Our Bodies, Our Microbial Clouds

How To Build More Resilient Cities

Check in: The Tokyo hotel where guests can curl up with 1,700 good books

Book and Bed, a new Tokyo hotel, has created the sort of space that is impossible to leave. It is a cheap and cheerful dorm with a difference: guests’ bunk beds are hidden behind library shelves filled with hundreds of books in Japanese and English. | Read more

Mesmerized 😃

Project Monsoon  Clever colorful street art that only appears when it rains

After the Superhydrophobic Street Art, which uses a superhydrophobic coating to create designs which appear only in the rain, here is the Project Monsoon, which uses the same concept, this time with hydrochromic painting, which reveals its color only when wet. This amazing and clever project was designed by a Korean team of designers, in collaboration with Pantone, to provide color to the streets of Seoul during the rainy season, while paying tribute to the Korean culture. A brilliant idea! Source: ufunk 

YouTube Wants Everyone To Watch This New Movie About Girls Who Code

“Codegirl” will stream for free on YouTube from Nov. 1 - 6.

G20 Governments collectively handed out $452bn in subsidies for fossil fuels in both 2013 and 2014 - four times the amount allocated globally for renewables.

(via Fossil fuels receive four times as many subsidies as renewables, report finds)

Making an impact

ESA - Clean Space Programme logo. 25 September 2015 When a rocket is launched into space it crosses all layers of the atmosphere and interacts with them. How much impact does a launch have on the atmosphere and can we quantify the effect in such a way that we can take mitigation measures? These are only a few of the questions raised by the Clean Space AtILa (Atmospheric Impact of Launchers) project. Neil Murray explains: “It is difficult to use computer modelling to precisely monitor what happens when a rocket is launched as the size of the plume is far smaller than the scale of the climate models that we use to model the atmosphere”.

Picture perfect liftoff

Therefore two strategies were worked out to model the impact, one started from the size of the plume and this was allowed to develop over time and space to the size of the climate model and used as the boundary conditions of the climate model. Another strategy started from the size of the larger model and introduced sub-grid models which modelled the plume within the climate model grids. Both models gave surprisingly similar results. So far it has been thought that chlorine, which is converted from the oxidizer (ammonia perchlorate) in the solid booster fuel mixture, has had the main effect on ozone depletion in the immediate area where the plume is emitted.

Computations conducted at ONERA using the CEDRE code

The latest studies have shown that alumina particles, i.e., oxidised aluminium, which is also present in the solid rocket fuel, may also have a significant ozone depletion effect depending on the particle size. “If the particles are on the micrometer scale they would quickly fall out of the sky and have little impact on the atmosphere. However, the smaller the particles, the higher their combined surface area and the longer they remain suspended in the air, which means that their potential catalytic effect in ozone reduction could also be much higher.” Therefore it is imperative that quantitative data is collected to be able to accurately measure and predict the impact by mathematical models.

Computations conducted at ONERA using the CEDRE code

The first step towards quantitative data is the kick-off of an activity organised in cooperation with DLR whereby a solid rocket motor model in a wind tunnel will be used to simulate the evolution of particles in a representative rocket chamber and to then interpolate this to the conditions at launch. From these measurements accurate models will be developed for predicting the development of alumina particles under real launch conditions. So why not just use real launch data? “It is not that easy to make these measurements during a real launch and so far no data has been collected for European launchers. Up to now we have mainly been relying on data measured by NASA during launches in the 1990s, however, the representativeness of this data with respect to European launchers is questionable. This ultimately leaves us with the task of somehow collecting such flight data and it is something that we are discussing at length.“ 

Ariane 5 ECA V184 climbout

"Even when we are able to make real-time measurements during a launch it still is a large task to interpret this data correctly and extrapolate this to all launches, as daily changes in the atmosphere and the time of the launch are just a few parameters that severely influence the effect. Luckily we are working with some of Europe’s experts in climatology!” The AtILa project aims to understand the impact of launching its rockets into space by modelling the rocket plumes from their origin in the rocket chamber up to their impact on a global scale using climate models. This is one of the projects that ESA carries out under the Clean Space initiative which has carried out life cycle assessments for the space industry in order to monitor the effect of each space project on the environment. Implementing eco-design strategies into every phase of a space project is the ultimate aim of this initiative. ESA links: Life cycle assessment training at ESA: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space/Life_Cycle_Assessment_training_at_ESA Virtual rocket launches will probe atmospheric effects: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space/Virtual_rocket_launches_will_probe_atmospheric_effects Considering hydrazine-free satellite propulsion: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space/Considering_hydrazine-free_satellite_propulsion ‘Green’ satellite fuel designed to make space safer: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Green_satellite_fuel_designed_to_make_space_safer About Clean Space: What is Clean Space?: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space/What_is_Clean_Space Why is it needed?: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space/Why_is_it_needed What are its objectives?: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space/What_are_its_objectives Images, Text, Credits: ESA/CNES/ARIANESPACE/Photo Optique Vidéo CSG/Service POV du CSG. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

A Mesmerizing 3-D Vision of New York as Pure Data

Wyoming's Ag-Gag law makes it a crime to gather evidence of crime

With this year’s “ag-gag” law, Wyoming has made it a crime to gather evidence of agricultural wrongdoing, from illegal pollution to animal cruelty, even from public land – and also prohibits regulators from acting on information gathered in violation of the law.

Many public interest groups are challenging the law. A similar – but less Draconian – law in Idaho was struck down this year as unconstitutional.

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Amazing Maps of the World