Ancient tomb uncovered in Jesus’ birthplace
BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Workers renovating a house in the traditional town of Jesus’ birth accidentally discovered an untouched ancient tomb containing clay pots, plates, beads and the bones of two humans, a Palestinian antiquities official said Tuesday.
The Super Sustainable City
The Super Sustainable City, designed by Swedish architecture firm Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture, proposes a green Gothenburg for 2050.
The Mysterious Mima Mounds
Found in such exotic locales as Kenya, Mexico, Canada, Australia, China and in similarly off-the-beaten path locations as California, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and especially Washington state, the mounds first appear to be just that: mounds of earth.
Zira Island
Zira Zero Island is a 1,000,000m2 architectural design proposal for a carbon neutral leisure, culture and residential development in the Caspian Sea. The cutting edge sustainable design, from Danish BIG Architects and engineers Ramboll, is proposed for the crescent shaped bay of the capital city Baku in Azerbaijan.
The vision for Zira Island is to create a development that is independent of external resources – in other words, a self-contained, carbon-neutral island. It is also designed to be a showcase to the world, combining high-end living with low-end resource usage.
The buildings on the island will be heated and cooled by heat pumps connecting to the Caspian Sea. Solar heat panels integrated in the architecture create a steady supply of hot water, while photovoltaics on facades and rooftops power daytime functions such as swimming pools and aqua parks.
Waste water and storm water is collected and led to a waste water treatment plant, where it is then cleaned, processed and recycled for irrigation. The solid parts of the wastewater are processed and composted, turned into topsoil to fertilize the island. The constant irrigation and fertilizing of the island is designed to support the lush condition of a tropical island, with a minimal ecological footprint and using minimal resources.
The island will have its own CO2-neutral power supplied by harvesting wind energy via an offshore wind farm. By locating the wind turbines on sea, it transforms the existing offshore oil industry’s platforms and foundations in Baku into a more sustainable future for wind turbine use.
Eco-Camper Rolling Stone
Slovakian architects Tomas Zacek and Igor Zacek have come up with a unique house design that manages to combine a love of travel with environmentally sustainable design and functionality. The architects used the caravans for inspiration, but added their own modern eco-twists.
Greenbird Smashes Record
The Greenbird is a high tech combination of racing yacht, aeroplane and Formula 1 racing car design and technology. Lightweight, low friction and minimized aerodynamic drag are the secret ingredients behind the world record. The entire structure is made from carbon-fiber which has the high stiffness and strength required to transfer the wind loads on the Greenbird vertical sail, into traction forces on the ground. The suspension allows some compliance between the vehicle and the rough dry-lake surface; otherwise it would be difficult to control.
5300 Year Old Mummy
A 5300-year-old mummified body of a man whom scientists have fondly named as Oetzi, has really altered our understanding of the human family tree and its gene pool with a DNA pattern that shows that he did not belong to any known branch of human family tree.
Oetzi was found preserved in the ice of the Eastern Alps in 1991 and since 1998 he has been on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. The examination of DNA of Oetzi has revealed that he has no match to any of the known existing races in Europe and most likely has no descendants today.
The scientists examined Oetzi’s mitochondrial DNA and found that it was unique in its structure. The mitochondrial DNA is always passed down to future generations by mothers and since no human being today carries the similar structure, it is safe to conclude that Oetzi has no descendants today.
Although he fell into a subgroup called K1, his lineage did not match any of the three known K1 ‘clusters’. This really adds another chapter to the human family tree and our understanding of evolution.
Mercedes Roadster F-CELL
Looking like a cross between a modern Mercedes-Benz and an old fashion roadster, the Daimler AG trainees at the Sindelfingen Mercedes-Benz plant have built a good-looking vehicle using a hydrogen powered fuel cell with zero emissions.
Before the flight to the ISS
International Space Station
Strange Maps
World’s House Prices
