Spotlight
A Way to Harvest Electricity from Trees

One freezing day in February 2006, physicist Andreas Mershin huddled with others around a tree on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus to watch an unlikely demonstration. An engineering company claimed it could produce electricity simply by wiring a nail in the tree’s trunk to a metal rod in the ground. Sure enough, the demo worked—but nobody knew exactly why.

Read More!

Inexpensive Thin Printable Batteries Developed

For a long time, batteries were bulky and heavy. Now, a new cutting-edge battery is revolutionizing the field. It is thinner than a millimeter, lighter than a gram, and can be produced cost-effectively through a printing process. Read more!

The Lilypad- A Water City

According to the less alarming forecasts of the GIEC, the ocean level should rise from 20 to 90 cm during the 21st Century with a status quo by 50 cm. As a solution to this alarming problem architect Vincent Callebaut came up with this ecotectural marvel. He called this project “Lilypad“, but this ecotectural marvel is also called as “Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees”.  Read more!
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High-performance energy storage technologies for the automotive industry or mobile phone batteries and notebooks providing long battery times — these visions of the future are being brought one step nearer by scientists from Graz University of Technology.

Stefan Koller. Researchers at the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials have developed a new method that utilises silicon for lithium-ion batteries. Its storage capacity is ten times higher than the graphite substrate which has been used up to now, and promises considerable improvements for users.

Stefan Koller. Researchers at the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials have developed a new method that utilises silicon for lithium-ion batteries. Its storage capacity is ten times higher than the graphite substrate which has been used up to now, and promises considerable improvements for users.

Researchers at the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials have developed a new method that utilises silicon for lithium-ion batteries. Its storage capacity is ten times higher than the graphite substrate which has been used up to now, and promises considerable improvements for users.

The new findings — which came to light in the “NanoPoliBat” EU project — have been recently submitted to the patent office by researchers together with their co-operation partner Varta Microbattery.

Modern electronic devices need more energy and even the automotive industry is hankering after increasingly powerful energy storage systems. The technological development of battery research has been inadequate for some time now. “A real revolution is needed for the development of the next generation. We need new storage materials for lithium-ion batteries,” explains battery researcher Stefan Koller, who is familiar with the topic from his doctoral thesis. Together with colleagues from science and industry, he has managed to develop such a substrate material for electrochemical reactions at a low price.

Silicon gel on graphite

In the newly developed process, researchers utilise a silicon-containing gel and apply it to the graphite substrate material. “In this way the graphite works as a buffer, cushioning the big changes in volume of the silicon during the uptake and transfer of lithium ions,” explains Koller.

Silicon has a lithium-ion storage capacity some ten times higher than the up-to-now commercially used graphite. The new material can thus store more than double the quantity of lithium ions without changes to the battery lifetime.

This method is far cheaper than the previous ones in which silicon is separated in the gas phase. The challenge lies in the poor storage density of materials in the counter electrode in the whole battery, something which we have been doing intensive research on,” says Koller.

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High-performance energy storage technologies for the automotive industry or mobile phone batteries and notebooks providing long battery times — these visions of the future are being brought one step nearer by scientists from Graz University of Technology.

Stefan Koller. Researchers at the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials have developed a new method that utilises silicon for lithium-ion batteries. Its storage capacity is ten times higher than the graphite substrate which has been used up to now, and promises considerable improvements for users.

Stefan Koller. Researchers at the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials have developed a new method that utilises silicon for lithium-ion batteries. Its storage capacity is ten times higher than the graphite substrate which has been used up to now, and promises considerable improvements for users.

Researchers at the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials have developed a new method that utilises silicon for lithium-ion batteries. Its storage capacity is ten times higher than the graphite substrate which has been used up to now, and promises considerable improvements for users.

The new findings — which came to light in the “NanoPoliBat” EU project — have been recently submitted to the patent office by researchers together with their co-operation partner Varta Microbattery.

Modern electronic devices need more energy and even the automotive industry is hankering after increasingly powerful energy storage systems. The technological development of battery research has been inadequate for some time now. “A real revolution is needed for the development of the next generation. We need new storage materials for lithium-ion batteries,” explains battery researcher Stefan Koller, who is familiar with the topic from his doctoral thesis. Together with colleagues from science and industry, he has managed to develop such a substrate material for electrochemical reactions at a low price.

Silicon gel on graphite

In the newly developed process, researchers utilise a silicon-containing gel and apply it to the graphite substrate material. “In this way the graphite works as a buffer, cushioning the big changes in volume of the silicon during the uptake and transfer of lithium ions,” explains Koller.

Silicon has a lithium-ion storage capacity some ten times higher than the up-to-now commercially used graphite. The new material can thus store more than double the quantity of lithium ions without changes to the battery lifetime.

This method is far cheaper than the previous ones in which silicon is separated in the gas phase. The challenge lies in the poor storage density of materials in the counter electrode in the whole battery, something which we have been doing intensive research on,” says Koller.

Start uga_filter:

Every year, scientists learn something new about the inner workings of lightning.

Central Africa receives the most flashes of lightning per square kilometer, while the polar regions receive the least. This global map of lightning flash density was created with data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard the Tropical Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. (Credit: Jeff De La Beaujardiere, Scientific Visualization Studio)

Central Africa receives the most flashes of lightning per square kilometer, while the polar regions receive the least. This global map of lightning flash density was created with data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard the Tropical Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. (Credit: Jeff De La Beaujardiere, Scientific Visualization Studio)

With satellites, they have discovered that more than 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur around the world every year. (Rwanda has the most flashes per square kilometer, while flashes are rare in polar regions.) Laboratory and field experiments have revealed that the core of some lightning bolts reaches 30,000 Kelvin (53,540 ºF), a temperature hot enough to instantly melt sand and break oxygen and nitrogen molecules into individual atoms.

And then there is this: each of those billion lightning flashes produces a puff of nitrogen oxide gas (NOx) that reacts with sunlight and other gases in the atmosphere to produce ozone. Near Earth’s surface, ozone can harm human and plant health; higher in the atmosphere, it is a potent greenhouse gas; and in the stratosphere, its blocks cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation.

