29 July 2014

First Taste ~ Ivory Coasters Try Chocolate, Finally

MissC spots Ivory Coast cocoa farmers tasting chocolate...
"It’s touching that the first thing the farmer does is to gather his friends and show them what chocolate tastes like. However, the kids will only get to see the wrapper. The video is a clip from the Dutch show Metropolis."
See the whole Dutch Metropolis episode!

R.I.P. Sheik Umar Khan ~ Sierra Leone Ebola Doc

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2709509/Nigeria-admits-precise-number-people-Ebola-victim-infected-not-known-59-people-placed-close-surveillance.html
Exceedingly sad to hear that Sierra Leonean Dr Sheik Umar Khan, one of the leading fighters against epidemic Ebola, has also succumbed to that deadly virus after treating over 100 afflicted countrymen. This just underscores that this currently West African-centered situation is in fact a global public health emergency. More must be done ASAP.

25 July 2014

Carrington-class CME ~ Near-Miss Solar Storm...

A Carrington-class CME -- Coronal Mass Ejection or plasma burst -- narrowly missed Earth two years ago reports the Guardian's Maev Kennedy...
"The date of 23 July 2012 could have been the day the lights went out, along with suddenly not-so-smart phones, computers, satellite transmissions, GPS navigation systems, televisions, radio broadcasts, hospital equipment, electric pumps and water supplies. On that day an "extreme solar storm" did its best to end life on Earth as we know it. The sun forced out one of the biggest plasma clouds ever detected at a speed of 3,000km per second, more than four times faster than a typical solar eruption. Fortunately it missed. "If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces," said Daniel Baker, of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado."
Here's NASA's ScienceCast

Rooftop Bars ~ Tasty Views with Brews...

It's time for another dose of Rooftop Bars courtesy CNN Staff... http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/travel/best-rooftop-bars/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/travel/best-rooftop-bars/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/travel/best-rooftop-bars/index.html

23 July 2014

Howtoons ~ Tools of Mass Construction 2014!

The ultimate Tools of Mass Construction are shipping!
"The Howtoons book is out in comic books stores! This 360 page book celebrates our 10th anniversary with over 70 projects!"

Mozambique LNG ~ Anadarko's African Dev'ts...

South-East Africa is a new hotbed for natural gas exploitation, perhaps best exemplified by Mozambique LNG project...
"Anadarko and its joint-venture partners are advancing one of the world's most important LNG developments in the deepwaters off the coast of northern Mozambique."

22 July 2014

Chandra Images ~ Four Supernovas Shared!

txchnologist spots NASA's Chandra anniversary images...
"To celebrate Chandra’s 15th anniversary, four new images of supernova remnants -- the Crab Nebula, Tycho, G292.0+1.8, and 3C58 -- were released by the space agency. These supernova remnants are very hot and energetic and glow brightly in X-ray light."
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/14-196_0.jpg

Tree of 40 Fruit ~ Van Aken's Art+Graft+Growth!

Thanks to io9's Ria Misra for spotting the Tree of 40 Fruit...
"An ongoing series of hybridized fruit trees by contemporary artist Sam Van Aken. Each unique Tree of 40 Fruit grows over forty different types of stone fruit including peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries, and almonds. Sculpted through the process of grafting, the Tree of 40 Fruit blossom in variegated tones of pink, crimson and white in spring, and in summer bear a multitude of fruit."
http://www.treeof40fruit.com/Becky Crew at ScienceAlert spots TEDx talk too!

Crystal Lagoons ~ San Alfonso del Mar & more

The DM spotlights Crystal Lagoons whose...
"Unique concept can provide an unlimited size lagoon, surrounded by picturesque sandy white beaches, anywhere in the world. Their first project, the San Alfonso del Mar tourist complex in Chile, obtained the Guinness World Record for the largest swimming pool in the world, at a size of eight hectares. Crystal Lagoons expects a second Guinness World Record with the 12.5 hectares mega lagoon of the Citystars Sharm El Sheikh tourist complex in the middle of the Egyptian desert. Following that should be a third Guinness Record with the Mohammed Bin Rashid City project in Dubai, expected to be completed by 2020, that includes the world's largest crystalline lagoon with 40 hectares."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2701229/The-idyllic-MAN-MADE-Crystal-Lagoons-beaches-rival-Mother-Nature.html

