Onward and Upward!
The tech vertical of crowdfunding sites are like candy stores. They’re packed with new businesses that have a pressure to deliver and a willingness to experiment. Not that crowdfunding isn’t a big enough business on its own. It has also helped jump-start a small secondary industry around servicing crowdfunded projects. There are crowdfunding-specific PR companies, … Read more
Sustaining Life with micro-algae and flat panel reactors. This is where so-called life-sustaining circulatory systems come into play. Already, on the International Space Station (ISS), researchers have started reconstituting all kinds of things. But the ISS has it easy: it’s relatively close to Earth. Several times a year it receives fresh provisions of food and … Read more
Like many architecture students, Hank Butitta was frustrated. Frustrated that the projects he and his fellow classmates were painstakingly, time-consumingly crafting at architecture school resulted—almost always—in nothing. But Hank Butitta, unlike many architecture students, decided that, for his thesis, he would buy an old school bus and turn it into a flexible living space. The … Read more
A downsizing dream has been stalled for one Anderson County man who spent his entire life savings building a tiny home that the state says is not certified to move into a mobilehome park. Bob Pritts built the 208-square-foot home himself. It’s only 8-feet wide and 26-feet long, but is equipped with a bathroom, kitchen, … Read more
Humans have grown plants atop structures since antiquity. The ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia (4th millennium BC–600 BC) had plantings of trees and shrubs on aboveground terraces. An example in Roman times was the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, which had an elevated terrace where plants were grown. A roof garden has also been discovered … Read more
These hummingbird favorites are easy to plant and they will animate your garden in the most delightful way. Agastache: Quickly becoming a summer favorite, this perennial has fragrant foliage and spiky flowers of pink, purple, blue, red and orange. Hollyhock: Plant these and you’ll have sensational spires of flowers. A classic cottage garden plant that’s very easy … Read more
Large, centralized irrigation schemes, often built around big water storage dams, were a major component of the Green Revolution that helped boost food production and reduce famine risks for millions of people, especially in Asia. But they have often proven environmentally destructive and, especially in Africa, expensive. By contrast, decentralized irrigation – small individual systems … Read more
According to a new report, Wind Power – Global Market Size, Turbine Market Share, Installation Prices, Regulations and Investment Analysis to 2020, by research firm GlobalData, installed capacity increased at a compound annual growth rate of 25%. This translates into to a jump from 73.6GW in 2006 to 280.6GW in 2012. There was a 7%, … Read more
The angle or pitch of your roof actually has less impact on solar panel performance than the direction it faces. In general, optimal production occurs when solar panels face south at a tilt equal to 30°. But what happens if your roof is flat? Lowering the tilt all the way down to 5° only decreases … Read more
Dear Folks, • Be willing to face life squarely. • Realize that every problem impacts growth to the degree that it is attempted to be solved. — Steps Toward Inner Peace, Peace Pilgrim Many things are Compelling: monetary or emotional security, Robust health, natural beauty, elegant truth, personal goodness. These appeal to us because they … Read more