In 1827, the German chemist Justin von Liebig first observed that lightning produced NOx — scientific shorthand for a gaseous mixture of nitrogen and oxygen that includes nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nearly two centuries later, the topic continues to attract the attention of scientists.

Fossil fuel combustion, microbes in the soil, lightning, and forest fires all produce NOx. Scientists think lightning’s contribution to Earth’s NOx budget — probably about 10 percent — is relatively small compared to fossil fuel emissions. Yet they haven’t been sure whether global estimates of NOx produced by lightning are accurate.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty about how much NOx lightning produces,” said Kenneth Pickering, an atmospheric scientist who studies lightning at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “Indeed, even recent published estimates of lightning’s global NOx production still vary by as much as a factor of four. We’re trying to narrow that uncertainty in order to improve the accuracy of both global climate models and regional air quality models.”

Using data gleaned from aircraft observations and satellites, Pickering and Goddard colleague Lesley Ott recently took steps toward a better global estimate of lightning-produced NOx and found that lightning may have a considerably stronger impact on the climate in the mid-latitudes and subtropics — and less on surface air quality — than previously thought.

According to a new paper by Ott and Pickering in the Journal of Geophysical Research, each flash of lightning on average in the several mid-latitude and subtropical thunderstorms studied turned 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds) of nitrogen into chemically reactive NOx. “In other words, you could drive a new car across the United States more than 50 times and still produce less than half as much NOx as an average lightning flash,” Ott estimated. The results were published July.

When the researchers multiplied the number of lightning strokes worldwide by 7 kilograms, they found that the total amount of NOx produced by lightning per year is 8.6 terragrams, or 8.6 million metric tons. “That’s somewhat high compared to previous estimates,” said Pickering.

More remarkable than the number, however, is where the NOx is produced. A decade ago, many researchers believed cloud-to-ground lightning produced far more NOx per flash than intracloud lightning, which occurs within a cloud and far higher in the atmosphere.

The new evidence suggests that the two types of lightning produce approximately the same amount of NOx per flash on average. But since most lightning is intracloud, this suggests a great deal more NOx is produced and remains higher in the atmosphere. Compounding this effect, the research also shows that strong updrafts within thunderstorms help transfer lower level NOx to higher altitudes in the atmosphere.

“We’ve really started to question some of our old assumptions as we’ve gotten better at measuring lightning in the field,” said Ott.

The observations spring out of field projects conducted in Germany, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, and Oklahoma between 1985 and 2002. For example, in a NASA field campaign called the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers Florida — Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) aircraft flew headlong through anvil-shaped thunderheads to measure the anatomy of the thunderstorms. Sensors sampled the pressure, humidity, temperature, wind, and the amount of trace gases such as NOx and ozone.

Later, Ott input this data, as well as additional data from the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network and NASA’s Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), into a complex computer model that simulated the six storms and calculated the amount of NOx that the average flash of lightning produced. With that number, she could then estimate the amount of NOx that lightning produces globally each year.

“One of the things we’re trying to understand is how much ozone changes caused by lightning affect radiative forcing, and how that might translate into climate impacts,” said Pickering.

There’s a possibility that lightning could produce a feedback cycle that accelerates global warming. “If a warming globe creates more thunderstorms,” Pickering noted, “that could lead to more NOx production, which leads to more ozone, more radiative forcing, and more warming,” Pickering emphasizes that this is a theory, and while some global modeling studies suggest this is indeed the case, it has not yet been borne out by field observations.

The new findings also have implications for regional air quality models. Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, are already plugging the new numbers into a widely-used air quality model called the Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model. “Lightning is one of the smaller factors for surface ozone levels, but in some cases a surge of ozone formed from lightning NOx could be enough to put a community out of compliance with EPA air quality standards during certain times of the year,” said Pickering.

Pickering offered one important caveat to the findings: The value of 7 kilograms per flash was derived without consideration of lightning from storms in the tropics, where most of the Earth’s lightning occurs. Only very recently have data become available for tropical regions, he noted.

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Every year, scientists learn something new about the inner workings of lightning.

Central Africa receives the most flashes of lightning per square kilometer, while the polar regions receive the least. This global map of lightning flash density was created with data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard the Tropical Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. (Credit: Jeff De La Beaujardiere, Scientific Visualization Studio)

Central Africa receives the most flashes of lightning per square kilometer, while the polar regions receive the least. This global map of lightning flash density was created with data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard the Tropical Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. (Credit: Jeff De La Beaujardiere, Scientific Visualization Studio)

With satellites, they have discovered that more than 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur around the world every year. (Rwanda has the most flashes per square kilometer, while flashes are rare in polar regions.) Laboratory and field experiments have revealed that the core of some lightning bolts reaches 30,000 Kelvin (53,540 ºF), a temperature hot enough to instantly melt sand and break oxygen and nitrogen molecules into individual atoms.

And then there is this: each of those billion lightning flashes produces a puff of nitrogen oxide gas (NOx) that reacts with sunlight and other gases in the atmosphere to produce ozone. Near Earth’s surface, ozone can harm human and plant health; higher in the atmosphere, it is a potent greenhouse gas; and in the stratosphere, its blocks cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation.

In 1827, the German chemist Justin von Liebig first observed that lightning produced NOx — scientific shorthand for a gaseous mixture of nitrogen and oxygen that includes nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nearly two centuries later, the topic continues to attract the attention of scientists.

Fossil fuel combustion, microbes in the soil, lightning, and forest fires all produce NOx. Scientists think lightning’s contribution to Earth’s NOx budget — probably about 10 percent — is relatively small compared to fossil fuel emissions. Yet they haven’t been sure whether global estimates of NOx produced by lightning are accurate.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty about how much NOx lightning produces,” said Kenneth Pickering, an atmospheric scientist who studies lightning at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “Indeed, even recent published estimates of lightning’s global NOx production still vary by as much as a factor of four. We’re trying to narrow that uncertainty in order to improve the accuracy of both global climate models and regional air quality models.”

