Graphene

Concrete is the most commonly used building material in the world. And now, by adding the invisible wonder material graphene to it, researchers have taken a step towards a more sustainable construction industry. The new graphene-laced concrete is two times as strong and four times as water-resistant as the standard stuff, shows a new study…

via Graphene Can Green Up Concrete’s Act — Anthropocene

 

Messing about in boats

I have to say that this was one painting (or pair of paintings) executed under the most hostile of weathers.  No, not so much heat, but the desiccating wind.  I had to stop on the second morning and go back for a short session closer to dawn on the third day, and then it was a struggle.  The good news is that once I’d drawn up the letters, I could quickly go from one side to the other, painting layers, knowing full well that that my start point would be completely dry by the time I returned to it in about 25 minutes.  At the end of the second day I had to quit because the paint was drying on the brush.  The east side of the boat was too hot to work, and the west side, in the shade and wind, I was shivering.  And I still had to figure out how to spray with an acrylic glaze with the UV component – in a stiff breeze.

Nevertheless ‘Poseidon’ has its name on its sides and today will be test launched.  Eventually this boat will carry a solar powered pump which will pump water from the Salton Sea into the marina ‘fingers’ in Desert Shores, to maintain the water level and mitigate red agae.  Launch day is on Sunday.

starboard_finished

port_finished

Ah, back on the map, and travelling around it.

So often, Wales get bundled in with England.  I was glad to see that CNN reported the correct geography on this article about hydrogen cars.  We Welsh aren’t noted for engineering like some other countries, but there is a lot of green in the landscape….

Great news for the Salton Sea.

http://www.kmir.com/story/32944269/president-announces-salton-sea-partnership

The only sad part about this is that I think he should have done this at the beginning of his presidency, rather than the end.