Porsche Tower ~ Miami Lux Condo w/ Auto'vator

BBC's Ken Wysocky shares that Porsche designs a high-rise...
"The Porsche Design Tower under construction near Miami, Florida, features a virtuosic parking system that whisks vehicles up to sky garages adjacent to handsome floor plans. [...] Dubbed P'0001, is a joint venture between Gil Dezer, owner and president of Dezer Development -- a luxury-condominium firm that counts mega-developer Donald Trump on its client roster -- and Germany-based Porsche Design Group, the consultancy founded by sports-car scion Ferry Porsche in 1972. It represents a novel marriage of automotive branding and real-estate development."

19 July 2014

A Plane's Journey ~ Lufthansa Technik Aero MRO!

German airplane MRO firm Lufthansa Technik shows how to maintain, repair, and overhaul aircraft!

A Train's Journey ~ NedTrain's Future of MRO!

Dutch rail MRO firm NedTrain shares A Train's Journey showing the emerging future of how locomotives, cars, and equipment are maintained, repaired, and overhauled. Very cool to see the use of tablet PCs, workflow software, and live videochats from the worksites. Plus check out this timelapse train upgrade & modernization video!

18 July 2014

Moonwalk One ~ NASA's Epic Apollo 11 Docu!

io9's Mika McKinnon points out that NASA shares Moonwalk One...
"This documentary gives an in-depth look at the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. NASA archival footage, as well as reactions to the mission around the world, shows the enormous impact that the moon landing had."

17 July 2014

Phoenix Towers ~ Wuhan China's 1-Klick Ultratalls

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031871/fast-feed/inside-chinas-plans-for-the-worlds-tallest-and-pinkest-towers#5 NextBigFuture spotlights the Phoenix Towers...
"Designed by London-based Chetwoods Architects in partnership with HuaYan Group. The project will consist of two buildings, representing the male and female dualistic aspects of Chinese culture. The taller tower, Feng will have about 100 floors for residential living, offices and retail space. The slightly smaller Huang tower will contain "the World's tallest garden". The towers will be constructed on an island in a lake, covering a 7-hectare (17-acre) site. The buildings will be constructed on a steel superstructure with concrete cores and buttresses. The exterior will be covered in photovoltaic panels. The towers will incorporate green energy technologies including wind, solar, thermal, biomass boilers and hydrogen fuel cells [and] the world’s tallest garden."
FastCoDesign has in-depth piece looking Inside China's Plans For The World's Tallest (And Pinkest) Towers...
"In China there’s a lot of competition between cities trying to out-‘spectactularize’ the next city,” [...] Chetwood and his team embraced the mandate to design something grand while layering in symbols that speak to China’s cultural heritage and future aspirations. "They were looking to put Wuhan on the map," he says, and the original design for the mixed-use commercial and tourist hub "wasn't spectacular enough."
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031871/fast-feed/inside-chinas-plans-for-the-worlds-tallest-and-pinkest-towers#5 http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031871/fast-feed/inside-chinas-plans-for-the-worlds-tallest-and-pinkest-towers#5

16 July 2014

NYC Taxi ~ A Day In The Life of a Hackney

Kottke spots A day in the life of NYC taxis...
"This clever and well-done visualization shows where individual NYC taxis picked up and dropped off their fares over the course of a day."
http://nyctaxi.herokuapp.com/

JIBO ~ Breazeal's Family Robotics Startup...

MIT Media Lab colleague Cynthia Breazeal launches JIBO on Indiegogo...
"The World's First Family Robot [...] JIBO is the perfect robot for everyone in the family. Because JIBO is an open platform, his skills and applications will grow, helping and delighting in ways even we haven’t even imagined. [...] We have an amazing team to make Jibo a reality! While not everything in the video will necessarily be there at launch, the JIBO skills described above are part of the core skill set. The core skill set will be released in 2015. And, because of the rich platform and ecosystem we're building, everything in the video beyond the core skills will be possible -- and more! With our developer community, we will continue to improve the product and add new and exciting features over time."
See also Scott Kirsner's InnoEco piece Robot startup Jibo unveils a multi-purpose ‘social bot’ for the home.

LNG Carrier ~ Tanker Engineering Connections!