Using data gleaned from aircraft observations and satellites, Pickering and Goddard colleague Lesley Ott recently took steps toward a better global estimate of lightning-produced NOx and found that lightning may have a considerably stronger impact on the climate in the mid-latitudes and subtropics — and less on surface air quality — than previously thought.

According to a new paper by Ott and Pickering in the Journal of Geophysical Research, each flash of lightning on average in the several mid-latitude and subtropical thunderstorms studied turned 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds) of nitrogen into chemically reactive NOx. “In other words, you could drive a new car across the United States more than 50 times and still produce less than half as much NOx as an average lightning flash,” Ott estimated. The results were published July.

When the researchers multiplied the number of lightning strokes worldwide by 7 kilograms, they found that the total amount of NOx produced by lightning per year is 8.6 terragrams, or 8.6 million metric tons. “That’s somewhat high compared to previous estimates,” said Pickering.

More remarkable than the number, however, is where the NOx is produced. A decade ago, many researchers believed cloud-to-ground lightning produced far more NOx per flash than intracloud lightning, which occurs within a cloud and far higher in the atmosphere.

The new evidence suggests that the two types of lightning produce approximately the same amount of NOx per flash on average. But since most lightning is intracloud, this suggests a great deal more NOx is produced and remains higher in the atmosphere. Compounding this effect, the research also shows that strong updrafts within thunderstorms help transfer lower level NOx to higher altitudes in the atmosphere.

“We’ve really started to question some of our old assumptions as we’ve gotten better at measuring lightning in the field,” said Ott.

The observations spring out of field projects conducted in Germany, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, and Oklahoma between 1985 and 2002. For example, in a NASA field campaign called the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers Florida — Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) aircraft flew headlong through anvil-shaped thunderheads to measure the anatomy of the thunderstorms. Sensors sampled the pressure, humidity, temperature, wind, and the amount of trace gases such as NOx and ozone.

Later, Ott input this data, as well as additional data from the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network and NASA’s Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), into a complex computer model that simulated the six storms and calculated the amount of NOx that the average flash of lightning produced. With that number, she could then estimate the amount of NOx that lightning produces globally each year.

“One of the things we’re trying to understand is how much ozone changes caused by lightning affect radiative forcing, and how that might translate into climate impacts,” said Pickering.

There’s a possibility that lightning could produce a feedback cycle that accelerates global warming. “If a warming globe creates more thunderstorms,” Pickering noted, “that could lead to more NOx production, which leads to more ozone, more radiative forcing, and more warming,” Pickering emphasizes that this is a theory, and while some global modeling studies suggest this is indeed the case, it has not yet been borne out by field observations.

The new findings also have implications for regional air quality models. Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, are already plugging the new numbers into a widely-used air quality model called the Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model. “Lightning is one of the smaller factors for surface ozone levels, but in some cases a surge of ozone formed from lightning NOx could be enough to put a community out of compliance with EPA air quality standards during certain times of the year,” said Pickering.

Pickering offered one important caveat to the findings: The value of 7 kilograms per flash was derived without consideration of lightning from storms in the tropics, where most of the Earth’s lightning occurs. Only very recently have data become available for tropical regions, he noted.

Start uga_filter:

It may look like little more than fishing line, but plastic optical fibre or POF promises to revolutionise high-speed last-mile communications networks. Its evolution is being aided by groundbreaking research in Europe.

Plastic optical fibre (POF) for data transmission is often described as the “consumer” version of glass optical fibre, the kind that makes up the long-distance trunk routes of telecommunications networks. Flexible plastic fibres, with a core diameter of 1mm and made from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), are cheap to produce, easy to install and transmit light in the visible range as opposed to infrared, making maintenance easier and safer. But those properties typically come at the expense of lower bandwidth and high attenuation, restricting their use to sending data over short distances at relatively low speeds.

As a result, POF networks have mostly been used as an alternative to copper wires for short-distance — or so-called last-mile — data transmission. In offices and homes, POF has become a popular alternative for setting up local area networks (LANs), while in cars plastic fibres have replaced copper for sending video signals to onboard entertainment systems or obtaining data from sensors. That, however, is but a fraction of the potential uses for the technology.

Groundbreaking research by a team of European scientists working in the EU-funded POLYCOM project has helped put POF on track for use in optical computing, ultra-high-speed LANs, new sensing devices and even clothing that lights up for safety or simply fashion.

“The range of applications for POF and the optical technology that underlies it is extensive… and its development beyond the current state of the art could benefit a wide range of sectors over the coming years,” explains Guglielmo Lanzani, a researcher at Milan Technical University and coordinator of POLYCOM.

World first in all-optical, high-speed switching

One of the key achievements of the POLYCOM team is the world’s first all-optical high-speed switch for POF networks, a crucial step towards blisteringly fast optical data transmission. The technique, tested at the 520-nanometer wavelength (at which light appears green), involves using two beams of light from a single pulsed laser source in a special plastic optical fibre, the physical properties of which have been chemically modified, or doped, with photoactive polymers to change the way it transmits photons.

By overlapping the light pulses in space and time it is possible to use one light pulse to cancel out the other, thus switching it from on to off and transmitting a data signal. And because of the specific properties of the doped POF the cancellation of the light is reversed within only a few hundred femtoseconds (one femtosecond is one billionth of one millionth of a second).

“Not only will this increase data transmission rates in POF networks, but it could be used for time division multiplexing (TDM) to increase the bandwidth of optical networks beyond what is possible with current wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) techniques,” Lanzani says.

Whereas WDM uses light pulses of different colours to create different channels and therefore carry more data along a single fibre, TDM, as its name suggests, separates the pulses by time, allowing two or more signals to be carried as asynchronous sub-channels within a single fibre.

With bandwidth demands set to continue increasing, separating the signals at the transmission end and sorting them at the receiving end will require switching at rates that only an all-optical — as opposed to an optical-electronic solution — will be able to achieve.

The doped-POF used by the POLYCOM team for the all-optical switch is a polyfluorene called F8BT, one of several different materials studied by the group to test their optical properties. Several new types of doped POF were also developed by the researchers.

