March 22, 2017

Short Of Space? Stackable Homes Could Be The Answer

Posted on March 22, 2017October 11, 2019 by Staff Writer

Property prices are shooting up in American cities as construction firms struggle to find land to build new homes. A Harvard researcher believes he has found the answer to the shortage of building land by inventing stackable homes that can be built in under three weeks.

The idea is the brainchild of Jeff Wilson who spent two years living in a dumpster while working as the dean of Huston-Tillotson University in Texas. According to Business Insider, Wilson said the experience made him embrace minimalist living, and inspired him to create Kasita. He notes: “The way we build housing (and even skyscrapers) hasn’t changed substantially in over 100 years and a lot of that lag is because we haven’t updated the way we approach building”.

Kasita, the Spanish word ‘casita’ means ‘little house’, offers affordable housing units that are stand alone, stack on top of each other to form apartments or can be placed on top of already existing buildings. The pre-fabricated homes can be assembled off-site and delivered within just three weeks.

“The way we build housing (and even skyscrapers) hasn’t changed substantially in over 100 years and a lot of that lag is because we haven’t updated the way we approach building”.

The startup will sell its first units for only $139,000. Each unit measures 352 square feet and there is already a waiting list to ship orders right across the United States. The first batch, which can be ordered online, will be delivered in December 2017.

The interiors have a modern design with all the latest tech and gadgets. There is a main living area that works as both a lounge and bedroom, with a modern kitchen and bathroom.

Each home comes with electric ovens, dishwashers, and fixtures and fittings. The unique design allows for space-saving storage due to its small size, and drawers and cupboards are in well-hidden places throughout.

Each home features sophisticated tech integrations, including heating and cooling systems, glass windows that tint to the natural light outside, and other gadgets.

Wilson says that his plan is to make buying a home an easy one where the consumer can buy a house in the same way as buying a laptop online. He says that Kasita is both a product and a home, and will revolutionize the housing industry.

What’s more, as the company evolves, and the market expands, the Kasita team will be able to work with the customer to create bespoke designs that cater specifically for their needs.

According to Urban Land, newly released data illustrates a major obstacle to a fully healthy housing market in the United States. The shortage of new homes is bottling up housing demand and pushing prices and rents well beyond what many can afford.

Projects like Kasita are most certainly a viable solution to America’s housing crisis, by delivering affordable, small and stackable homes. It will take bold ideas and policy-changing steps by local authorities and governments to encourage projects like this to become the norm.

Surviving Dessication – Learning From A Strange Protein

Posted on March 22, 2017October 11, 2019 by Staff Writer

Scientists have discovered a unique protein which could be the key to increasing food stability and increasing human resistance to X-ray radiation.

The water bear or the tardigrade may not look like much, but scientists have just proven that they are one of – if not the most- resilient creatures on the planet. This microscopic critter can survive drought, freezing temperatures, cosmic radiation, and even starvation by turning itself into ‘glass’. The water bear can stay in suspended animation for decades by activating a unique protein; but what is even more amazing is that it can make a full recovery after just a few hours of being re-hydrated.

This ground-breaking discovery was recently published by researchers at the Molecular Cell science journal. The results have excited the scientific community because of its wide-range of applications and bold potential in various fields.

News.com.au reports that tardigrade protein can make yeast drought-resistant and can boost the resilience of different organisms by as much as 100 times. Looking ahead, the tardigrade protein can be worked into plants to make them impervious to drought. It can likewise be used to stabilize sensitive vaccines and break cold-chain dependence which is a big hurdle in the pharmaceutical world.

However, it does not stop with plants and vaccines. Last year, Japanese researchers revealed that water bears have a radiation shield protecting their DNA. According to researchers, this discovery can help make humans more resistant to X-ray radiation by as much as 40%. More importantly, the tardigrade’s ability to go into suspended animation and be re-animated in a short period of time can advance the study of cryogenics or finally send astronauts to Mars in the near future.

