Month: October 2010

Toronto’s First Bike Boxes

- Dan Harrison 2 Comments

Cyclists in Portland have long since known the benefits of Bike Boxes (also called advance stop lines.) which allow a safe place for cyclists to stop at an intersection. This gives cyclists increased visibility when taking the lane to make a left turn, and generally increases the safe space around bikes. Toronto’s first bike boxes have sprouted up at Harbord and St. George recently and although many motorists and cyclists are unfamiliar with them, they’re a step in the right direction!

Read more of Derek Flack’s article at BlogTO.

Toronto is Getting Better

- Adam Clare

There’s an election happening in Toronto right now and all the campaigns lack optimism and the people have noticed. Local columnist Christopher Hume has compiled a fun list of things that are good which are already under development in Toronto. He wants to help people realize all the good things happening in the city – good for him and good for Toronto.

Nuit Blanche: One night, one million people and 130-odd art installations scattered throughout the core; the result is the most genuinely popular cultural event in Toronto. The fifth edition, held this past weekend, closed off much of the downtown stretch of Yonge and Bloor streets for 12 hours of pedestrian freedom. Despite annual complaints of drunkenness and loutish behaviour, Nuit Blanche is a brilliant way of getting Torontonians engaged in their city at street level.

…
Evergreen Brickworks: Much remains to be done, but already this innovative and thoroughly entertaining complex has become a gateway to the Toronto ravine system and ecological urbanism. It also happens to be one of the most extensive and imaginative heritage rehabilitation schemes ever seen in Toronto. With several large galleries, classrooms and various amenities, indoors and out, this is a place to see an exhibition, take a course, eat dinner, go for skate or enjoy the views.

Right the rest of Hume’s article.

Legalizing Prostitution Increases Health and Safety

- Adam Clare

Prostitution isn’t going away anytime soon (or ever) and as a result ought to ensure the safety of those involved in the field. In many places sex workers are abused and exploited and that’s not a good thing.

A new study from Australia found that no matter what the laws are around prostitution it will still occur; however, if it’s legalized than sex workers are healthier and safer!

Sex workers in Sydney, where adult prostitution is decriminalised and brothel locations are regulated through local planning laws, have access to the best-funded support program at $800,000 a year.

Sydney sex workers were also more likely to report regular contact with a health worker compared with those in other cities.

Sydney has about 200 brothels within 20 kilometres of the city centre, the research found, all operating legally – but many without planning permission.

Read the rest of the article.

Horse Drawn Trash for Good Collection

- Adam Clare

Before automobiles horse drawn buggies were used for trash collection and it looks like we’re going back to that classic solution. Garbage trucks have a hard time negotiating smaller streets and a benefit of the horses is less exhaust in the city.

For Jean Baptiste, mayor of medieval Peyrestortes, near Perpignan and one of 60 towns now using horses to collect waste, the benefit above all is practical. “You can’t turn a waste collection vehicle around here. We used to block streets to traffic and keep waste in open skips.” He sold off a dustbin lorry and acquired two Breton carthorses instead. Asked whether the changes are saving money, he says: “It’s too early. But money isn’t the only reason. The exhaust smells have gone, the noise has gone, and instead we have the clip-clop of horses’ hooves.”

In Saint Prix, however, in Greater Paris, Mayor Jean-Pierre Enjalbert is certain he is saving money as the novelty of the horses has increased recycling rates. “By using the horse for garden waste collection, we have raised awareness. People are composting more. Incineration used to cost us €107 a tonne, ridiculous for burning wet matter, now we only pay €37 to collect and compost the waste.”

Read the full article at the Guardian.

Scratched Lenses for Clearer Vision

- Adam Clare

As we age our eyes start to degrade and often require glasses to correct vision issues. For many people bifocals are an imperfect solution. Some new research suggests that glasses of the future will be able to keep everything in focus at the same time by putting fine scratches on the lenses.

It involves engraving the surface of a standard lens with a grid of 25 near-circular structures each 2 millimetres across and containing two concentric rings. The engraved rings are just a few hundred micrometres wide and a micrometre deep. “The exact number and size of the sets will change from one lens to another,” depending on its size and shape, says Zalevsky.

The rings shift the phase of the light waves passing through the lens, leading to patterns of both constructive and destructive interference. Using a computer model to calculate how changes in the diameter and position of the rings alter the pattern, Zalevsky came up with a design that creates a channel of constructive interference perpendicular to the lens through each of the 25 structures. Within these channels, light from both near and distant objects is in perfect focus.

Read more at New Scientist.

Scroll To Top