“In all, we developed and tested five or six new generations of materials, using different chemical agents to dope them in order to improve their optical properties and achieve very good dispersion of the doping agent in the polymer in several cases,” Lanzani says. “Each of the materials has different characteristics that may make them suitable for different applications.”

Glow in the dark clubbers?

An offshoot of the research was work on optofluidic channels in which the researchers exploited the optical properties of conjugated polymers in a fluid solution inside a microfluidic channel in order to produce a compact photonic device. Such a device could be used as the basis for a biochip for health applications in which optical sensors could be used to identify bacteria, viruses and even DNA strands in body fluids.

Though a commercial optofluidic device is probably some way off, Lanzani notes that the team’s research is likely to feed into a variety of commercial applications over the coming years, particularly as interest grows in the range of uses to which POF can be put.

“The auto industry will continue to demand faster and higher capacity POF networks as cars become more complex, while interest in using POF for LANs and telecommunications is continuing to grow,” Lanzani notes.

In addition, some research groups and companies are looking to use POF to create new sensing devices, relying on changes in the way the fibres carry light to measure liquid levels or humidity. And given its low cost and, with the right materials, dazzling luminescent properties, it is also being considered for safety clothing and probably even by clubbers looking to stand out in the crowd!

POLYCOM received funding from the FET Open strand of the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme for research.

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It may look like little more than fishing line, but plastic optical fibre or POF promises to revolutionise high-speed last-mile communications networks. Its evolution is being aided by groundbreaking research in Europe.

Plastic optical fibre (POF) for data transmission is often described as the “consumer” version of glass optical fibre, the kind that makes up the long-distance trunk routes of telecommunications networks. Flexible plastic fibres, with a core diameter of 1mm and made from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), are cheap to produce, easy to install and transmit light in the visible range as opposed to infrared, making maintenance easier and safer. But those properties typically come at the expense of lower bandwidth and high attenuation, restricting their use to sending data over short distances at relatively low speeds.

As a result, POF networks have mostly been used as an alternative to copper wires for short-distance — or so-called last-mile — data transmission. In offices and homes, POF has become a popular alternative for setting up local area networks (LANs), while in cars plastic fibres have replaced copper for sending video signals to onboard entertainment systems or obtaining data from sensors. That, however, is but a fraction of the potential uses for the technology.

Groundbreaking research by a team of European scientists working in the EU-funded POLYCOM project has helped put POF on track for use in optical computing, ultra-high-speed LANs, new sensing devices and even clothing that lights up for safety or simply fashion.

“The range of applications for POF and the optical technology that underlies it is extensive… and its development beyond the current state of the art could benefit a wide range of sectors over the coming years,” explains Guglielmo Lanzani, a researcher at Milan Technical University and coordinator of POLYCOM.

World first in all-optical, high-speed switching

One of the key achievements of the POLYCOM team is the world’s first all-optical high-speed switch for POF networks, a crucial step towards blisteringly fast optical data transmission. The technique, tested at the 520-nanometer wavelength (at which light appears green), involves using two beams of light from a single pulsed laser source in a special plastic optical fibre, the physical properties of which have been chemically modified, or doped, with photoactive polymers to change the way it transmits photons.

By overlapping the light pulses in space and time it is possible to use one light pulse to cancel out the other, thus switching it from on to off and transmitting a data signal. And because of the specific properties of the doped POF the cancellation of the light is reversed within only a few hundred femtoseconds (one femtosecond is one billionth of one millionth of a second).

“Not only will this increase data transmission rates in POF networks, but it could be used for time division multiplexing (TDM) to increase the bandwidth of optical networks beyond what is possible with current wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) techniques,” Lanzani says.

Whereas WDM uses light pulses of different colours to create different channels and therefore carry more data along a single fibre, TDM, as its name suggests, separates the pulses by time, allowing two or more signals to be carried as asynchronous sub-channels within a single fibre.

With bandwidth demands set to continue increasing, separating the signals at the transmission end and sorting them at the receiving end will require switching at rates that only an all-optical — as opposed to an optical-electronic solution — will be able to achieve.

The doped-POF used by the POLYCOM team for the all-optical switch is a polyfluorene called F8BT, one of several different materials studied by the group to test their optical properties. Several new types of doped POF were also developed by the researchers.

“In all, we developed and tested five or six new generations of materials, using different chemical agents to dope them in order to improve their optical properties and achieve very good dispersion of the doping agent in the polymer in several cases,” Lanzani says. “Each of the materials has different characteristics that may make them suitable for different applications.”

Glow in the dark clubbers?

An offshoot of the research was work on optofluidic channels in which the researchers exploited the optical properties of conjugated polymers in a fluid solution inside a microfluidic channel in order to produce a compact photonic device. Such a device could be used as the basis for a biochip for health applications in which optical sensors could be used to identify bacteria, viruses and even DNA strands in body fluids.

Though a commercial optofluidic device is probably some way off, Lanzani notes that the team’s research is likely to feed into a variety of commercial applications over the coming years, particularly as interest grows in the range of uses to which POF can be put.

“The auto industry will continue to demand faster and higher capacity POF networks as cars become more complex, while interest in using POF for LANs and telecommunications is continuing to grow,” Lanzani notes.

In addition, some research groups and companies are looking to use POF to create new sensing devices, relying on changes in the way the fibres carry light to measure liquid levels or humidity. And given its low cost and, with the right materials, dazzling luminescent properties, it is also being considered for safety clothing and probably even by clubbers looking to stand out in the crowd!

POLYCOM received funding from the FET Open strand of the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme for research.

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Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Nanosciences at Delft University of Technology, have succeeded in getting hold of the environment of a quantum particle. This allows them to exercise greater control over a single electron, and brings the team of researchers, led by Vidi winner and FOM workgroup leader Lieven Vandersypen, a step closer still to the super-fast quantum computer.

Their results were published in Nature Physics on 16 August.

