A group of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia say they have discovered a means for protecting buildings from structural collapse. In a new set of building science experiments conducted in June 2023, they carefully studied animal neurobiology.
El País tells us: “The team of scientists and engineers has devised a hierarchy-based collapse isolation system, the key to which lies in the implementation of structural fuses, which allow the building to be segmented in the event of a failure. According to Adam, this design philosophy is similar to fuse-based protection of electrical networks. His technique has been validated by a test on a real building — 15 by 12 meters in plan, with two 2.6-meter-high floors — using prefabricated reinforced concrete. It is the first solution of its kind to be tested and verified at full scale.”
The Endure project recently made the cover of the journal Nature. Engineering professor Antoni Cladera (who did not participate in the study) told El País, “It seems simple and logical, but it means turning around the usual practices in construction. There is research that is not as visible as others, but it also helps save lives.”
5 Comments
Wait, wait, wait. Shouldn't the headline be something about lizard TAILS? I watched the whole video thinking we were on the verge of true biomimicry in buildings because lizards can somehow perceive incoming whacks to the head and shut down a portion of their brain when one part of it gets damaged and that this could be applied to buildings but it's actually just about a cat playing with a wriggling tail?!?
Cool research. But dang.
Re-reviewed and updated!
PERFECTION!
We had a garden and two cats and a lot of tailless lizards. . . .
Whew! I feel better now. Those brains would have spooked me. And 12 million people believe lizard people run the country:
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/12-million-americans-believe-lizard-people-run-our-country/316706/
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