Why Las Vegas has no basements June 22, 2008
Posted by pixelthinker in Uncategorized.Tags: archtecture, las vegas, real estate
add a comment
Interesting Vegas factoid:
Las Vegas has very few house basements. Plenty of swimming pools but no basements. That didn’t make any sense to me until someone explained that this area has hard bedrock at about the 5-foot level. Any deeper than that and you need to blast it out.
If I built a house here, I’d dig until I hit bedrock, then set the foundation in that hard rock, create a sunken living room and build up from there. Maybe run some kind of coldwater pipe system to take advantage of the cool ground first, then run the piping thru the walls – or something like that – to save on air-conditioning costs.
Dreaming is still free. 
New innovation in creating fresh water from seawater June 11, 2008
Posted by pixelthinker in Innovation, Science, Uncategorized.add a comment
THIS is GREAT!
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/06/09/teatro-del-agua-the-seawater-greenhouse-that-can-change-the-world/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DFNgzKABos
I love creativity and innovation, and this is a perfect example.
http://www.greenocean.org/
Creating freshwater from seawater with just sunlight and no fuel. Add in some gorgeous architecture, and you have the kind of thing that makes me just want to be part of THAT team!
Aw man… (wistful sigh)… being involved on this level of creativity and innovation is how I want to live my life.
But at least I can blog about it, that is something.
Inflatable concrete shelter June 5, 2008
Posted by pixelthinker in Uncategorized.add a comment
I LOVE innovative ideas like this.
The Concrete Canvas Shelter is a rapidly deployable hardened shelter that requires only water and air for erection. It can be deployed by two people without any training in approximately thirty minutes and is ready to use in twelve hours. The shelter consists of a cement-impregnated fabric (Concrete Cloth) bonded to the outer surface of an inflatable plastic inner structure.
Prior to construction, the shelter is delivered folded in a sealed plastic sack. Once the sack is positioned and filled with water, the fiber matrix wicks water into the cement, naturally controlling the water-to-cement ratio. The sack is cut open after hydration, and a battery-driven fan inflates the inner plastic lining, causing the structure to lift. After a duration of twelve hours, the concrete will have set sufficiently for use.
The fibers of the Concrete Canvas fabric form a coherent matrix within the concrete, providing tensile reinforcement and helping prevent crack propagation. If desired, the shelter can be buried with over 0.5 meters of sand on the roof in order to provide increased insulation and protection.
http://www.concretecanvas.co.uk/aboutccs.html
Hello world! May 31, 2008
Posted by pixelthinker in Uncategorized.add a comment
Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
