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The idea behind recycling is to take trash, break it back down into raw materials and then reuse those raw materials to make new things.
The idea behind upcycling is to take trash itself as a raw material and use it to make new things. The trash directly becomes part of the new object. If you think about it, quilting is a very old example of upcycling.
Here is an example of modern upcycling. In the following video, plastic shopping bags are fused together to make a fabric that is then used to make a messenger bag…
Social media sites help people stay connected with their friends, let them play games and provide an outlet for marketing their businesses. Twitter and Facebook aren’t just for the geeks among us, it seems like just about everyone’s got a profile of some kind — some people even have two or more. But there are other reasons to use social media sites, and Lockheed Martin wants to learn how people use social media in life-changing situations.
Just about everyone has heard about the Taj Mahal, but few know many details about it. And the details of this 460 year old building really are fascinating…
Shale Gas and Europe’s Energy Future
by Sarah Dowdey | June 25, 2010
When we think of energy independence in North America, we usually think of foreign oil and getting to a point where we wouldn’t need it any more. Some people’s idea of independence revolves around home-grown renewables; other plans center on extending our domestic drilling operations or building up nuclear power. But in our own oil-centered quadrant of the world, it’s easy enough to forget that energy independence doesn’t always revolve around South American or Middle Eastern oil. It doesn’t necessarily revolve around oil at all.
This week on TechStuff, Chris and I talked about two very different topics: fuel cell technology and privacy issues on Facebook. While the two aren’t directly connected, both subjects tie in to current events.
The recent oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has brought new attention to our dependence upon oil. Are there other fuels just as good — or even better — than oil? What about fuel cells?
How is the BP oil spill affecting the coastal areas in the Gulf of Mexico? You can actually mine out an interesting set of first-person accounts on YouTube and get a good sense of what is really happening, as seen below. Here is the first HSW beach report…
What do guns and prenups have in common? Yes, that sentence sounds like the set-up for a bad joke, but the answer is simple. They’re linked because Cristen and I talked about those two subjects on Stuff Mom Never Told You this week!
“Should women own guns?” was the title of Monday’s episode, and it was a really interesting topic to research and discuss.
Over the last little while I’ve picked up on some interesting information that, on their own, aren’t really enough for a post each. Put together, though: look out!
1) Most of the wildlife photography I’ve ever seen was probably faked. Disney was long ago exposed for staging the lemmings running off the cliff scene in the nature film White Wilderness, which forged the lasting idea that lemmings are suicidal. As I learned recently, that tradition continues in the form of game farms. Most of these farms were initially established as wildlife preserves in states like Montana. After awhile, wildlife photographers started turning up looking for perfect shots of what had become tame animals — shots they could never get in the woods.
The term ‘disk defrag’ usually refers to the Windows utility known as the disk defragmenter. But what exactly is this thing, and how does it work? Tune in as Marshall Brain explains disk defragmentation in this podcast.
Renowned for both its beauty and its inaccessibility, Patagonia is a land of contrasts — it contains fjords, glacial lakes, rainforests and much more. Listen in as Rachel and Matt give you a closer look at this amazing and unique region.
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Have a Coke and a Smile
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Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Space Music: DJ Food and ‘The Search Engine’
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- Space Music: Jay-Z and Beyoncé to Film Music Video in Orbit
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
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The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
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How-to Stuff
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
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PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 36: Now Available in 3-D
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 35: Let’s do brunch!
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 34: Play it again, Sam
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics
