Jaime Lerner‘s TED talk regarding urban congestion. From the TED website:
For many city governments seeking visible improvements in their congested streets, the pace of change is measured in months and years. For Jaime Lerner, it’s measured in hours. As mayor of Curitiba, he transformed a gridlocked commercial .Read more...
Only ten years ago China consumed roughly half the energy consumed by the United States. Fast forward to 2010 and China has now surpassed the United States in energy consumption according to some studies. For more than 100 years the United States led the world in energy consumption. The Wall .Read more...
Tropical Storm Alex is the first named cyclone of 2010.
From CNN International:
Tropical Storm Alex could strengthen into a hurricane Monday but is heading away from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm could become a major hurricane and .Read more...
With the movement towards alternative energy in full swing, a couple of MIT graduates, Zack Anderson and Shakeel Avadhany, are harnessing the power of potholes. Their company, Levant Power, is turning the bruising up-and-downs of the suspension system into available automotive energy.
From the Levant Power company website:
Levant Power Corp. has .Read more...
NASA released the first images from the new Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Photo Credit
The Hubble telescope, launched in 1990, is in the news again with a new film and the prospect of being moth-balled by NASA.
The New York Times reviewed the new IMAX film about the Hubble telescope:
“Hubble 3D,” a 40-minute film about the Hubble repair, directed by Toni Myers and .Read more...
Some exciting developments in the field of three-dimensional renderings from the New York Times:
Computer science researchers at the University of Washington and Cornell University are deploying a system that will blend teamwork and collaboration with powerful graphics algorithms to create three-dimensional renderings of buildings, neighborhoods and potentially even entire cities.
The .Read more...
Henry Fountain from the New York Times looks at Haiti’s infrastructure past to explain the devastation:
Engineers and architects who have worked in or visited Haiti say that substandard design, inadequate materials and shoddy construction practices likely contributed to the collapse of many buildings in the earthquake that struck Tuesday.
Cameron Sinclair, .Read more...
Skyscrapers are in the news again. The recent opening of the Burj Khalifa turned the spotlight back on the engineering arms race. Popular Mechanics takes a look at the biggest skyscrapers on the drawing board and the current champ, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa:
The Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest tower in the .Read more...
Railroad safety issues are in the news. The above accident in Los Angeles left 25 dead and spurred new interest in railroad-related legislation. The Wall Street Journal reports on the debate in Washington:
Passenger- and freight-railroad operators are pressing the White House to scale back proposed rules that would mandate billions .Read more...
The one year anniversary of Flight 1549 reminds us of the remarkable landing with both a Sully book tour and a survivor reunion at the crash site. Not much has been written about the actually NTSB accident investigation–it seems damage from the birds was confirmed in both engines:
Federal safety officials .Read more...
