Tech does double duty this week, as we look at floating gardens that clean rivers, houses that produce oxygen and drones that create a Wi-Fi network.
1. A 400 Million-Year-Old Plant Reconstructed
UC Berkeley graduate student Jeff Benca used new computer graphic techniques to produce a realistic, full-colour digital image of an extinct plant called a lycopod that flourished 400 million years ago.
2. Urban Algae Shelter
Water and algae flow through channels built within the transparent walls of the Urban Algae Canopy. As the sun shines, the microalgae organisms photosynthesize, growing thicker and shading the interior. The growth of these organisms also produces oxygen equivalent to four hectares of woodland. Designed by ecoLogic Studio, this structure will be displayed in Italy at Expo Milano 2015.
3. Magic Carpet
Artist Miguel Chevalier created an interactive light installation at the Sacred Heart of Casablanca Church in Morocco using sound and lights to transform the floor into a magic carpet. As visitors move about the church's interior, cameras and sensors track the motion and use the information to change the patterns on the floor. The space becomes a life-size kaleidoscope.
4. Mobile Hotspots
Military drones that become out-dated won't be tossed into the recycling bin. DARPA has an idea to repurpose them as flying Wi-Fi hotspots. The project will provide military personnel with reliable bandwidth when they're out in the field in remote locations.
5. Floating Nuclear Plant
As the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011 showed us, nuclear power plants and tsunamis are not a good match. But researchers from MIT have an idea that could greatly reduce such a catastrophe in the future. Their idea is to construct sturdy floating platforms, similar to the ones that support offshore oil and gas rigs, and moor them five to seven miles offshore in deep water, where a tsunami wave would have no effect.
6. Umbrella Building
New York-based architecture firm REX has proposed a unique design for twin skyscrapers to be built under the hot, Middle-Eastern sun: Towers with enormous retractable sunshades that resemble parasols. When opened, the 12-sided umbrellas would overlap to form a 700-foot-tall sun-blocking curtain. The overall appearance of the opened umbrellas looks like a type of latticework called Mashrabiya, which is common in the region.
7. Project Ara
What do you get when you merge Lego-like function with Google smartphones? Answer: Project Ara. The new smartphone will allow users to add components, such as a new camera, a processor, more RAM or a different display size, brick-by-brick. Upgrading won't require buying an entirely new phone and users will be able to spend their money on the features they like best.
8. Anthrax Tester
This credit-card-sized device is actually an anthrax detector developed by Melissa Finley at Sandia National Laboratory. The cartridge was made to cheaply and effectively test for Bacillus anthracis, which can cause illness and even death in both humans and animals. To test for the bacteria, a person swabs a soil sample onto the designated chamber. The device contains chemicals that react and produce an indicator line, similar to a pregnancy test, if the bacteria is present.
9. Award-Winning BMW
BMW i3 electric car was crowned as both the Green Car Of The Year and the Car Design Of The Year at the New York Auto Show.
10. Floating Garden
Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut is known for his fantastical and eco-friendly designs. His latest work, the Physalia, is a whale-shaped floating garden built to purify rivers. The hull is made from titanium, which reacts with sunlight to kill bacteria, while additional water gets pumped through a garden that serves as a biological filter. Thin-film solar panels on top of the craft as well as hydro-turbines beneath generate renewable energy.
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