One of the unique properties of quantum particles is that they can be in different states at the same time. An atom or electron is then in what is termed a ’superposition’ of two conditions. For instance, this means that the ’spin’ of an electron can be pointing in two different directions at once. A particle like this can therefore be 0 and 1 at the same time, and not just 0 or 1 as in an ordinary computer connection. This permits super-fast calculations. Until now, however, it has not proved possible to keep a particle in one specific state for any real length of time, because the environment — which also consists of quantum particles — is constantly disrupting the state. Researchers have been unable to get to grips with this until now.

Stabilising the pull and push

The researchers in Delft tackled the problem by stabilising the environment. They had already shown that it was possible to direct the spin of an electron using a quantum dot — a quantum scale box. The problem, however, is that the nuclei in the material of the box also have their own spins. Because spins operate like miniscule magnets, they pull and push the spin of the electron in the box. But that electron is also pushing and pulling in return.

The interaction between the spin of the electron and the spins of the surrounding nuclei was precisely what allowed the researchers to pin down the nuclear spins. They directed an electrical current through the nano-box and thus influenced the spin direction of the nuclei. The interaction between the spin of the electron and the nuclear spins in the environment finally allowed a situation to be created where the nuclear spins no longer varied at random, but actually became relatively stable. This stable environment now makes it possible to preserve the fragile but important superposition for a longer period.

The article by Ivo Vink, Lieven Vandersypen and collegues was published as an Advance Online Publication on the website of Nature Physics on 16 August 2009. A detailed theory about the mechanism behind these experimental observations was elaborated by PhD student Jeroen Danon and collegues, and published recently in the journal Physical Review Letters. The research was funded by NWO and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM).

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Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Nanosciences at Delft University of Technology, have succeeded in getting hold of the environment of a quantum particle. This allows them to exercise greater control over a single electron, and brings the team of researchers, led by Vidi winner and FOM workgroup leader Lieven Vandersypen, a step closer still to the super-fast quantum computer.

Their results were published in Nature Physics on 16 August.

One of the unique properties of quantum particles is that they can be in different states at the same time. An atom or electron is then in what is termed a ’superposition’ of two conditions. For instance, this means that the ’spin’ of an electron can be pointing in two different directions at once. A particle like this can therefore be 0 and 1 at the same time, and not just 0 or 1 as in an ordinary computer connection. This permits super-fast calculations. Until now, however, it has not proved possible to keep a particle in one specific state for any real length of time, because the environment — which also consists of quantum particles — is constantly disrupting the state. Researchers have been unable to get to grips with this until now.

Stabilising the pull and push

The researchers in Delft tackled the problem by stabilising the environment. They had already shown that it was possible to direct the spin of an electron using a quantum dot — a quantum scale box. The problem, however, is that the nuclei in the material of the box also have their own spins. Because spins operate like miniscule magnets, they pull and push the spin of the electron in the box. But that electron is also pushing and pulling in return.

The interaction between the spin of the electron and the spins of the surrounding nuclei was precisely what allowed the researchers to pin down the nuclear spins. They directed an electrical current through the nano-box and thus influenced the spin direction of the nuclei. The interaction between the spin of the electron and the nuclear spins in the environment finally allowed a situation to be created where the nuclear spins no longer varied at random, but actually became relatively stable. This stable environment now makes it possible to preserve the fragile but important superposition for a longer period.

The article by Ivo Vink, Lieven Vandersypen and collegues was published as an Advance Online Publication on the website of Nature Physics on 16 August 2009. A detailed theory about the mechanism behind these experimental observations was elaborated by PhD student Jeroen Danon and collegues, and published recently in the journal Physical Review Letters. The research was funded by NWO and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM).

Start uga_filter:

An international team of astronomers have found an unexpected link between mysterious ‘dark matter’ and the visible stars and gas in galaxies that could revolutionise our current understanding of gravity.


One of the astronomers, Dr Hongsheng Zhao of the SUPA Centre of Gravity, University of St. Andrews, suggests that an unknown force is acting on dark matter. The findings are published this week in the scientific journal Nature.

Only 4% of the universe is made of known material. Stars and gas in galaxies move so fast that astronomers have speculated that the gravity from a hypothetical invisible halo of dark matter is needed to keep galaxies together. However, a solid understanding of dark matter as well as direct evidence of its existence has remained elusive.

Now the team believes that the interactions between dark and ordinary matter could be more important and more complex than previously thought, and even speculate that dark matter might not exist and that the anomalous motions of stars in galaxies are due to a modification of gravity on extragalactic scales.

Dr. Benoit Famaey (Universities of Bonn and Strasbourg) explains: “The dark matter seems to ‘know’ how the visible matter is distributed. They seem to conspire with each other such that the gravity of the visible matter at the characteristic radius of the dark halo is always the same. This is extremely surprising since one would rather expect the balance between visible and dark matter to strongly depend on the individual history of each galaxy.”

Dr. Zhao at the SUPA Centre of Gravity notes, “The pattern that the data reveal is extremely odd. It’s like finding a zoo of animals of all ages and sizes miraculously having identical, say, weight in their backbones or something. It is possible that a non-gravitational fifth force is ruling the dark matter with an invisible hand, leaving the same fingerprints on all galaxies, irrespective of their ages, shapes and sizes.”

Such a force might solve an even bigger mystery, known as ‘dark energy’, which is ruling the accelerated expansion of the Universe. A more radical solution is a revision of the laws of gravity first developed by Isaac Newton in 1687 and refined by Albert Einstein’s theory of General Relativity in 1916. Einstein never fully decided whether his equation should add an omnipresent constant source, now called dark energy.

Dr Famaey added, “If we account for our observations with a modified law of gravity, it makes perfect sense to replace the effective action of hypothetical dark matter with a force closely related to the distribution of visible matter.”

The implications of the new research could change some of the most widely held scientific theories about the history and expansion of the universe.

Lead researcher Dr. Gianfranco Gentile at the University of Ghent concludes, “Understanding this puzzling conspiracy is probably the key to unlock the formation of galaxies and their structures.”

