Japan will build ice wall to prevent leaks of nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture

In March, the Japanese Government announced a plan of €344,6 million for the construction of a giant wall of ice, hoping to contain the radiation from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Now, the bizarre project received the green light and the construction is expected to begin soon.

Although the project may seem like a joke and analogies with the series Game of Thornes more than evident, the Japanese project has its differences from the saga. The proposed wall will be built underground, where engineers will freeze the soil under the Fukushima nuclear plant, in an attempt to prevent radiation leaks that are contaminating the soil and water.

The authority for Nuclear Regulation indicates that construction should start in July and will begin with the blocking of groundwater from nearby hillsides, referred to Inhabitat. These waters have drained into the basement of the central and has mixed with contaminated water with radiation, which were used to cool the reactors after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

Subsequently, the water will circulate in a special refrigerator in order to create a great wall of 1.5 kilometres which will contain the entry of groundwater. Although the project has been approved, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) will have to review other parts of the project if there is danger to existing structures, such as the underground drainage systems.

Although scientists assert that the project might work, nothing has been built on this scale previously, especially in the temporal period proposed. If the ice wall works and contains the radiation leaks, TEPCO can continue to dismantle the central Fukishima, an operation that can take several decades. The area surrounding the power plant still off-limits due to high levels of radiation.

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SPV ensures compensation of the carbon emissions of Rock In Rio

For the third consecutive Edition, Rock In Rio will be carbon neutral, relying on the certification for forwarding for recycling of 3R6 waste generated in their enclosure. This offsetting carbon emissions have the seal of the green dot services, which assigns the label Zero carbon Premium.

This one, which will be awarded for the first time to a music event, ensures that are offset all carbon emissions into the atmosphere, issued the public wants for part of the Organization, including movement of bands and their goods, energy consumption, movement of people and goods from partners (sponsors and suppliers), treatment of waste produced.

To compensate for the emissions that may be generated in the 2014 Edition, the Organization of Rock In Rio will plant 118 thousand trees, until 2016, in burnt areas of Portugal.

"Rock in Rio was the first event in Portugal and in Brazil to join the 3R6, and also for being the first music event to neutralize the climate impact with the seal Zero carbon Premium. The image that used to be usual at the end of concerts, abandoned waste on empty enclosure, belongs to the past increasingly. Rock in Rio has pioneered and has been an example of good environmental practices and is the event where more recycles in Portugal, raising the bar for sustainability that intended for the big events, "pointed out in comunicdo Luis Veiga Malik, CEO of green dot Corporation.

In total the last three editions of the Rock in Rio-Lisbon were forwarded for recycling more than 80 tons of plastic and metal containers; 37 tons of paper and cardboard and 9 tonnes of glass packaging.

In close collaboration with the company green dot in the 2012 Edition were sent for recycling approximately 32% of the waste produced, between the Assembly and disassembly of the event. Of the remaining residues, 56% were recovered energetically and 2% received organic.

Giant recycling facility "feeds" social cause

The success of the waste management strategy of Rock in Rio-Lisbon depends on a lot of cooperation from the public. Indeed, the recycling of packaging will join the animation of the enclosure, sensitizing the participants of the event to its benefits. In return of packaging waste deposited by the participants, such as plastic cups, pizza boxes or bottles of water, Green Point society will offer prizes and support a social action, contributing to more meals arrive who else needs.

In addition to contributing to a social cause and to improve the environment, to deposit their packaging in ecoponto green dot society all who travel to the Rock in Rio-Lisbon can still claim one of the t-shirts designed specially for music festivals in which the company green dot's presence, in which the logos of iconic Portuguese bands and musicians were associated with recycling.

Implemented for the first time in Rock in Rio-Lisbon 2008, 3R6 joined forever the history of the event to the genesis of the seal, which ensures that the waste produced in the events are properly forwarded to the final destination by following the management hierarchy of 3R: reduce, reuse and recycle. The objective is the reduction of waste production and maximising the quantities sent to recycling and recovery.

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The first renewable energy co-operative in Portugal (with video)

The roofs of the daycare tortoise and the Hare, right in the Centre of Lisbon, were covered by photovoltaic panels that enable an annual production of electricity of more than 30,000 Kw/h, enough to supply 13 families.

All this was made possible due to the emergence of Coopérnico, the first cooperative dedicated to the production of renewable energy in Portugal, an idea of a group of 16 citizens who share a concern with sustainable development.

"[The partnership] is doing a lease the roof â€" or another space that will allow us to install our production plants. At the end of this period, we have given the equipment free of charge to the institution or association. Thus, this shall benefit from all the electricity that is produced, "explained to the green economy Jorge Nuno Brito, President of Coopérnico.

Currently, the rental period is 15 years, being that the equipment have a guarantee of production of 25 years. In the case of the kindergarten Turtle and the Hare, owned by the Portuguese Association of parents and friends of mentally deficient Citizen (APPACDM), alia, spectacularly, to social solidarity.

"To be aligned on projects of this nature and being able to bring other organizations for this type of projects, is an advantage for everyone, for the Country and children who are here," said John Davis, one of the leaders of MENTALLY DISABLED CHILDREN.

Is also a form of the Coopérnico help social economy associations or organisations to find an alternative source of funding. "In this case, a day-care center, is also a way to contribute to education," concluded Nuno Brito Jorge.

The Coopérnico has several other projects designed for the short and medium term, but lack legislation for its compliance. "We are living through a period of transition, in Portugal, between the previous scheme, subsidised rates, and the new regime of self-consumption. Right now, that delays the implementation of new projects ", explained Nuno Jorge.

Anyone can be a member of this ecological cooperative and participate in energy projects. For it is only necessary to fill in the membership form available on the page Coopérnico and acquire at least three titles of share capital, amounting to € 60 (R$184,7).

Foto: bradleygee/Creative Commons

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USA: library of Congress wants to destroy CD in support of science

The library of Congress of the United States is asking Americans to donate the CD obsolete they have in their homes. The aim is not to investigate the data that the devices contain nor use them for artistic purposes, but rather for purposes of scientific research.

In essence, the library wants to destroy the CD (compact disc) for the lowdown. The investigation is being conducted by the Center for Analytical Science Samples, which deals with "destructive testing" to determine the best methods of preservation for the various library collections, including the CDs. Second Fenella France, Director of testing and conservation of library, the lab is conducting a series of tests in order to better understand the aging process of the CD.

"We are trying to understand, in terms of what kind of CD collections are at greater risk," explained France, quoted by Consequence of Sound. "The problem is that different producers have different formulas for the manufacture of objects, it is hard to see how articles grow older because the producers were modifying the composition of objects over time and its properties of information". "All modern formats were not designed to last a long time. Were developed for mass production ".

And how are they destroyed these CD? Not with baseball bats or hammers, certainly. Is being used an accelerated aging machine that creates extreme conditions of heat and humidity. Some of the CD exposed to these conditions eventually oxidize and lose the data.

More than understand the forms of conservation of CD, the unit of investigation is also studying the ways people treat the CD. For example, one should always get a CD by opening the middle. And if you wrote at the top of a burned CD, to know when that match the data, prepare yourself, because most likely this CD be spoiled in a short time.

"People are usually more concerned with the risks at the bottom of the CD. However, it is possible to damage a CD when writing on top because the ink is absorbed and damages the reflective metal layer ", explains the researcher.

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How to make colored pencils in a ring

The American Peter Brown, a carpenter in his spare time, created a small and simple piece of jewelry as a hobby, far from knowing how popular the artifact would make. This American created a ring made of crayons.

First, Brown joined some hexagon-shaped pencil. Subsequently, pasted them with liquid glue and cut the hexagon crosswise into several pieces. Then he drilled a hole in one of those pieces, the width of your finger. This bit stuck was filed and sanded, acquiring a rounded shape, referred to Bored Panda. Finally, the ring was varnished.

The ring eventually became so popular that Peter Brown can barely cope with the number of orders. See some of the pictures.

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Expo 2015: Italy Pavilion will generate energy and purify the air

Next year, Milan will host another edition of the World Exposition, Expo. Recently, the atelier Nemesi & Partners unveiled Palazzo Italy, the flag of the country. The building will be an infrastructure with six floors with a capacity to generate their own electricity, at the same time that purifies the air.

Designed to mimic an urban forest, the exterior facade is composed of more than 900 panels that form a geometric texture, creating outlines of light and shadow in the Pavilion. After the event finished the flag will stay in place, serving as example for sustainable architecture.

The external façade of Palazzo Italy is made of a special type of concrete with air purifying properties, according to the architects responsible for the project, "when exposed to direct sunlight, the active principle that was embedded in the material captures certain air pollutants and converts them into inert salts, helping to purify the air smog", referred to in Inhabitat.

Inspired by the traditional villages of Italy, the internal structure of the building takes the form of a central square. Four adjacent blocks will surround this square, providing space for exhibitions, events, offices and meeting rooms.

The Nemesi & Partners won an international competition, held in 2013, to choose the entity you were conceiving the Pavilion.

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The inside an abandoned textile factory?

Abandoned in 1980, this textile factory of Tal-y-bont, near Aberystwyth, Wales, retains colors like that nevertheless laboured for decades. In distant times, the factory was a cent of innovation of the textile industry, but today is a place haunted by rusted out machines and objects that have been left behind long ago.

The pictures were taken by Dan Circa, 29 years, which we had brought a 17th-century cottage. "The amount of machinery and articles left behind is something you don't see every day. There are things that should be in a Museum, "said Circa.

"I was surprised with the drawers, which were all placed in order, and I was shocked to see that the story is not being preserved," continued.

The old factory was producing quality suits, until globalization dictated the end. Too bad there, as here, the story is not preserved.

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