Solar Sinter creates objects from sand using nothing more than sunlight and a 3D printer

Aside from that one bitching scene from the first movie Mummy, we don’t like deserts. It’s hot, there’s nothing there and sand tends to get everywhere. Markus Kayser sees it a bit differently, and when he looks at a desert, he doesn’t see a desolate landscape – instead he sees infinite raw materials for his Solar Sinter.

His little invention combines the power of sunlight and a 3D printer to create unique works of art using only what’s available in the harsh desert. The solar panels on the device keep it powered, while the focusing lens on top of the device provide enough heat to melt the silica in the sand to create glass. We’re still not entirely convinced that there’s no kind of witchcraft involved. You can follow this link to see the thing in action.
Source: MarkusKayser

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Porous concrete makes flooding almost impossible, does away with storm drains

Here’s an invention that’s desperately needed in the flood prone metro: Pervious concrete. It’s a type of concrete that’s extremely porous and doesn’t require sand, is able to allow water to seep straight through into the ground water stores below and does a good job standing in for regular concrete for most applications. Since the porous nature of the concrete allows water to go right through it, a lot of other flood management structures like retention ponds and swales are made obsolete, lowering the overall cost of road projects. We’ve linked a demonstration of the thing in action below, in which 1500 gallons of water is dumped on Pervious concrete in 5 min with the water going straight through, equivalent to 43 inches of rain event with no runoff.
Source: Pervious Pavement

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