IKEA program seeks to brighten lives of refugees in UN camps
A two-month campaign to raise funds to provide solar-powered lighting in refugee camps run by the UN has been launched by an international home-furnishings company. The IKEA Foundation will donate just over one US dollar to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) for every LED light bulb it sells in its stores around the world. The […]
Rethink relief
Rethink Relief is an intense design workshop dedicated to creating technologies for humanitarian relief that specifically address the gap between short-term relief and long-term sustainable development. This hands-on event is an unique opportunity for practitioners, designers and recipients of humanitarian aid to engage and develop a holistic approach to relief that considers the transition from emergency […]
Google Glass to help response and rescue
Firefighter Patrick Jackson developed a software that can push emergency calls to Google Glass and direct responders to its location and nearby hydrants with Google Maps. Currently, he’s working on being able to pull up floor plans and other relevant information about buildings before entry, as well as vehicle diagrams and instructions for aiding in-car rescues. […]
Helicopter Writes Words on Blades
The LED R/C Helicopter’s spinning blades have LEDs on them, which can be programmed to display dot-matrix text or icons which emerge while the blades spin, thanks to a persistence of vision illusion. Simply enter the text you want to display using the companion app (which appears to be Windows only), choose the animation pattern, […]
Sphere Project Training
California Baptist University is hosting an official Sphere Project Training, which provides the learner with global recognition as a Disaster Responder. “The Sphere Project is a voluntary initiative that brings a wide range of humanitarian agencies together around a common aim – to improve the quality of humanitarian assistance and the accountability of humanitarian actors to their constituents, donors and […]
Disaster-Ready Shop
Tully’s Coffee Japan Co. opened its new environmentally friendly and disaster-conscious concept shop in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward. To make it environmental friendly the shop is equipped with rooftop solar panels, storage batteries, and an EcoCute electric water heater that can supply 420 liters of hot water in emergency situations. It is also furnished with water-saving toilets that […]
Watch sea-level rising
Sea-level rise is occurring much faster than scientists expected – exposing millions more people to a destructive combination of storm surges on top of sea-level rise, scientists said. Earlier this year they found sea-level rise had already doubled the annual risk of historic flooding across a widespread area of the United States. The implications are serious – […]
SafetyNet
SafetyNet from Dan Watson on Vimeo.
The SafetyNet is a new trawling system that could help cut down on the catch and subsequent discarding of juvenile and endangered fish. By exploiting fish behavioral habits and physiology the trawl separates different species and ages of fish. The goal is to use SafetyNet devices in conjunction with legislation to help tackle the issues […]
Use Earthquakes to monitor them
No doubt earthquakes have tremendous power – for: break things. It would be much smarter to use the brute forces of nature for something meaningful. This though in mind, a student of the New Zealand Victoria University developed a seismic sensor, which is driven by the force of the earthquake that he just studied and documented. […]
