Study published by Lancet says surge in car use in south and east Asia killed 2.1m people prematurely in 2010
Via Digital Sustainability
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Quantum computers could more easily become a reality if they incorporated the silicon semiconductor processing used by the modern electronics industry. Physicists in Australia have recently taken a new step toward that vision by reading and writing the nuclear spin state of a single phosphorus atom implanted in silicon. In a breakthrough reported in the 18 April edition of the journal Nature, physicists have finally achieved an idea first proposed in 1998 by Bruce Kane, a physicist at theUniversity of Maryland, in College Park. Such success could lead to quantum computers based on the same silicon-processing technology used for computer chips. Via Szabolcs Kósa Delete the scoop?
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More efficient, less complex and cheaper, 3D solar cells can also capture more sunlight than conventional PV models Via Szabolcs Kósa Delete the scoop?
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Technology is the ultimate democratizing force in society. Over time, technology raises lowest common denominators by reducing costs and connecting people across the world. Medical technology is no exception to this trend: previously siloed repositories of information and expensive diagnostic methods are rapidly finding a global reach and enabling both patients and practitioners to make better use of information. This visualization is an exercise in speculating about which individual technologies are likely to affect the scenario of health in the coming decades. Arranged in six broad areas, the forecast covers a multitude of research and developments that are likely to disrupt the future of healthcare. Via Szabolcs Kósa Delete the scoop?
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In the London borough of Newham, where much of the Olympic Park is located, one of the greenest buildings in the world is on the rise at the Royal Docks. The Crystal, as its known, was developed by Siemens — that global powerhouse in renewable energy tech, among other things — for the center of London’s new Green Enterprise District. Conceived of as an ‘intelligent all electric’ building, it will serve as a showcase for innovative tech- from solar arrays (which cover the roof of the building) to heat pumps tied to geothermal wells (buried beneath the building site). Via Lauren Moss, Digital Sustainability Delete the scoop?
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Students are the future, but what's the future for students? To arm them with the relevant, timeless skills for our rapidly changing world, we need to revolutionize what it means to learn. Education innovators like Dr. Sugata Mitra, visiting professor at MIT; Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy; and Dr. Catherine Lucey, Vice Dean of Education at UCSF, are redefining how we engage young minds for a creatively and technologically-advanced future. Which of these eduvators holds the key for unlocking the learning potential inside every student? Via Sakis Koukouvis 
Dave Phillipson's comment,
May 31, 2012 3:56 PM
This is a somewhat fair offering, the True future of education is http://www.SuperTeaching.org
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Taipei just broke ground on a twisting skyscraper that is wrapped with a jungle of vertical gardens... Designed by Vincent Callebaut Architecture, the 455,000-square-foot Agora Tower will have an orchard, a vegetable garden, space for aromatic and medicinal plants, and a compost and rainwater capture system. Designed to mimic two encircling hands and the helical structure of DNA, the towers are organized a central core that allows for a “hyper-abundance of suspended gardens.” These will spill over with edible and decorative plants, enabling residents of 40 luxury apartments to harvest a great deal of their own food (except for protein.) Plus, the rainwater capture system alleviates pressure on the municipal water supply and gives the complex even greater independence. Each 540 square meter apartment will have an interior green wall as well, ensuring optimum air quality and a great green aesthetics. A circular light funnel will push daylighting right down to the basement of the building, a solar roof will provide energy, and low E glass will mitigate excess solar gain and prevent thermal loss. Complete with nanotechnology and a host of other high-tech features, this one-of-a-kind tower may well be the greenest of its kind when it is completed circa 2016.... Via Lauren Moss, Ian Lin 
Florence Rollin's curator insight,
March 10, 5:20 AM
Designed by Vincent Callebaut Architecture, the 455,000-square-foot Agora Tower will have an orchard, a vegetable garden, space for aromatic and medicinal plants, and a compost and rainwater capture system. 
