"Terramoto's patent-pending method starts by mapping known fault lines. A score of measuring stations equipped with geophones are buried in the ground along a fault line. Each measuring a low frequency noise caused by faint earthquakes. Using triangulation techniques, the geophones locate the... View full entry
"An analysis of four derelict canals, filled with silt and buried deep under sediments, showed that they were used to water cultivated fields 5,400 years ago, in one case possibly as early as 6,700 years ago." The South American ancients were urbanized: NYT. View full entry
You will still be allowed to inhabit a city even after it has been hit by a dirty bomb. Happy new year. NYT. View full entry
Beijing is moving quickly. So quickly that the rise to modernity is also creating an environmental nightmare. Enter experimental brakes, yes brakes, new buses in Beijing will be outfitted with brakes which cut 30% of the fuel consumption. Rueters View full entry
South Korea's position in Asia as a filter for Western values is influencing the youth of China. NYT View full entry
Globalism threatens to rob local cultures of their distinctive character leading some to fight for the preservation of cultural diversity. Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, though, sees the value in cultural “contamination” and argues in favor of a more cosmopolitan world. l NYT... View full entry
The war in Vietnam is often referred to as the first war on television, and the wars in Afghanistan and now in Iraq will be known as the first wars to be blogged. BBC View full entry
Xu Rongmao, "who is the chairman of the Shimao Group, controls much more land than any private developer in America and builds luxury real estate projects that put even Mr. Trump to shame for their sheer scale and flamboyance. But unlike the ubiquitous Mr. Trump - who is never at a loss for words... View full entry
Or, how to turn a stack of medium density fiberboard into “mummy hands zapping the trees because they're trying to get rid of the oxygen.” The Believer View full entry
As mentioned in the forum, Charlie Rose will be interviewing Nicolai Ouroussoff tonight, 12/28, at 11pm EST. Set your Tivo now. (Note: architectural guests often get re-scheduled last minute) View full entry
"Over the last year in New York, artists increasingly needed something else: a good structural engineer." A look back on Smithson's Floating Island, Pierre Huyghe's A Journey That Wasn't, Christo's Gates, and others. NYTimes View full entry
2005 is officially one second longer than last year: BBC. View full entry
Bethlehem, PA is now popular with "New Yorkers who have come to the Lehigh Valley in search of affordable housing and good schools they could not easily find back home. The newcomers are recasting this former steel and coal-mining area into a new kind of bedroom community, bringing their... View full entry
A recent series by the New York Times on the (often poisoned and uninhabitable) landscapes of the global gold mining industry continues here. Previously. View full entry
German architect Deiter Rausch and his wife Linda Tripp have opened a german market in Middleburg. I'm not sure what scares me most a lederhosen-wearing architect (read article) or Monicas' former confidente selling foot longs. View full entry