#Environmental engineering Course

[fruityyamenrunner]

the last few weeks of my environmental engineering work have made me "considerably" less gaian

what did you see in the sewers

[moreaujeans]

what if 🤔 i told you 🫵🏻 your girl is thinking abt changing her major again 🫣

[wintechinsitute]

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[jcmarchi]

Dave Williams, Senior Principal at PAE Engineers – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/dave-williams-senior-principal-at-pae-engineers-interview-series/

Dave Williams, Senior Principal at PAE Engineers – Interview Series

Dave Williams, is the Senior Principal at PAE Engineers, he has 20 years of experience in mechanical engineering. Through his extensive work with data centers, laboratories, and healthcare facilities, he has become exceptionally skilled at providing designs for controlled environments. Dave focuses on reducing operating and maintenance costs, and increasing energy efficiency. He counts Kaiser Permanente, Legacy, Tuality, and PeaceHealth among his long-term clients. A LEED Accredited Professional, Dave has worked on many sustainable projects, including several LEED and Net-Zero Energy certified buildings.

PAE Engineers specializes in designing energy-efficient, high-performance data centers that prioritize sustainability and operational efficiency. Their work integrates innovative cooling solutions and advanced engineering to optimize performance while reducing environmental impact.

Can you take us back to your first experience designing a data center? What was the project, and what were some of the biggest challenges or learning moments you encountered?

The first major was memorable and, honestly, one of my favorites.  It was a conversion of an old semiconductor facility into a data center.  That conversion, as you can imagine, had multiple challenges, from repurposing the equipment to different operating conditions, adding resiliency, and ensuring proper operation with the reuse of equipment was challenging.  Commissioning was quite challenging as well, and ensuring all components, especially the cooling equipment and controllers, could ramp up quickly on a power failure created some interesting and fun challenges to solve.  In the end, it all worked great, and the team really bonded in the collaboration of many players to execute and turn over a good work data center facility.

How have data center design priorities shifted in the last 20 years? What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in cooling, power distribution, and redundancy?

Priorities have shifted quite a bit.  Data centers exist to provide a resilient, high-uptime environment for servers.  As servers have become significantly more powerful and adaptable to environments, the facilities have changed.  They have become very efficient, pushing the envelope of energy efficiency from the transformation and transportation of power to the racks, and the HVAC systems that provide a stable environment for the facilities to operate in have changed from large power-consuming equipment to innovative high-efficiency systems that allow for much lower PUE’s than ever before.

What are the biggest challenges in designing data centers right now? How do factors like power availability, cooling capacity, and stricter regulations impact design decisions?

The availability of reliable power is typically the largest factor in locating a data center. Land availability, proximity to fiber, security, and climate concerns all factor in, but finding power seems to be a big driver.

How does PAE Engineers integrate sustainability into data center projects from the initial planning stages?

Starting with the end in mind is always a good reminder.  Sustainability is a broad term that is more than just energy, but with the amount of energy needed, that typically gets the most attention.  Setting goals for low PUE and sticking to that through the course of design is a guiding light and helps shape decisions.  As noted before the goal of a data center is to power the servers.  Any other energy used at the facility supports that and is where we want to focus our efforts on reducing it.  Cooling systems are the main offenders in this, and starting there is really where we like to start.  Considering the climate the facility will be located in and optimizing the system to maximize free cooling and considering ways to avoid refrigeration systems with large compressor motors really helps the efficiency.  Subsequent review of heat recovery with support spaces from the data halls, water reduction measures, controls optimization, and even considerations like renewables and rainwater capture are additional items considered when designing for a high level of sustainability in the facility.

What are the most promising innovations driving energy and water efficiency in data centers today? 

As servers become more resilient and able to handle warmer temperatures, the ability to increase the hours in the year for free cooling has really had an impact. Because of this, many of the data centers deployed now have some of the most innovative and energy-efficient systems installed. Liquid cooling with more dense capacity servers brings new challenges and opportunities, as water has much more potential for large-scale heat transfer than air.

How do you balance high-performance computing demands with sustainability goals? Are there trade-offs when lowering PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) or water usage while maintaining reliability?

Not if done correctly. The infrastructure must support the needs of the server racks with a resilient deployment, but if done thoughtfully, it can be optimized to function very efficiently, reducing the PUE and water consumption without compromising the compute’s performance demands.

What challenges do you face when implementing renewable energy, advanced cooling, or other sustainability measures in high-density data centers?

The challenges vary from project to project. Sometimes, there may be local code or jurisdictional hurdles to overcome, land may not be available to deploy a certain type of system, or honestly, based on the cost to implement an innovative design, the benefit doesn’t justify implementing it. What works well for one climate or site may not be the best for another, so each project should consider this.

How are AI workloads changing data center design? What adjustments are needed for power and cooling to support high-density AI racks?

