MIT Creates New Energy Source This is some pretty exciting news. It seems that researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the most prestigious science and engineering schools in the United States, has created a new energy source -- and it's clean and renewable. The odd thing is that the only way you can see this energy source is with a very powerful microscope, because it is created by using nanotechnology. For a few years now, we have been hearing about the possibilities offered by the new field of nanotechnology. Now it looks like the first usable breakthrough has been accomplished. MIT has devised a process to generate electricity using nanotechnology. Bridges that GROW themselves out of tropical roots and vines crossing rivers By Daily Mail Reporter Updated: 15:35 GMT, 10 September 2011 Deep in the rainforests of the Indian state of Meghalaya, bridges are not built, they’re grown. Ancient vines and roots of trees stretch horizontally across rivers and streams, creating a solid latticework structure strong enough to be used as a bridge. Ancient solution: The 'double decker' living tree root bridge in the village of Nongriat in Meghalaya, India.
Lofty Ideals When I was a kid, I wanted a bunk bed SO BAD. The idea of having a secret lair, high above the floor (and at the perfect height for dropping things on my younger brother’s head) was intensely alluring. Our family friends even had three-story bunk beds in their Lake Tahoe cabin. I got the top bunk because I was the oldest. 321, GO!!! Slide 3 Stories Down 2 Sides of a 1-Family Home While it is far for the first time a family has indulged its children with such a whimsical addition, this may be one of the most well-integrated (and longest) at-home slides yet created. The long slide down (designed, ironically, by Level Architects)?completes a circuit that starts with a staircase running along two walls of the home – one could endlessly move in a circle, effectively, running up and sliding down (definitely a good way to tire the kids out before bedtime!). While this core circulation wrapping the edges of the interior is certainly a great first step, there are many other child-oriented design strategies to be found throughout the house. Other kid-friendly spaces include include ball-fillable playrooms, art spaces and copious shelves for kids books and coloring supplies.
Stuff no one told you: Simple truths of life At some point in 2010, Alex Noriega, illustrator from Barcelana, was going through a crisis due to some isues at work. He decided to start a blog as a way of trying to find what he was doing wrong. He wanted to put on paper all that he had learned in life as simple as possible and try to see if what was happening around him made any sense. Gadgets SOOOOooo…yes I know that is all grammatically incorrect and yes I am a TEACHER! AHHHhhhh! Anyways, usually most people don’t worry too much about grammar when we are communicating what we might say in person to someone else in writing on the internet, not a term paper. Have you read a published book with dialog in it?
Green Lake - An Austrian Lake That Is Used for Hiking A rare natural phenomenon turns one of Austria’s most beautiful hiking trails into a 10 meter-deep lake, for half the year. Located at the foot of the Hochschwab Mountains, in Tragoess, Styria, Green Lake is one of the most bizarre natural phenomena in the world. During the cold winter months, this place is almost completely dry, and used as a country park where hikers love to come and spend some time away from urban chaos. But as soon as temperatures rise, the snow and ice covering the mountaintops begin to melt, and the water pours down, filling the basin below with crystal-clear water. Water levels go from one-two meters at most, to over 10 meters, in the early summer.
The Tiny Life , Archive » Compact Loft Bed I found this loft bed with an office below it. This certainly isn’t anything new, but what I really did like about it is that it incorporates steps and a little walkway behind it. One think I really don’t like about lofted/bunk beds is that they can be a bit awkward to get into. It certainly was fun to climb a ladder when I was 10, but now I just can’t get that into it. I would think that this is a much better way. The designers have also done a great job with the integration of storage into the stairs and with the different models (a desk and a closet).
Space Saving Tiny Apartment, New York This tiny but highly sophisticated studio apartment in the East Village of NYC has made us very proud, thanks to JPDA. Not only was it built as a super efficient multi-functional unit but with the use of detailed mill work, the storage capacity was very cleverly executed and resulted in a super stylish studio with a decent amount of floor space. Shouldn’t all NYC dwellers aim to live like this? You decide… A schematic rendering demonstrates a realistic plan for this tiny apartment.
Before I Die What matters most to you Interactive public art project that invites people to share their personal aspirations in public. After losing someone she loved and falling into depression, Chang created this experiment on an abandoned house in her neighborhood to create an anonymous place to help restore perspective and share intimately with her neighbors. The project gained global attention and thanks to passionate people around the world, over 1000 Before I Die walls have now been created in over 70 countries, including Kazakhstan, Iraq, Haiti, China, Ukraine, Portugal, Japan, Denmark, Argentina, and South Africa. The walls are an honest mess of the longing, pain, joy, insecurity, gratitude, fear, and wonder you find in every community, and they reimagine public spaces that nurture honesty, vulnerability, trust and understanding.
10 Search Engines to Explore the Invisible Web Not everything on the web will show up in a list of search results on Google or Bing; there are lots of places that their web crawlers cannot access. To explore the invisible web, you need to use specialist search engines. Here are our top 12 services to perform a deep internet search. What Is the Invisible Web?
Mystical, Magical & Magnificent Monasteries in Meteora (20 Pics) The caves in Meteora, Greece, had inhabitants for fifty millennia, but due to raids, “hermit monks” moved to the safety of sandstone rock pinnacles in the 9th century and began building monasteries. More monks and nuns came, building more monasteries perched high upon the cliffs. Wikipedia reports, “Access to the monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people.