Tag: Construction

A robot can clean oceans by dropping harmful seaweed below the surface. Yet in Brasil, a research team has found a new use for sargassum, a rapidly-spread brown algae that stinks out beaches. The team mixed the seaweed with clay, using 20% sargassum in one batch and 40% in the other. These samples were compressed at temperatures of 800-1.000°C...

Folded cardboard paper protects objects during transit. Meanwhile, in Singapore a research team has taken its inspiration from the folds in elephants’ skin, features which prevent the endangered mammals from overheating. The idea? To use a similarly uneven surface to create sustainable, ‘cooling’ tiles. The team mixed mycelium with bamboo shavings, oats and water and shaped the mix into...

A Toronto-based team is looking at environmentally-friendly ways to provide clean water. In the same city, a research team is searching for high-strength lightweight materials that could replace common metals. With the help of an algorithm developed in South Korea the team successfully optimised a carbon material on the nanoscale. The system arranged the carbon building blocks in new...

An add-on makes wind turbines safer for passing birds. Decommissioned wind turbines offer shelter too. A design studio has converted a former machine cabin into a tiny house. The nacelle, which once stood at 100 metres and housed the power generator, is 10 metres long and 4 metres wide, offering 35㎡ of living space. Its glass-fibre reinforced interior was...

Coffee grounds are a key ingredient in sustainable concrete, while tiles made from eggshells are perfect for naturally-made interior fittings. Corn cobs, too, can help reduce CO2 emissions in the building trade. A Dutch startup shreds dried corn waste and presses the scraps mixed with binding agent into panels at temperatures of up to 150 degrees. These panels are...

Used chopsticks are being converted into furniture, while food waste can be redeployed as construction material. And don’t forget about sugarcane. A London-based research team mixed the crop’s fibrous waste with a liquid blend of minerals, then pressed the material into pyramid-like blocks. These can be cured in a week, 21 days fewer than standard concrete. Moreover, they are...

A toilet break on Mars could be a constructive use of astronauts’ time. And it isn’t just human urine that’s suitable as building material. Algae, already used to make blue lemonade, are showing their versatility here too. The founders of a US startup licensed a proprietary process from their former University in Colorado, harnessing microalgae to develop ersatz cement....

Edible cups are great for coffee fans and help reduce waste. But what about the 10 billion kg of coffee grounds that are discarded each year? Well, Australian engineers took a shot at concrete to create a powerful mix. By heating the grounds at 350℃ in an oxygen-free room, they first produced biochar. This was used to replace 15%...