Bangladesh Bans Business Suits

Bangladesh has decided to change their dress code to reflect their local climate and save energy. By dressing for the weather it is expected that the country will consume less energy by using air conditioners. Wouldn’t it be grand if people dressed for the weather?

Read all about at the BBC.

Bangladesh’s official dress code has been rewritten – after Sheikh Hasina ordered government employees to do more to ease the country’s energy shortage.
Even ministers now will no longer be expected to wear suits and ties.
During the hot months between March and November, men have been ordered to wear trousers and shirts instead, and these do not have to be tucked in any more.
Officials and ministers have also been told not to turn their air-conditioners below 24C.
In June, the government introduced daylight saving, and the clocks moved forward by one hour, in another attempt to cut energy consumption.

Ontario Cuts Back on Coal

The CBC is reporting that Ontario will close four coal power plants. Previously, the government had to readjust its targeted closure of all coal plants to 2014, but it’s good to see that coal plants are closing down regardless.

OPG will close two of eight coal-burning units at its Nanticoke station near Simcoe and two of four units at its Lambton plant near Sarnia by October 2010, Smitherman said at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday.

The utility also closed Toronto’s Lakeview Generating Station in 2005. Once the next four units are taken off-line, Ontario will have reduced its coal-burning capacity by 40 per cent.

Formula Zero

Formula 1 is a popular international racing league that eschews anything to do with alternative fuels and engines. Formula Zero, on the other hand, is built on the idea that cars of the future will use carbon neutral engines – thus zero carbon output. This is a great idea for a racing league, so start your engines sport racers!

Read more about Formula Zero.

Hydrogen fuel cells power the racers’ electric engines, which can go 0 to 60 (100 km/h) in 5 seconds and up to 75 mph (120 km/h). Of course, winning isn’t everything … the Dutch team Greenchoice Forze claims 70% renewable materials in their car’s bodywork (such as natural flax fibers and bio-based resin) and offsets its carbon footprint with a green energy provider.

“There is no better way to educate the engineers of tomorrow than to give them an opportunty to get hands-on experience with these technologies and to prove their capbilities in a competition,” says Eiso Vaandrager, one of the original organizers and enthusiasts of zero-emissions racing. “Students interested in starting their team for the next season should contact Formula Zero now.”

Gasometer, Vienna

At Gasometer, Vienna people live in old gas tanks that have been converted to really neat-looking modern apartments. It’s a great model of taking old industrial spaces and converting them into livable spaces. You can read about it on Wikipedia.

gasometer

The Gasometers have developed a village character all their own and are a city within a city. A true sense of community has developed, and both a large physical housing community (of tenants) as well as an active virtual internet community (Gasometer Community) have formed. Numerous theses and dissertations in psychology, urban planning, journalism and architecture have been written about this phenomenon.

Indoor facilities include a music hall (capacity 2000–3000 people), movie theatre, student dormitory, municipal archive, and so on. There are about 800 apartments (two thirds within the historic brick walls) with 1600 regular tenants, as well as about 70 student apartments with 250 students in residence.

Breathalyzer for Cancer

Some researchers have produced a prototype breathalyzer that can help detect lung cancer; hopefully this will lead to earlier detection (and thus better treatment). Here’s a short article on it.

They believe the technology could lead to cheap, portable breath-test devices with the potential to save large numbers of lives by spotting cancer early.
The lung cancer biomarkers were found by comparing breath samples from 40 diagnosed patients and 56 healthy individuals.
From the results, the researchers identified 42 “volatile organic compounds” (VOCs) present in the breath of 83% of cancer patients but fewer than 83% of healthy volunteers.