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An international team of astronomers have found an unexpected link between mysterious ‘dark matter’ and the visible stars and gas in galaxies that could revolutionise our current understanding of gravity.


One of the astronomers, Dr Hongsheng Zhao of the SUPA Centre of Gravity, University of St. Andrews, suggests that an unknown force is acting on dark matter. The findings are published this week in the scientific journal Nature.

Only 4% of the universe is made of known material. Stars and gas in galaxies move so fast that astronomers have speculated that the gravity from a hypothetical invisible halo of dark matter is needed to keep galaxies together. However, a solid understanding of dark matter as well as direct evidence of its existence has remained elusive.

Now the team believes that the interactions between dark and ordinary matter could be more important and more complex than previously thought, and even speculate that dark matter might not exist and that the anomalous motions of stars in galaxies are due to a modification of gravity on extragalactic scales.

Dr. Benoit Famaey (Universities of Bonn and Strasbourg) explains: “The dark matter seems to ‘know’ how the visible matter is distributed. They seem to conspire with each other such that the gravity of the visible matter at the characteristic radius of the dark halo is always the same. This is extremely surprising since one would rather expect the balance between visible and dark matter to strongly depend on the individual history of each galaxy.”

Dr. Zhao at the SUPA Centre of Gravity notes, “The pattern that the data reveal is extremely odd. It’s like finding a zoo of animals of all ages and sizes miraculously having identical, say, weight in their backbones or something. It is possible that a non-gravitational fifth force is ruling the dark matter with an invisible hand, leaving the same fingerprints on all galaxies, irrespective of their ages, shapes and sizes.”

Such a force might solve an even bigger mystery, known as ‘dark energy’, which is ruling the accelerated expansion of the Universe. A more radical solution is a revision of the laws of gravity first developed by Isaac Newton in 1687 and refined by Albert Einstein’s theory of General Relativity in 1916. Einstein never fully decided whether his equation should add an omnipresent constant source, now called dark energy.

Dr Famaey added, “If we account for our observations with a modified law of gravity, it makes perfect sense to replace the effective action of hypothetical dark matter with a force closely related to the distribution of visible matter.”

The implications of the new research could change some of the most widely held scientific theories about the history and expansion of the universe.

Lead researcher Dr. Gianfranco Gentile at the University of Ghent concludes, “Understanding this puzzling conspiracy is probably the key to unlock the formation of galaxies and their structures.”

Start uga_filter:

An analysis of sediment cores indicates that biological and chemical changes occurring at a remote Arctic lake are unprecedented over the past 200,000 years and likely are the result of human-caused climate change, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The adjacent foothills hold lakes that were not scoured by glaciers during late Quaternary glaciations, and thus preserve exceptionally long sedimentary records of climate change. (Credit: Jason Briner, Courtesy Queens University)

The adjacent foothills hold lakes that were not scoured by glaciers during late Quaternary glaciations, and thus preserve exceptionally long sedimentary records of climate change. (Credit: Jason Briner, Courtesy Queen's University)

While environmental changes at the lake over the past millennia have been shown to be tightly linked with natural causes of climate change — like periodic, well-understood wobbles in Earth’s orbit — changes seen in the sediment cores since about 1950 indicate expected climate cooling is being overridden by human activity like greenhouse gas emissions. The research team reconstructed past climate and environmental changes at the lake on Baffin Island using indicators that included algae, fossil insects and geochemistry preserved in sediment cores that extend back 200,000 years.

“The past few decades have been unique in the past 200,000 years in terms of the changes we see in the biology and chemistry recorded in the cores,” said lead study author Yarrow Axford of CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. “We see clear evidence for warming in one of the most remote places on Earth at a time when the Arctic should be cooling because of natural processes.”

The study was published Oct. 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study included researchers from CU-Boulder, the State University of New York’s University at Buffalo, the University of Alberta, the University of Massachusetts and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

The sediment cores were extracted from the bottom of a roughly 100-acre, 30-foot-deep lake near the village of Clyde River on the east coast of Baffin Island, which is several hundred miles west of Greenland. The lake sediment cores go back in time 80,000 years beyond the oldest reliable ice cores from Greenland and capture the environmental conditions of two previous ice ages and three interglacial periods.

The sediment cores showed that several types of mosquito-like midges that flourish in very cold climates have been abundant at the lake for the past several thousand years. But the cold-adapted midge species abruptly began declining in about 1950, matching their lowest abundances of the last 200,000 years. Two of the midge species adapted to the coldest temperatures have completely disappeared from the lake region, said Axford.

In addition, a species of diatom, a lake algae that was relatively rare at the site before the 20th century, has undergone unprecedented increases in recent decades, possibly in response to declining ice cover on the Baffin Island lake.

“Our results show that the human footprint is overpowering long-standing natural processes even in remote Arctic regions,” said co-author John Smol of Queen’s University. “This historical record shows that we are dramatically affecting the ecosystems on which we depend.”

“The 20th century is the only period during the past 200 millennia in which aquatic indicators reflect increased warming, despite the declining effect of slow changes in the tilt of the Earth’s axis which, under natural conditions, would lead to climatic cooling,” notes the University of Colorado’s Dr. Axford.

The ancient lake sediment cores are the oldest ever recovered from glaciated parts of Canada or Greenland. Massive ice sheets during ice ages generally scour the underlying bedrock and remove previous sediments.

“What is unique about these sediment cores is that even though glaciers covered this lake, for various reasons they did not erode it,” said study co-author Jason Briner of the University at Buffalo. The result is that we have a really long sequence of sediment that has survived Arctic glaciations.”

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Geological Society of America.

A study published in the journal Science last month that involved CU-Boulder researchers and reconstructed past temperatures in the Arctic using ice cores, tree rings and lake sediments concluded that recent warming around the Arctic is overriding a cooling trend caused by Earth’s periodic wobble. Earth is now about 0.6 million miles further from the sun during the Northern Hemisphere summer solstice than it was in 1 B.C. — a trend that has caused overall cooling in the Arctic until recently.

INSTAAR researcher and CU-Boulder geological sciences Professor Gifford Miller was a co-author on both the PNAS study and the recent Science study.

