411 — Post Script
Is There Even One Statesman Among Them?
Last week, the U. S. House of Representatives voted, by a count of 285-144, to approve a three-month extension of the debt limit in a bill that concurrently pressures lawmakers to adopt a budget or have their pay withheld. The bill, known as the No Budget No Pay Act of 2013, directs both chambers of Congress to adopt a … Read more
Home Based Manufacturing & Recycling
The Filabot brings a miniature recycling plant to your desktop, grinding down everyday plastic waste and transforming it into ready-to-use material for your 3d printing. Water pipes, drink bottles, plastic wrappers and Lego bricks can be fed into the machine which grinds, melts and extrudes the plastic into a filament of either 3mm or 1.75mm … Read more
The Essentials of Good Nutrition
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word choreographed an assembly of amino acids into an exquisite array of specific proteins. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” In … Read more
‘Natural’ Driving Product Development in 2013
The 2013 edition of New Nutrition Business’s trend-spotting report, 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health, indicates natural foods and ingredients will continue to see an upward trend in product development. The report, conducted by German-based Kampffmeyer Food Innovation, highlights consumer research that shows 74% of people surveyed thought that ‘natural’ meant ‘healthier.’ Several … Read more
Energy Efficient Photovoltaic Production
The Optical Cavity Furnace is a relatively new type of furnace that uses light and optics rather than other sources to create silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) cells. The new process uses only half the amount of energy to make conventional PVs. The recent innovation uses a series of lamps in a reflective chamber to create temperature … Read more
Making Things Glow
The lamps of yesteryear, incandescents, produce light when electricity heats a thin filament. This causes it to glow. The quality of light is pleasing to many. But the lamps only last about 1,500 hours at best. They’re also inefficient. Roughly 90 percent of the energy is emitted as heat rather than light. Full, partial, or … Read more
B’More Healthy — Joint Effort Yields Better Food Choices
Poor urban neighborhoods are often food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. According to a report by the Bloomberg School of Public Health, nearly one in four school-aged children in Baltimore live in a food desert — an area where nutritious food choices are limited, and almost one-third of city households lacked access to … Read more
Train Your Ear to the Pulse of Innovation — 3d Printing is Here!
Need a new knocker for the front door? Select a design and push the print button. How about that fork that got damaged in the garbage disposal? Scan one of the remaining ones and print a replacement. Printing 3d objects at home is now possible although the choices of material are somewhat limited. Soon, very … Read more
Empowerhouse — From Concept Home to Family Residence
One of the green concept homes showcased at the Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon now has a permanent address in Washington, DC. The design is based on several net-zero energy systems that reach peak efficiency when they are joined together. A rainwater harvesting system captures water from the roof and adjacent land, minimizing the … Read more