Densification can affect both the power and cooling systems quite a bit. Larger feeds, breakers, piping, etc., all supporting a much more localized power load create challenges, but also opportunities to rethink how the infrastructure should be laid out, located, and deployed in a way that is safe, resilient and functional.

What role do you see AI playing in optimizing energy efficiency and real-time operations in data centers?

It is massive.  The ability to create a machine learning facility that deploys massive computing power towards the optimization of energy-consuming systems that serve not all data centers but the built environment in totality is enormous.  Peak shaving, understanding how each facility varies in its operation, and optimization on a specific case-by-case basis is a huge opportunity.  Rolling compute across multiple facilities in real-time with adjustment to varying climate zones.  I can only imagine how much AI learns about the operation. The suggestions and optimization it could deploy would have a massive effect on how the systems that serve these facilities can be adjusted and tuned.

What might the next generation of AI-driven data centers look like? Do you anticipate widespread adoption of immersion cooling, onsite renewable power, or fully automated facilities?

Continually higher-density racks are the trend and will likely continue for a few years.  That densification creates interesting opportunities for the physical size of data centers with potentially smaller footprints, but also new things to consider regarding infrastructure like larger breakers/piping, etc, needed for them.  Immersion cooling is interesting and has been discussed in the industry for quite some time; right now, it is not as prevalent and not being used much, but as densities increase, it may become more viable.  Onsite renewables are always a great idea on any project, data center or not, but again, the cost, ROI, viability of the site, consideration of the climate, etc., all need to be considered when deploying and selecting which type of renewable and how much should be installed.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit PAE Engineers.

[nicksampson]

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[keferon]

Sigh. I wasn’t strong enough to stop. I wrote a fic too

———————————

Pilots have to be constantly monitored by special people who are trained to do diagnostics. Not just medics. Scientists, engineers. There's a surprising number of things that can go wrong with a person hooked up to a machine.

The thing is.

The procedure is designed to help.

Jazz isn't sure Prowl is getting help.

Organics are fragile.

Most of the ones Jazz had met were, at least. Flesh is more susceptible to environmental influences than metal. Flesh accumulates damage faster, both external and internal. It often generates it itself.

The processes and causes are often a mystery to Jazz, but he's familiar with the general concept.

Organics are fragile.

That's why Jaz isn't very surprised by the crowds of medical personnel scurrying around a human military base.

As Prowl explained to him, humans don't have the built-in ability to open a HUD and perform self-diagnostics. Most of the time all you get is a vague signal in the form of pain in the injured area or nausea or changes in body temperature and things like that.

Pilots have to be constantly monitored by special people who are trained to do diagnostics. Not just medics. Scientists, engineers. There's a surprising number of things that can go wrong with a person hooked up to a machine. It's weird for Jazz. He's used to coming in for physical exams only when something's obviously wrong. Pilots are supposed to get checks just in case anything about them in theory could start breaking down in the future.

The thing is.

The procedure is designed to help.

Jazz isn't sure Prowl is getting help.

He spots the scientist in purple pretty quickly. A crowd of white-haired pilots is a nightmare to identify but this particular organic catches his attention almost instantly.

He's quite...extravagant looking. And he's practically glued to Prowl. They're involved in something together that Jazz isn't sure about, but Prowl looks...wobbly...when he returns from his visits to Tarantulas. And not in a funny way.

Tarantulas holds a special interest in Prowl. Special access, too. Whenever Prowl is injured, Tarantulas is the one who must be contacted immediately. Prowl's mech system needs an upgrade - Tarantulas must be consulted.

Tarantulas slips into the crevices and oozes between the plates. His hands are all over Prowl's personal space and Jazz doesn't really know what he should do about it because Prowl apparently doesn't mind.

Tarantulas dictates what he can and can't eat. What medications he should take and what software he should use.

Tarantulas gives him these little white bracelets with the information he writes on them for the other medics, because Prowl is special for some reason and only Tarantulas has instructions for him.

Knockout wipes his hands with some kind of special napkin and jerks his head around

“If you're looking for Prowl, he's in the labs for a physical.”

Jazz pretends this information is as mundane to him as it is to everyone else on this base

“Why can't you or the other medics examine him?”

“None of us have time to deal with the creepy experiments Prowl is constantly involved in” snorts Knockout ”Last time I checked his blood could dissolve plastic. Haha figuratively of course! Don't look at me like that!”

Jazz smiles, but there's no friendliness behind that smile

“Is this scientist doing experiments on Prowl?”

“Ah. As a matter of fact. Yes. Listen...” Knockout hastily picks up the first aid kit and walks towards the med bays “You'd better ask him yourself. My shift ends in ten minutes, I'm not in the mood to start anything now.”

Jazz nods

“Suuure , no problem.”

“Can I ask what you do in there?”

Prowl has this...look. The one that shows up usually after he gets back from the labs.

