopt them– like smile more, or be patient. But others– like do at least one Read More...
9.6 billion mouths to feed
Failed crops due to extreme drought. High food prices. More hungry people in the world … Reason enough to ask ourselves if it will all work out. We’ll start with the good news: so far food production has increased faster than the population. Agriculture per capita has increased by about thirty Read More...
Biomimetic robots designed after cockroaches teach engineers about stability, maneuverability
Cockroaches have an unparalleled capability to climb over uneven terrain, stabilize their bodies on a shaky surface, and squeeze through tiny gaps only 2 pennies thick. While being close to cockroaches from the animal kingdom might not be your cup of tea, one-day cockroach-inspired robots could Read More...
Mosquito repellant newspaper
Malaria still runs rampant throughout much of South and Southeast Asia, and Dengue Fever infected so many people in Sri Lanka in the last 6 months an epidemic has been declared. Recently India’s most popular newspaper has been experimenting with a way to repel mosquitos, which saves lives, while Read More...
Interactive air pollution map
Last March the World Health Organization announced that there were 7 million premature deaths in 2012 that were a result of unclean air, which equals out to about one out of every eight deaths globally resulting from poor air quality. The 2014 Environmental Protection Index showed that the number Read More...