Pagina Uno's curator insight,
March 10, 6:10 AM
Progettato per imitare la struttura elicoidale del DNA, le torri sono organizzate intorno ad un nucleo centrale che ha permesso la realizzare un "iper-abbondanza di giardini sospesi." Questi traboccano di piante commestibili e decorative, che consentono ai residenti dei 40 appartamenti di lusso di raccogliere una grande quantità di cibo. Inoltre, un sistema di raccolta delle acque piovane allevia il peso sulla rete idrica comunale e dà indipendenza al complesso. 
Bubba Muntzer's comment,
March 10, 1:30 PM
This is a real fad now, skyscrapers that twist toward the sky like that, isn't it? I can't help but wonder about the legacy. Are we entering a new era where the species is losing its self consciousness, or have these architects simply not heard the old limerick about the heartbreak when the man who was threaded one way fell in love with the woman who was threaded the other way?
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![Sustainable Technology: Our phones are depleting natural resources [INFOGRAPHIC] | Sustain Our Earth | Scoop.it](http://img.scoop.it/PMwB9eX-lUPdQsXTU7RaYjl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_Rd1H6kmuBWtceBJ)
This infographic takes a look at this troubling technology trend, which is depleting the planet's supply of Rare Earth Elements. Apple sold a record 5 million iPhones the first weekend the phone was on the market. And unlike in the iPhone’s early days, the latest Apple smartphones are not primarily being purchased by first time owners. But did you ever stop to think about what happens to all those iPhone 3, 3GS, 4 and 4Ss now deemed out of date? While there are many recycling programs available, most smartphones are not efficiently thrown out. Apple’s iPhones is far from the only culprit —.. Via Lauren Moss, Digital Sustainability Delete the scoop?
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Understanding long-term trends is an important tool in identifying opportunities and risks. STEEP analysis looks at the world through five different perspectives – Social, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Political. The following are the major themes that are presently shaping the future... Via Szabolcs Kósa Delete the scoop?
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Biomorphic House with organic skin designed by Pavie Architects & Design has aerodynamic shapes, and is situated 1000 meters over the Mediterranean Sea. It's formed to withstand winter storms perfectly and provides enough windows with transparent photovoltaic-cells to secure power sufficient for the heating, and electricity needs. The interior design is the natural extension of the inside of the skin. Free shaped floors, walls and ceilings give the feeling of a super luxurious space ship. This pilot project, through a self-powered water electrolyze process, converts the obtained energy to hydrogen and saves it for a future use. Later, a hydrogen powered PEM-Fuel-Cell generator can supply electricity to the house, releasing pure water and reusable heat as side-products... Via Lauren Moss, Digital Sustainability Delete the scoop?
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An explosion of car use has made fast-growing Asian cities the epicentre of global air pollution and become, along with obesity, the world's fastest growing cause of death according to a major study of global diseases.
In 2010, more than 2.1m people in Asia died prematurely from air pollution, mostly from the minute particles of diesel soot and gasses emitted from cars and lorries. Other causes of air pollution include construction and industry. Of these deaths, says the study published in The Lancet, 1.2 million were in east Asia and China, and 712,000 in south Asia, including India.
Worldwide, a record 3.2m people a year died from air pollution in 2010, compared with 800,000 in 2000. It now ranks for the first time in the world's top 10 list of killer diseases, says the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.
The unexpected figure has shocked scientists and public health groups. David Pettit, director of the southern California air programme with the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), said: "That's a terribly high number – and much more people than previously thought. Earlier studies were limited to data that was available at the time on coarse particles in urban areas only."
Anumita Roychowdhury, head of air pollution at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based environmental group, said: "There is hard evidence now to act urgently to reduce the public health risks to all, particularly children, elderly and the poor. No-one can escape toxic air."
The full effects of air pollution on health in Asian cities may not be seen for years, she said. "Toxic effects like cancer surface after a long latency period. Therefore, exposure to air pollution will have to be reduced today to reduce the burden of disease," she said.
According to the report, by a consortium of universities working in conjunction with the UN, 65% of all air pollution deaths are now in Asia, which lost 52m years of healthy life from fine particle air pollution in 2010. Air pollution also contributes to higher rates of cognitive decline, strokes and heart attacks.
Pollution from car emissions killing millions in China and India via @sustentadigital