Archives for August 2013
What is your favorite yoga posture and why? … [Read more...]
In honor of this year's IBA Hamburg architecture festival, German architectural firm Architekturagentur has created Woodcube: a 5-story carbon-neutral apartment block constructed almost entirely from wood. The vast majority of the building is wood, excepting necessary fixtures, along with the foundations and elevator shaft. However, no glue nor treatment of any kind was used on the wood during the construction of Woodcube, and the architects … [Read more...]
What a peaceful looking place to have a massage. What would your ideal massage room look like? … [Read more...]
Might black wind turbines prevent bird collisions?
Four turbines at the Smøla wind farm in Norway are to have one rotor blade painted black to see whether increasing the visual contrast of the turbine against its background might help to reduce bird strikes. Energy company Statkraft, which operates the farm, says that several white-tailed eagles (also called sea eagles) are found dead on the ground having flown into turbines at the inland wind farm. As well as testing black rotor blades, the … [Read more...]
Is solar getting dirtier?
In 2009, Mat McDermott wrote about the need for greater oversight in the manufacturing of solar panels, which pose many of the same problems as other types of electronics. A report from Silicon Valley Toxics called for manufactures to take more responsibility for their entire production chain and end-of-life recycling. The 2013 report from Silicon Valley Toxics found that the industry has yet to turn around its manufacturing practices. The … [Read more...]
Carbon Neutral Hi’ilani Ecohouse gives something back to nature
US architectural firm Studio RMA recently completed the Hi’ilani EcoHouse: a two-family, low-energy property located on an attractive plot on Hawaii's Big Island. The building draws much of its required energy from renewable sources, and Studio RMA strove to offset the CO2 produced during construction by planting extensive forestry. Hi’ilani EcoHouse was constructed using non-toxic termite-proof Structural Concrete Insulated Panels (SCIPs), … [Read more...]
Breaking the seed bank to feed the future
Nature has provided humans with over 300,000 species we can eat. Today, we get the majority of our calories from just a dozen plants. This monoculture approach to agriculture suffers from issues like the threat of a major collapse of food systems in case of the rise of a disease targeting one of these few species. But that is a theoretical threat. The unavoidable question is whether these few plants can feed the expanding population on the … [Read more...]
Words From the Poet Laureate: A Letter From Orpheus
Today we have a deeply touching short story, "A Letter From Orpheus," from David Tucker, the Poet Laureate of the Quantum Revolution. A Vermont-based poet, David is an insightful commentator on our internal and external cultural, spiritual and political milieu.