Collaborate Disseminate
Although various uses for post-harvest rice husk waste are being explored, the stuff is still usually either incinerated, dumped in landfills, or at best composted. Soon, however, rice husks may be combined with discarded newspapers to form eco-friendl… Continue reading Eco-friendly insulation would put rice husks and newspapers in our walls
Plenty of us have experience with paper shredders, but there are all kinds of machines designed to completely destroy other materials as well, from metal and plastic, to entire cars. …read more Continue reading DIY Shredder Creates Insulation
One of the most common types of beekeeping hive is based around the Langstroth hive, first patented in the United States in 1852. While it does have some nice features …read more Continue reading Beehive In a Bottle
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam is a problematic material, in that it’s cheap and lightweight but also non-biodegradable and difficult to recycle. German scientists have developed a possible alternative, though – foam made out of popcorn.Continue Readi… Continue reading Popcorn used to create an eco-friendly alternative to polystyrene foam
It’s an old saying with an apocryphal origin: “May you live in interesting times“. We Brits are certainly living in interesting times at the moment, as a perfect storm of …read more Continue reading Being Green, It’s A Rich Man’s Game
Heating and cooling systems are some of the biggest energy guzzlers in use, so passive temperature control could be a good way to reduce emissions. Phase-change materials (PCMs) show promise for this, and now engineers at Texas A&M have developed a new… Continue reading 3D-printable phase-change materials insulate buildings better at scale
It’s an unfortunate fact that many “cold chain” items such as food or medicine are shipped in single-use Styrofoam packaging, which is non-biodegradable and difficult to recycle. Such is not the case with a new material, however, which is made from dis… Continue reading Recyclable alternative to Styrofoam made from paper waste
Kevlar and Twaron are famously tough materials, but there’s a bit of a trade-off to be made between strength, heat resistance and weight. Now, researchers have created a new nanofiber version of the material that’s just as strong, but much more insulat… Continue reading Nanofiber material tough as Kevlar but 20 times more heat-resistant
When buildings are being insulated or torn down, a lot of waste “mineral wool”-type insulation ends up in the landfill. Thanks to new research, however, that material may soon instead find use in an improved type of construction mortar…
Co… Continue reading Discarded insulation wool finds use in better mortar
For years now, scientists have marvelled at the insulating qualities of polar bear fur, suggesting that it could inspire manmade heat-retaining materials. Well, Chinese researchers have now developed just such a substance, which reportedly ou… Continue reading Polar bear fur-inspired insulation is even better than the real thing