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Eco-friendly exoskeleton cuts apartment building energy use by 60%

28 February 2023

Nine old apartment buildings in New York City were retrofitted from the outside to consume less energy while minimising disruption to tenants

2HJ1JYB Buildings in the near north side Chicago skyline bask in the late evening sun not long before sunset.

Smart cladding could control whether buildings retain or emit heat

3 February 2023

A new material changes its infrared colour when a small electric current is applied, raising the possibility of buildings that store or release heat depending on outside temperatures

$Mare Crisium is a large, dark, basaltic plain on the Moon that filled an ancient asteroid impact. Basaltic plains on the Moon were created by early volcanic eruptions. Mare Crisium was flooded with basaltic lava, a dark, runny lava commonly found on Earth. Basaltic plains on the Moon are also known as lunar maria, because of a mistaken belief by early astronomers that these dark areas were oceans ? ?maria? is the Latin word for ?seas.? We now know these spots to be plains of basalt created by early volcanic eruptions, but the nomenclature of ?maria? (plural) or ?mare? (singular) remains. The basalts in Mare Crisium range in age from 2.5 to 3.3 billion years old! These dates come from measuring the radioactive isotope signatures of samples returned from Mare Crisium by the Soviet Luna 24 mission. Along the rim of Mare Crisium lies an outer boundary of wrinkle ridges. Wrinkle ridges are commonly found in places where the surface has contracted. As the surface is compressed, it bends and fractures, and can form complicated patterns of faults and folds.$

Bricks made of dust from the moon and Mars could make space buildings

25 May 2022

Baking a mixture of saltwater and materials that mimic dust from the moon or Mars at a high temperature produced sturdy bricks that could be used to build human habitats in space

These streets aren't made for walking: Why sidewalks need a rethink

7 July 2021

Pavements date back some 2000 years, but are seldom built with pedestrians in mind. Here's why reinvented sidewalks could benefit your joints — and the planet

Autonomous walking excavator can build walls and dig trenches

18 June 2021

A construction vehicle designed to operate on difficult terrain and "walk" up steep slopes can operate on its own, building walls, moving heavy stones and trees, and even digging trenches where safety hazards make it difficult to allow human operators

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