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An analysis of sediment cores indicates that biological and chemical changes occurring at a remote Arctic lake are unprecedented over the past 200,000 years and likely are the result of human-caused climate change, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The adjacent foothills hold lakes that were not scoured by glaciers during late Quaternary glaciations, and thus preserve exceptionally long sedimentary records of climate change. (Credit: Jason Briner, Courtesy Queens University)

The adjacent foothills hold lakes that were not scoured by glaciers during late Quaternary glaciations, and thus preserve exceptionally long sedimentary records of climate change. (Credit: Jason Briner, Courtesy Queen's University)

While environmental changes at the lake over the past millennia have been shown to be tightly linked with natural causes of climate change — like periodic, well-understood wobbles in Earth’s orbit — changes seen in the sediment cores since about 1950 indicate expected climate cooling is being overridden by human activity like greenhouse gas emissions. The research team reconstructed past climate and environmental changes at the lake on Baffin Island using indicators that included algae, fossil insects and geochemistry preserved in sediment cores that extend back 200,000 years.

“The past few decades have been unique in the past 200,000 years in terms of the changes we see in the biology and chemistry recorded in the cores,” said lead study author Yarrow Axford of CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. “We see clear evidence for warming in one of the most remote places on Earth at a time when the Arctic should be cooling because of natural processes.”

The study was published Oct. 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study included researchers from CU-Boulder, the State University of New York’s University at Buffalo, the University of Alberta, the University of Massachusetts and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

The sediment cores were extracted from the bottom of a roughly 100-acre, 30-foot-deep lake near the village of Clyde River on the east coast of Baffin Island, which is several hundred miles west of Greenland. The lake sediment cores go back in time 80,000 years beyond the oldest reliable ice cores from Greenland and capture the environmental conditions of two previous ice ages and three interglacial periods.

The sediment cores showed that several types of mosquito-like midges that flourish in very cold climates have been abundant at the lake for the past several thousand years. But the cold-adapted midge species abruptly began declining in about 1950, matching their lowest abundances of the last 200,000 years. Two of the midge species adapted to the coldest temperatures have completely disappeared from the lake region, said Axford.

In addition, a species of diatom, a lake algae that was relatively rare at the site before the 20th century, has undergone unprecedented increases in recent decades, possibly in response to declining ice cover on the Baffin Island lake.

“Our results show that the human footprint is overpowering long-standing natural processes even in remote Arctic regions,” said co-author John Smol of Queen’s University. “This historical record shows that we are dramatically affecting the ecosystems on which we depend.”

“The 20th century is the only period during the past 200 millennia in which aquatic indicators reflect increased warming, despite the declining effect of slow changes in the tilt of the Earth’s axis which, under natural conditions, would lead to climatic cooling,” notes the University of Colorado’s Dr. Axford.

The ancient lake sediment cores are the oldest ever recovered from glaciated parts of Canada or Greenland. Massive ice sheets during ice ages generally scour the underlying bedrock and remove previous sediments.

“What is unique about these sediment cores is that even though glaciers covered this lake, for various reasons they did not erode it,” said study co-author Jason Briner of the University at Buffalo. The result is that we have a really long sequence of sediment that has survived Arctic glaciations.”

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Geological Society of America.

A study published in the journal Science last month that involved CU-Boulder researchers and reconstructed past temperatures in the Arctic using ice cores, tree rings and lake sediments concluded that recent warming around the Arctic is overriding a cooling trend caused by Earth’s periodic wobble. Earth is now about 0.6 million miles further from the sun during the Northern Hemisphere summer solstice than it was in 1 B.C. — a trend that has caused overall cooling in the Arctic until recently.

INSTAAR researcher and CU-Boulder geological sciences Professor Gifford Miller was a co-author on both the PNAS study and the recent Science study.

Start uga_filter:

curve surfer_01

Designed for an international design contest, the Allivision 09, the “Curve Surfer” by Michaël van Vuuren is a car concept that provides an eco ride even without compromising on speed and performance. Drawing inspiration from a catamaran that symbolizes speed, pureness, energy, travel and passion, the futuristic vehicle runs on solar energy produced by solar panels located on the roof. Integrating a transparent floor or chassis for an exciting ride, the Curve Surfer features a modular wheel system, allowing a more intensive feeling on the curves to the rider.
Read the rest of this entry

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.humacon.org/2009/10/28/curve-surfer-with-transparent-chassis-sails-smoothly-on-the-road/#more-605 Start uga_is_url_internal: www.humacon.org/2009/10/28/curve-surfer-with-transparent-chassis-sails-smoothly-on-the-road/#more-605 Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Match found, url is internal Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: 1 Get tracker for internal URL Start uga_track_internal_url: www.humacon.org/2009/10/28/curve-surfer-with-transparent-chassis-sails-smoothly-on-the-road/#more-605, Start uga_get_option: track_files uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_files (1) Tracking files enabled Start uga_get_option: track_extensions uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_extensions (gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc) Checking file extension gif Checking file extension jpg Checking file extension jpeg Checking file extension bmp Checking file extension png Checking file extension pdf Checking file extension mp3 Checking file extension wav Checking file extension phps Checking file extension zip Checking file extension gz Checking file extension tar Checking file extension rar Checking file extension jar Checking file extension exe Checking file extension pps Checking file extension ppt Checking file extension xls Checking file extension doc Ending uga_track_internal_url: Ending uga_track_full_url: Ending uga_preg_callback: Read the rest of this entry Ending uga_filter:

curve surfer_01

Designed for an international design contest, the Allivision 09, the “Curve Surfer” by Michaël van Vuuren is a car concept that provides an eco ride even without compromising on speed and performance. Drawing inspiration from a catamaran that symbolizes speed, pureness, energy, travel and passion, the futuristic vehicle runs on solar energy produced by solar panels located on the roof. Integrating a transparent floor or chassis for an exciting ride, the Curve Surfer features a modular wheel system, allowing a more intensive feeling on the curves to the rider.
Read the rest of this entry

