A couple of Harvard students have enlisted the world’s most popular sport as a generator of portable power. SOCCKET ball, the brainchild of Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman, is a toy that can produce renewable energy anywhere. The inventors stopped in at the US Embassy in Jordan to conduct educational programs for children and workshops for young entrepreneurs.
Jordan’s US Embassy Sees Power in SOCCKET Balls
Are Squishy Little “Moss Piglet” Tardigrades Extraterrestrials?
Earth’s most indestructible being might be this wee barrel-bodied cutie with eight stumpy legs. Tardigrades are small, segmented animals with a penchant for water dwelling: lichens and mosses are their favored habitat. They’re found everywhere, from the deepest seas to the towering Himalayas, at the equator and polar caps. Their physical prowess lead some to suspect they come from outer space.
“Dubai’s Skyscrapers are Cheap” and “Anonymous” says Architect Franky Gehry
Frank Gehry, considered one of the world’s most important architects, said in a recent Foreign Policy interview that its “cheap” skyscrapers makes Dubai look like any other “cruddy city in the world.” We’ve been dissing these skyscrapers for a while, based on their shoddy eco credentials, but it’s so satisfying to hear from one of the world’s most renowned architects that so many of them are just junk.
$10 Recycled Cardboard Bike Indiegogo Campaign Raises Nearly $20,000 in Two Days
When news of a $10 bicycle made of recycled cardboard first reached our desk, we didn’t think it would ever see the light of day, but in two days, Cardboard Technologies has already raised a whopping $16,070 on its Indiegogo campaign to mass produce what Popular Science Magazine called one of the best inventions of 2013.
Saudi Arabia HungerStation: Fast-food Convenience or Obesity Enabler?
HungerStation.com in Saudi Arabia is a new online platform where customers can order food from a lengthening list of restaurants for delivery right to their doorstep. Wildly successful, the service has experienced a 500% increase in daily traffic since their launch last November, and is signing on new food chains at an impressive clip.
High Flyers’ Legroom Generates More Emissions
No news that first-class passengers have deeper pockets than economy flyers. Now the World Bank confirms their carbon footprint is about sevenfold that of the average airborne Joe.
Istanbul: 500 Youth Activists Gather for Global Power Shift Summit
With the dust of social anger still unsettled in Taksim Square and on the same day that U.S. President Obama unveiled his groundbreaking climate action plan, 500 young climate activists from around the globe have gathered in Istanbul to mobilize strategies for a cleaner energy future. Is the pendulum finally swinging green?
Byblos, the ‘Best Arab Tourist City’ in Lebanon Offers Lessons in Greening too
Byblos, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city in Lebanon has been named the Arab world’s best tourist city by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and it offers a host of lessons in greening too.
Ship With Black Bitumen Sinks off Oman’s Pristine Coast
A ship carrying thick black bitumen, the same stuff found in Canada’s tar sands, sank off the coast of Oman on Sunday and its contents are now floating on the Gulf of Oman – about 40km east of the capital Muscat.
Beirut Terraces Make Sustainable Vertical Villages for Lebanon City
As part of a larger master plan to rejuvenate the downtown Beirut area, Swiss Architects Herzog & De Meuron have designed “The Terraces,” a green waterfront apartment tower in Beirut lush with vegetation and hanging gardens.
Burj Khalifa on Google Street View
Google’s street view has taken us from the streets of Tel Aviv to the Grand Canyon and even under the sea, and now this incredible tool has reached new heights – 2,716 feet to be exact.Using their swanky new Street View Trekker backpacks, a team from Google has mapped out views from the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa.
The intrepid Google team that set out to capture images from the soaring skyscraper in Dubai needed three days to get the job done.
Not only did they capture photographs from the 80th floor window cleaning gantry, they also ascended to the vertigo-inducing heights of the 124th floor, where they encountered 40mph winds.
Trekker backpacks and trolleys were key to the successful execution of this daring project.
These are new android-powered cameras, 15 five megapixel cameras in one resilient backpack, that Google designed in order to reach places that even a bicycle or snow machine can’t reach.
The 40 pound packs have two batteries that last all day, according to Google.
“The Burj Khalifa is special because it’s the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world” said Pascal Malite, Google’s Street View Program Manager.
“We are here to bring to the user the possibility to see this huge, immense, wonderful building,” she added.
This is the first time that Google’s Street View team has worked on a project like this in an Arab country, and now it is possible for just about anyone to experience the Burj without a costly, carbon-intensive flight across the globe.
:: Engadget
Science Replaces Moon-spotting as Ramadan Predictor
Islamic nations defer to astronomers in Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Turkey (depending on political affiliation) to determine when the new crescent moon harkens the Holy Month of Ramadan. Dependence on real-time moon-spotting means heightened anxiety. Rumors reel about Ramadan’s start, leaving the requisite housecleaning and food prep open-ended.
Solar-Powered Water Drop Building Produces Drinking Water from Dubai Air
Orlando De Urrutia has designed what he says is the world’s first building to get its water from the air. Called the Water Building Resort and powered by a facade of building integrated photovoltaics, the mixed-use structure designed for Dubai is shaped to resemble a water drop.
A Better Place Car Owner on Tesla’s Battery Swap Tech
Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the “latest” in electric car technology – battery pack swapping for the company’s Model S – to a gushing crowd and an even more fawning press. “Really, it’s one of those things you need to see,” wrote Chris Velazco in TechCrunch before linking to a video of Thursday’s event complete with flashing lights and space age music.
Grow Your Own Living Clothes with BioCouture During Beirut Design Week
If you are a designer eager to find more sustainable material choices for your creative inventions, you might want to hit the BioCouture workshop during Beirut Design Week.