Striking red fire station saves energy, and lives

Dutch firm Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven recently completed a new fire station for Belgium’s Antwerp Fire Department. Sustainable design includes solar power and rainwater collection, while the eye-catching red brick on the outside contrasts with wood an… Continue reading Striking red fire station saves energy, and lives

Synthetic version of natural antifreeze used in longer-lasting concrete

As readers who live in cold climates will likely already know, winter is not kind to concrete. That could be about to change, though, thanks to a polymer additive that mimics natural antifreeze.Continue ReadingCategory: Materials, ScienceTags: Universi… Continue reading Synthetic version of natural antifreeze used in longer-lasting concrete

Bricking Your 3D Printer, In a Good Way

In our vernacular, bricking something is almost never good. It implies that something has gone very wrong indeed, and that your once-useful and likely expensive widget is now about as useful as a brick. Given their importance to civilization, that seems somewhat unfair to bricks, but it gets the point …read more

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Using steel slag to treat sewage makes it better for use in concrete

Steel slag is currently utilized both to treat wastewater, and as a concrete aggregate. New research now indicates that using it for the former makes it perform even better as the latter – so the same slag could be used twice, first for one purpose and… Continue reading Using steel slag to treat sewage makes it better for use in concrete

Pumping Concrete

Due to social distancing, gym rats throughout the world are turning everyday objects into exercise equipment to keep up the routine without actually hitting the gym. A particularly pleasing version of this are these concrete dumbbells whipped up by the unfortunately named hacker [ShitnamiTidalWave].

If you happen to have half …read more

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Bendable concrete goes cement-free to cut environmental footprint

Concrete is the world’s most widely-used building material thanks to its incredible strength – but it doesn’t stand up well against bending. Now, researchers at Swinburne University have developed a new type of concrete that can not only bend better, b… Continue reading Bendable concrete goes cement-free to cut environmental footprint

Printing Liquid Concrete

In the world of additive manufacturing, there’s always need materials being added to the list of potential filaments to use for printing objects. A method of rapid liquid printing of concrete designed by [Anatoly Berezkin] of Stoneflower 3D makes it possible to print a large variety of shapes from concrete …read more

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Wood waste makes recycled concrete stronger than ever

Production of the cement used in concrete is a huge source of CO2 emissions, so the more that we can recycle existing concrete, the better. That’s where a new study comes in, which indicates that discarded concrete becomes even stronger than it was bef… Continue reading Wood waste makes recycled concrete stronger than ever

Concrete Solder Squid is a Solid Solution

Although it’s possible to buy a soldering setup out of the box, the one that works for you will likely develop over time. Honestly, it may never stop evolving. Sure, you can start with el-cheapo helping hands or a nice hobby vise, but it probably won’t end there. Why? Because …read more

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Off-World Cement Tested for the First Time

If the current Administration of the United States has their way, humans will return to the surface of the Moon far sooner than many had expected. But even if NASA can’t meet the aggressive timeline they’ve been given by the White House, it seems inevitable that there will be fresh …read more

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