February 18, 2021
by Building The World
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February 18, 2021. It’s National Battery Day. What is this genie in a bottle that we call a battery? Lithium-ion batteries are making news. It’s a technology popularized in 1991, when rechargeable lithium-ion batteries were first used in hand-held camcorders. … Continue reading
December 31, 2020
by Building The World
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The year 2020 will go down in history for many reasons, including climate change. Temperatures were 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 Celsius) warmer than the 1981-2010 average and 2.25 degrees Fahrenheit (1.25 Celsius) above pre-industrial times. Rising temperatures have consequences. In … Continue reading
September 4, 2020
by Building The World
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Labor Day 2020: for many it’s a beach weekend in flip flops. Too often, beaches are strewn with broken or discarded flip flops that litter the sand and pollute the water. Enter an innovation: biodegradable flip flops from the University … Continue reading
August 28, 2020
by Building The World
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Ever since Prometheus stole fire and gave it to humans, we’ve been the only species that can start and stop a fire. Darwin believed human capability to control fire was the greatest evolutionary achievement, second only to language. Now, that … Continue reading
July 28, 2020
by Building The World
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Only 1% of water on Earth is drinkable (actually, it’s 2.5% but only 1% is readily accessible). The rest of the water on the planet rests in the sea, but it is salty and therefore requires desalination to use for … Continue reading
June 26, 2020
by Building The World
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Sahara, sea of sand, desert of legend, is ever-advancing. Over time, the Sahara Desert has expanded into the Sahel, a transnational ‘shore’ of African countries. Population in the Sahel has increased 120% in the last three decades: now, 64% of … Continue reading
February 6, 2020
by Building The World
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Finding common ground among nations joining in regional agreements is difficult enough: policies on issues from food to energy to trade must be deliberated. And then, there’s the name. While the “New Nafta,” launched 29 January 2020, was named top-down … Continue reading
August 10, 2019
by Building The World
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Should labels on food, commonly listing salt, fat, calories, now include water, energy, and land? Recent findings by the United Nations IPCC reveal world land use is not sustainable for growing the food we need. Agricultural practices including raising of … Continue reading
August 2, 2019
by Building The World
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The hotter the climate gets, the more we turn on the AC (for the privileged who may have such access). Since 16 of the 17 warmest years have been since 2000, energy consumption by air-conditioning may triple by 2050, equaling … Continue reading
July 6, 2019
by Building The World
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Food waste: it’s a world problem; more than 350,000,000 tons of food were lost or wasted so far, this year. Food trashed by the United States + Europe could feed the world (three times over). And, it’s not just food, … Continue reading