Dive into the archives.
- Reviving OTEC
[Most extreme temperature differences between surface and deep oceanic waters.]
Shelved in the early 1970s after realizing the project was technologically possible but economically untenable, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, or OTEC, is witnessing a revival. While many gave up on this, such as NREL, now even energy novices like Lockheed Martin are getting back in on [...]
- Vortex Induced Vibrations
A Vortex-Induced Vibration. The flow is moving from right to left via. creative commons
A team of researchers lead by Professor Michael Bernitsas at the University of Michigan has invented a device with the potential to serve a vast amount of the world’s populace with clean energy. VIVACE (Vortex-Induced Vibrations for Aquatic Clean Energy) [...]
- Methane Capture: Agri-Alchemy
[Estimated aggregated distribution of pigs, poultry, cattle, and small ruminants. Source: FAO, 2006g.]
In a recent summary report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Livestock’s Long Shadow), trillions of farm animals across the globe were found to generate a whopping 18% of CO2 emissions. That is more than cars, buses, and airplanes. [...]
- Commingled Economies
No Market for Rubbish: Jodi Hilton for The New York Times
By now we all know that the slowing global economy is affecting numerous markets and industries. Automotive, real estate, export markets, and financial services are all in heaps of trouble. Among the biggest losers, somewhat surprisingly, are exporters focused on providing China [...]
- Science Machine
[Chad Pugh\'s Science Machine.]
Science Machine from Chad Pugh.
What can be said about Pugh’s video beyond itself. A universe where hair follicles and islands are similar issues at different scales… A geography at once everywhere and nowhere … A cyclical environment of managed natures… A network of habitats distinct and yet intertwined.
- Harnessing the Energy from the Earth’s Rotation
[The Rotation of the Earth via Creative Commons.]
New advances in tidal power hint at the massive amount of rotational energy located within the earth. As early as the 1970s, the Soviet Union was exploring methods to harness this rotational energy directly. The prominence of the current energy crisis has sparked new research by physicists to [...]
- Student Works: Arisaig’s Sea Vegetable Complex
[Seaweed as a natural resource, process and product and the physical manifestations of each. (All images by James Tait)]
We read with great interest of the project by James Tait at the University of Strathclyde and his award-winning proposal for a seaweed farm in the northwest coastal villages of Scotland. His project is titled “Time and [...]
- Mountain Design
[Ecosign: vision for Trysil, Norway.]
Chasing down one of the designers of the Peak 2 Peak gondola linkage for Whistler, we stumbled upon Ecosign. They have certainly carved a niche in ski resort planning, or what they call “mountain design.” Obviously a misnomer, mountain design sounds inverse to what actually takes place in their design process. [...]
- Peak to Peak, or Parabolic Trajectories
[Trail map of Blackcomb (left) and Whistler (right).]
It is becoming commonplace to hear the superlatives coming out of the Middle East and China in terms of infrastructure, but not this time. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the two peaks at opposing ends to Fitzsimmions Valley, Whistler and Blackcomb will be linked. In the [...]
- Trash Vortex: sea-based landfilling?
08-12-03: Trash Vortex
The world’s largest garbage dump is located thousands of miles from land. Also known as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Pacific Trash Vortex is an area of marine debris floating in the Pacific Ocean. This collection of trash is characterized as a plastic-soup due the high concentrations of suspended disposable plastics that [...]