Start uga_filter:

thematic pavilion_01

Second runner-up in the competition to design the Thematic Pavilion for Yeosu Expo 2012, the “Great Blue Whale” from Studio Nicoletti Associati is an allegorical architecture that draws attention toward the rich and attractive, but at the same time fragile, resources and ecology of the coastal areas. Based on a nautical theme, The Living Ocean and Coast, the pavilion depicts the oceans as originator of life on Earth and invites inhabitants to fulfill their responsibility to protect the aquatic ecosystem. To quote the jury,It has a strong and powerful form that would become instantly recognizable. The theme of the Expo is symbolically represented with a shape drawn from marine life. The image of the pavilion is consistent with the theme of the ocean. Its fluid shape celebrates the nature of water and the marine life that has adapted to it. It makes a very simple but powerful metaphorical relationship. The exhibition space is very practical for post-use.

thematic pavilion_02
thematic pavilion_03
thematic pavilion_05
thematic pavilion_06

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

thematic pavilion_01

Second runner-up in the competition to design the Thematic Pavilion for Yeosu Expo 2012, the “Great Blue Whale” from Studio Nicoletti Associati is an allegorical architecture that draws attention toward the rich and attractive, but at the same time fragile, resources and ecology of the coastal areas. Based on a nautical theme, The Living Ocean and Coast, the pavilion depicts the oceans as originator of life on Earth and invites inhabitants to fulfill their responsibility to protect the aquatic ecosystem. To quote the jury,It has a strong and powerful form that would become instantly recognizable. The theme of the Expo is symbolically represented with a shape drawn from marine life. The image of the pavilion is consistent with the theme of the ocean. Its fluid shape celebrates the nature of water and the marine life that has adapted to it. It makes a very simple but powerful metaphorical relationship. The exhibition space is very practical for post-use.

thematic pavilion_02
thematic pavilion_03
thematic pavilion_05
thematic pavilion_06

Start uga_filter:

amphibian pavilion_01

Conceived by Antoine Damery, the amphibian pavilion from Peddle Thorpe Architects (PTA) is a floating exhibition space that adjusts to varied space needs and can be sailed to distance places as a vessel to organize exhibitions as well as performances via sustainable means. An entry at the World Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea, the floating structure is an adaptable living building to support multidisciplinary activities while creating awareness about coastal eco-systems. Drawing inspiration from the contours and fluidity of oceanic organisms, the floating pavilion featuring a schematic design, reactive to the oceanic environments, attaches to the coastline as a living organism. Rising and falling with the tides, the pavilion provides an open interior to collaborate and host a range of events.

amphibian pavilion_02
amphibian pavilion_03
amphibian pavilion_04
amphibian pavilion_05
amphibian pavilion_06
amphibian pavilion_07
amphibian pavilion_08

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

amphibian pavilion_01

Conceived by Antoine Damery, the amphibian pavilion from Peddle Thorpe Architects (PTA) is a floating exhibition space that adjusts to varied space needs and can be sailed to distance places as a vessel to organize exhibitions as well as performances via sustainable means. An entry at the World Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea, the floating structure is an adaptable living building to support multidisciplinary activities while creating awareness about coastal eco-systems. Drawing inspiration from the contours and fluidity of oceanic organisms, the floating pavilion featuring a schematic design, reactive to the oceanic environments, attaches to the coastline as a living organism. Rising and falling with the tides, the pavilion provides an open interior to collaborate and host a range of events.

amphibian pavilion_02
amphibian pavilion_03
amphibian pavilion_04
amphibian pavilion_05
amphibian pavilion_06
amphibian pavilion_07
amphibian pavilion_08

Start uga_filter:

the frame hotel_01

An entry at the WAN Awards 2009, the Frame Hotel is a simple yet modern structure that pioneers a new form of architectural design to create an imposing aesthetics while sustaining the environment. Designed for Villamoda Galleries in Dubai, UAE, the structure accommodates a vast vertical garden enclosed in a huge frame, which apart from limiting the built-up areas also determines the exterior facade of the massive hotel building. Featuring a plant-like structure cut out from the constructive frame, the architecture is covered by perpendicular planes of solar protected dark glass to create a dynamic parallaxical vision, while protecting the structure from sun and wind.

Housing various restaurants, showrooms, a cigar lounge, all connected by mechanical pathways and vertigo-inspiring escalators, the structure looks like an urban jungle and invites guests to enjoy fresh and green surroundings in the desert.

the frame hotel_02
the frame hotel_03
the frame hotel_04

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Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showawardinformations Start uga_is_url_internal: www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showawardinformations Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.humacon.org,humacon.org) Checking hostname www.humacon.org Checking hostname humacon.org Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showawardinformations Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showawardinformations Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showawardinformations Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showawardinformations Ending uga_preg_callback: WAN Awards 2009 Ending uga_filter:

the frame hotel_01

An entry at the WAN Awards 2009, the Frame Hotel is a simple yet modern structure that pioneers a new form of architectural design to create an imposing aesthetics while sustaining the environment. Designed for Villamoda Galleries in Dubai, UAE, the structure accommodates a vast vertical garden enclosed in a huge frame, which apart from limiting the built-up areas also determines the exterior facade of the massive hotel building. Featuring a plant-like structure cut out from the constructive frame, the architecture is covered by perpendicular planes of solar protected dark glass to create a dynamic parallaxical vision, while protecting the structure from sun and wind.

Housing various restaurants, showrooms, a cigar lounge, all connected by mechanical pathways and vertigo-inspiring escalators, the structure looks like an urban jungle and invites guests to enjoy fresh and green surroundings in the desert.

the frame hotel_02
the frame hotel_03
the frame hotel_04

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'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Start uga_get_option: account_id uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: account_id (UA-10399907-2) Ending uga_get_tracker: Start uga_insert_html_once: footer, Footer hooked: HTML inserted: Location is FOOTER Inserting HTML End uga_insert_html Ending uga_wp_footer_track: Start uga_shutdown Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Footer hook was executed Start uga_get_option: footer_hooked uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: footer_hooked (1) Start uga_get_option: debug uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: debug (1) -->