15 July 2014

Dubai Mall City ~ Climate-Control'd Urban Bubble

http://www.dubaiholding.com/media-centre/press-releases/2014/407-mohammed-bin-rashid-launches-mall-of-the-world-a-temperature-controlled-pedestrian-city-in-dubaiWebUrbanist spots Dubai to Build New 50 Million Sq Ft Climate-Controlled City...
"This latest endeavor aims to put an entire urban center in a temperature-controlled bubble of indoor spaces, centered around a vast Mall of the World. Everything one can imagine will be found inside the complex, including 100 apartment and hotel buildings, various medical services, a huge shopping mall and the world’s largest indoor amusement park."
http://weburbanist.com/2014/07/12/dubai-to-build-new-50-million-sq-ft-climate-controlled-city/http://weburbanist.com/2014/07/12/dubai-to-build-new-50-million-sq-ft-climate-controlled-city/

12 July 2014

10 July 2014

Art of Stevedore ~ Hallajian's Logistics Timelapse!

TheKidShouldSeeThis spots Alex Hallajian's lovely timelapse The Art of Stevedore...
"24/7 operations at the Port of Long Beach, the second-busiest container port in the United States. The concept seems simple: pack consumer goods into containers, float them across the ocean, load them onto trucks and trains, and deliver across the country. The process hasn't changed in hundreds of years except today we do it with stunning efficiency while maintaining safety and environmental cleanliness."

09 July 2014

Shooting Lagos ~ Wecyclers on My Africa Is!

Africa Is A Country spotlights Shooting Lagos by Nosarieme Garrick who's creating My Africa Is documentary! First in the sequence of Lagos Chronicles is our own Bilikiss Abiola co-founder of our MIT Development Ventures class alumco Wecyclers Check out the other two in the Lagos sequence as well... Producer/Director Garrick writes...
"The next season of My Africa Is will be available in September of 2014, and will feature three amazing stories from Dakar, Senegal."

05 July 2014

Hayaku ~ Timelapse Japanese Journey...

Cruise Train ~ Japan's Ultra-Lux Railset...

The DailyMail spots Cruise Train...
"Observation cars with glass walls, deluxe suites and a sleek design -- this is the future of train travel in Japan. Cruise Train is expected to launch in the spring of 2017, but renderings have been released, unveiling a revolutionary blueprint with a £30m price tag. Produced by Ferrari designer Ken Okuyama in collaboration with JR East railways, the projections are based on the seven-star super-luxury Nanatsuboshi in Japan."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2681496/All-aboard-Ferrari-designer-unveils-plans-new-30m-ultra-luxury-Cruise-Train-Japan.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2681496/All-aboard-Ferrari-designer-unveils-plans-new-30m-ultra-luxury-Cruise-Train-Japan.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2681496/All-aboard-Ferrari-designer-unveils-plans-new-30m-ultra-luxury-Cruise-Train-Japan.html

04 July 2014

Fireworks ~ Icons of Celebrations Worldwide!

Here in Boston it's a very wet Fourth of July so most people are inside dreaming of fireworks. Here's a bit of the history of this great icon of celebrations... The science of fireworks... The Secret World of Fireworks by NatGeo... How they're made... MissC spots a quapter view from inside the 'works! And finally, thanks to Paul @ GeekPress for spotting the Big One...

02 July 2014

Urban Giants ~ Manhattan's Telecom Palaces!

Kuriositas spots Telx documentary Urban Giants...
"Two of the most advanced telecommunications buildings in the world, at 60 Hudson Street and 32 Avenue of the Americas in Lower Manhattan. Nearly a century later, they remain among the world's finest Art Deco towers -- and cornerstones of global communication. This is their history."

Charting Jobs ~ Flowing Data plots US Statistics...

io9's Ria Misra spots Every Job In America And What It Pays, Charted by Nathan Yau at Flowing Data...
"Who used the new stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to create it. Things really get interesting, though, when you start looking at the data not just nationally, but by state."
http://io9.com/every-job-in-america-and-what-it-pays-charted-1599073270

Jumbo-Gardeners ~ Elephants in the Rainforest

BBC's Power of Nature spotlights the role of elephants in gardening the rainforest, spreading seeds, boosting biodiversity, and more!