The power of mushrooms! How fungi can replace styrofoam, at Beakerhead #YYC | Tech News, Travel, Life Beakerhead is Calgary’s celebration of science, art and engineering. For five days, there are myriad events all over Calgary, from massive art installations, the Ted-style Talks, plus food/chemistry events and even engineering feats. One of those is In/flux, an art installation that uses mushroom bricks as faux-construction material. In/flux is created by two Calgary engineers, who designed and built a castle-style structure with moveable walls from mushroom bricks. What are “mushroom bricks”? While the Beakerhead installation looks like a structure, the bricks aren’t structural at all. While the bricks will biodegrade when exposed to water or the elements, kept dry they’re stable indefinitely. The In/Flux structure at the corner of Memorial Drive and 10 St NW is a beautiful example of art, science and engineering, and it’s meant to show off an alternative to styrofoam packaging. Like this: Like Loading... Related Learning the history of Calgary's Barron Building through Beakerhead In "Tech"
How to Turn Your Phone Into a DIY Photo Projector for $1 Slide projectors are great but outdated. And digital projectors cost a bundle. What’s a photographer to do when they’re looking for a bigger picture? We’ll show you how to turn your phone into a photo projector for just $1. Yep, for a buck you can have Instagram on overdrive and Flickr living large. The project is so easy, you might even have time to sneak in a cat video or two. Make a DIY Projector for $1 Why it’s Cool: A phone based projector is a great way to show off your mobile photos and your phone hack savvy. Just picture laying in bed browsing your feed or watching a movie on a ginormous screen. A projector provides a new way of looking at your shots, and for $1, who can afford not to try this project? The Ingredients: ShoeboxPaperclipSmartphoneMagnifying glass (get it for $1 at Dollar Tree), or a large aperture lensX-acto knife or similarElectrical or black duct tape Optional: Matte black spray paint or black paper Step 1: Trace a Hole on the Box Step 2: Cut a Hole in That Box
Shiro | Publieksprijs 2015 | OVAM ecodesign.link Een materiaal dat het groeiproces van paddenstoelen gebruikt om nieuwe objecten te produceren. Het lijkt een absurd idee, maar in principe is het heel eenvoudig: door plantaardig afval in een mal samen te brengen met mycelium, de stof waaruit de schimmel van paddenstoelen ontstaat, komt er een natuurlijk proces op gang. Het mycelium creëert een netwerk van haarfijne draden en zal als lijm alle fracties verbinden. Een diepgaand onderzoek legde de eigenschappen van dit innovatieve materiaal bloot. Met duurzaamheid en efficiëntie als twee sleutelwoorden in dit creatieve proces is dit krukje ontworpen voor flat packaging. Shiro combineert een sterk staaltje microbiologie met een een stevig houten onderstel.
25-Year-Old Delhi Boy Is Creating Solar Entrepreneurs in Rural India Meet a young renewable energy-enthusiast from Delhi who is keen on equipping solar entrepreneurs with all the right tools required to run a business. Lakshey Sehgal, a 25-year-old resident of Delhi, always wanted to work in the field of solar energy generation. After finishing his Master’s in renewable energy technology from Pondicherry University, he worked in different companies in the same field for about three years. But his experiences during this time gave him a whole new idea. “I saw a lack of trained manpower when I joined this sector for the first time. You may also like: These Engineers and Students Electrified Two Karnataka Villages in Less Than Two Months “I felt that if we want to work in this field, then the entrepreneurs should know what they are doing. “Being a solar entrepreneur can mean a lot of things,” says Lakshey adding, “It is a vast field. Two-day training sessions are conducted on rooftops with original systems. Like this story? Like us to get inspiring news daily
À la découverte du chaga, un champignon aux vertus médicinales Vendredi 15 janvier 2016 11h52 Photo : CBC Connaissez-vous le chaga? Si vous marchez en forêt et que vous levez les yeux, vous tomberez peut-être sur ce champignon aux vertus thérapeutiques, qui pousse sur certains arbres, dont le bouleau. Un texte de Laurence Gallant De son nom français polypore oblique, on surnomme le chaga « roi des plantes », « diamant de la forêt », « don de dieu » ou « champignon de l'immortalité », selon l'endroit où l'on se trouve dans le monde. La popularité de ce champignon forestier est grandissante, notamment dans les magasins de produits naturels et même dans certains cafés, qui servent le chaga sous forme d'infusion. Le chaga est reconnu pour ses vertus anticancérogènes et stimulantes pour le système immunitaire, explique André Vézina, ingénieur forestier enseignant à l'Institut de technologie agroalimentaire à La Pocatière. Facile à identifier Le chaga forme sur les arbres une masse à l'extérieur noirâtre, assez facile à reconnaître, explique André Vézina.
How recycled roofs are transforming homes in slums Media playback is unsupported on your device "You go into slums and villages and it is a problem-rich environment." Hasit Ganatra saw people in the slums of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, and realised that their lives were blighted by the quality of their homes. Around 65 million people across India live in slums, according to data from the 2011 census, which defines a slum as "a residential area where houses are unfit for human habitation". "You look at the roof, it has all these holes and you ask them: what's going on? And they say we have no other option," says Mr Ganatra. The houses are commonly made of tin or concrete, so residents can find them too hot in summer, freezing in winter, and open to the rain during monsoon season. An engineering graduate who had returned to his home town, Mr Ganatra decided that there must be a better way to construct roofs. Bad conditions "Worldwide experts told us to give up; they said we'd never do it," he says. Image copyright Hasit Ganatra Global crisis
How To Set Up A Low Tech Mushroom Farm - GroCycle Quick Summary Here's a quick run down of what we'll cover in this article, so you can decide if it's for you or not: Why Mushrooms are a great crop to growWhy they're perfect for small-scale local food productionHow many mushrooms can be grown in a small unused spaceWhy low-tech mushroom farming is the easiest methodSome ideas for generating income from mushrooms Ok, if that sounds like something you want to learn more about, let's get stuck in! Read time: approx. 12 mins .....Short of time? You can also download this article as a free ebook Small Scale Food Growing Imagine being able to grow lots of high-value local food, in an easy and reliable way. You don't need access to land, and chances are that no one else in your area is already doing it. You could make a part time income from it, or run it as a community food project. Sounds impossible? Then chances are you already know a bit about growing food on a small scale. Example of small scale mushroom growing Grow Fast, Grow Anywhere Incubation