Wax-actuated adaptive tiles radically cut heating and cooling energy

Using a temperature-driven “wax motor,” researchers have created an adaptive roof tile system that helps keep a room at a comfortable 18 °C (65 °F). It delivers an extraordinary 3.1X reduction in cooling energy consumption, and 2.6X for heating.Continu… Continue reading Wax-actuated adaptive tiles radically cut heating and cooling energy

Hat trick: Newly discovered shape solves 60-year mathematical mystery

A new shape has been discovered which would make for a pretty unique set of bathroom tiles. Nicknamed “the Hat,” the 13-sided shape can tesselate with itself without ever repeating a pattern, solving a 60-year-old mathematical mystery.Continue ReadingC… Continue reading Hat trick: Newly discovered shape solves 60-year mathematical mystery

DIY Grout Cleaning Machine Does A Good Job

Cleaning tiled floors can be a drag. Getting the tiles themselves clean is bad enough, but often dealing with the grouted joints in between requires more elbow grease and attention to detail. It’s a tedious chore, and thus one ripe for improvement. [Elite Worm]’s cleaning machine is an excellent solution …read more

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Turning A Tile Into A Car Tracker

A Tile is a small Bluetooth device which you can put on your keychain, for example, so that you can find your keys using an app on your phone. Each Tile’s battery life expectancy is one year and after that year you’re expected to trade it in at a discount for a new one. Right away your hacker senses are tingling and you know what’s coming.

[Luis Rodriguez] had switched to Samsung SmartThings and had accumulated box of these Tiles with dead batteries. So he decided a fun project would be to put a Tile in his wife’s car to …read more

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