Postdoctoral researcher Thomas Boothby from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the study’s co-authors. He revealed that tardigrades can be revived by placing them in water. Within a few hours they eat, ‘run’ around, and reproduce without difficulty even after going into hibernation for decades.

Protein not Sugar

The CS Monitor explains how water bears survive dessication, not with a sugar called trehalose as was originally believed, but through a process called vitrification. As their environment dries out, the water bears activate the special genes in their DNA which create the disordered proteins that protect their cells.

As the tardigrade protein fills up the cells, they later dry out and become a glass-like substance. The glass matrix basically traps the dessication-sensitive molecules and keeps them from breaking apart. When the tardigrade is reintroduced to water, the glass matrix breaks and the cells are left intact.

The tardigrade protein works for the waters bears as trehalose does for other creatures such as brine shrimp or sea monkeys.

Scientists are elated at the possibilities of their discovery. The results can be used to develop food crops that survive drought – ending years of famine in Africa and other countries. Tardigrade protein can be used to facilitate cheaper and wider distribution of medicine and vaccines all over the world. And who knows, this development could be the first step in helping humans cope with the pressures of extended interstellar travel.

So many daring and bold possibilities may finally become a reality thanks to one microscopic, eight-legged creature.

Self-destruct Phones As A Deterrent To Theft?

Posted on March 22, 2017October 11, 2019 by Staff Writer

With an increase in cell phone thefts across the United States, smartphone providers and security firms have been looking at innovative ways of increasing phone security to decrease crime related statistics.

The latest bold idea put forward to combat this problem is providing users with the option of a self-destruct button for their handsets.

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia have created a self-destruct mechanism that can be applied to electronics to destroy all data within just 10 seconds.

The technology can be triggered either when a sensor is tripped or remotely by an internet-based system, which could be the deterrent needed to reduce phone crime.

What might seem like something out of the movies, reminiscent of Mission Impossible, will soon become a reality as researchers are looking at many different variants of how the self-destruct mechanism can be used and released to market.

For example, one scenario uses GPS sensors to trigger self-destruct if the device is moved more than 50 meters from its base point, another is triggered if an object is exposed to light (when an object is removed from a box), and a final option being explored is when a device is lost or stolen the mechanism can be triggered remotely.

According to The Tribune, the technology is based on the concept of “expandable polymers used to create a layer that can expand up to seven times its original size when heated to temperatures above 80 degrees. The energy to produce heat comes from the battery of a smartphone or laptop with only 500 to 600 milliwatts enabling the polymer to expand and crumple a chip within 10 to 15 seconds.” In laymen’s terms this means that by almost (but, not quite) blowing up the battery it can disable the electronic device.

“The first customers would be the ones who need data protection: Intelligence communities, corporations, banks, hedge funds, social security administrations, collectors who handle massive data”.

The researchers are now looking at making the technology more widespread, targeting government agencies and corporations who need an extra layer of security for computing devices. According to Muhammad Mustafa Hussain, an electrical engineer at KAUST: “The first customers would be the ones who need data protection: Intelligence communities, corporations, banks, hedge funds, social security administrations, collectors who handle massive data”.

However, despite early successes in research, further testing needs to be conducted to improve the outcome of extensive trials. One main criticism of the technology – in regards to cell phones – is that this is a one stop option with no going back. If a device is triggered with the self-destruct mechanism, then that will be the end of the electronic device.

Although having a self-destruct button on your cell phone might be the latest must-have gadget, one can only imagine the outcome of triggering the switch after leaving your phone in your car thinking it is lost, or even worse accidently activating the switch.

With many cell phones going for around $700 these days, a self-destruct button might seem like an extreme and very expensive option, but when you think of the security implications it certainly is the perfect tool for protecting sensitive data and disabling a stolen device.

Day: March 22, 2017

Short Of Space? Stackable Homes Could Be The Answer

Surviving Dessication – Learning From A Strange Protein

Self-destruct Phones As A Deterrent To Theft?

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