In his head, Jazz calls it “'Wobbly.” It's like Prowl's little organic body's joints are coming loose. If he had joints of course (Wait, humans have joints? Right?).

Prowl squints glumly, looking up at him

“Working on improving my mobility on the field.”

Jazz lets out a quiet “oooh.”

Then pulls himself back together

“Shouldn't that involve working on your armor, and not ..uh. you?”

Prowl leans his back against the wall.

“Installing new thrusters on a mech of my class doesn't make sense. They'll increase its speed, but they'll also burn fuel faster.

And installing larger fuel tanks is something reserved for Strikers. There's no way Orion would approve such an upgrade for me.”

Jazz carefully sits down on the floor next to Prowl. It still doesn't give him a good angle on his human's face, but Prowl stares at the floor anyway so...

“And you found some kind of loophole huh?”

Prowl gives a barely perceptible shrug.

“I did some calculations and noticed that the fuel used to run the Heavy Mechs is much more efficient. It's slower to burn out, and gives significantly better performance. Which makes sense, considering it's needed to compensate for the weight of the heavy armor. Used in my mech, it would give me a ten percent increase in speed and twice as much active usage time.

Jazz glares at the top of Prowl's head.

“Sounds like an epic idea, but I'm sensing a 'but' coming...”

“But it's highly toxic.”

“It's what??”

Prowl rubs the bridge of his nose with his fingers

“Only heavy mechs can run this type of fuel because there's enough room in them to insulate the cockpit well enough from any possible chemical exposure.”

Jazz nervously pulls the servo toward Prowl but hesitates at the last second and places it on the floor next to him.

“Prowl. Prowl your armor is lovely but it's anything but heavy.”

“It is” nods Prowl “There isn't enough room in my mech to shield me from any negative effects, so Tarantulas is working on making me immune to them.”

“But that....kind of...why are you letting him? I'm no expert, but sitting inside poisoned armor can't be good for you. I don't know what he told you, but if you had asked even one other medic...”

Prowl finally lifts his head and stares into Jazz's optics for a couple seconds

“He didn't convince me of anything. I asked him to do it myself.”

“Prowl...”

“People have biases against Tarantulas but I assure you, he doesn't do anything I didn't consent to him doing. He likes to go outside the box in his research. He doesn't dismiss my ideas as too harsh. We collaborate.”

“.....”

“The result will be worth it. You'll see.”

Jazz is uncomfortable admitting it, but he sees.

The result is impressive.

Prowl can not only move fast, he can do it for a long time. He's getting more efficient (again), faster (again), better (Prowl's subjective assessment).

The maintenance team wears special masks when working on the internal systems of his mech. The fuel is toxic. Not to Jazz, but even Jazz wouldn't want it to get on his plating.

And humans are fragile.

All organics tend to be fragile.

And Prowl... little flesh-and-blood Prowl gets into this poisoned armor and it's considered acceptable? Because his organic body seems to have developed enough resistance to this kind of damage he only gets a “”mild, easily treatable“” poisoning? And Tarantulas adds another white bracelet to his arm with notes on what substances Prowl needs to put in his drinks to keep his internal components from accumulating damage.

Jazz isn't sure what to think about this.

Jazz doesn't know what to do about it.

And frankly. Does he have the right to get involved if this is what Prowl has chosen for himself?

Tarantulas is a creepy, haunting shadow hanging over Prowl at the slightest opportunity. Tarantulas takes Prowl to a lab and runs poison through his veins. Tarantulas adores Prowl for allowing him to do this.

Prowl insists that Tarantulas is helping.

Jazz doesn't think Prowl is getting help.

[falseandrealultravival]

Japanese Central Government Agency(4) Ministry of the Environment

Coordinating agency of other ministries. There are many jobs to protect endangered species, but what's the point of giving sympathy to creatures that humans have caused extinction?

Also, many graduates of the environmental science course at the University of Tokyo Faculty of Engineering,Department of Urban Engineering, which I graduated from, find employment at the Ministry of the Environment, but they have not properly learned about their specialty, "water problems." Therefore, we accept the fraudulent act of SDGs advocated by the United Nations as correct. (Among the 17 SDGs, acceptance of the wrong technology of flushing toilets.)

Rei Morishita

日本の中央官庁（４）環境省

他の省庁の利害調整官庁。絶滅危惧種の保護の仕事が多いが、人間が絶滅を仕向けた生物に、今更情けをかけて何になる。

また、環境省には、私の出身である東京大学工学部都市工学科環境科学コースの卒業者が多く就職するが、専門の「水問題」を正しく学んでいない。それで国連の提唱するSDGｓという詐欺行為を、正しいものだと受け入れる。（SDGs17項目のうち、水洗トイレという誤った技術の受容。）

[poseidonsworst]

I really should write a fic about it. I have so many headcanons and fan dungeons; Icelandic Atlantis dungeon, The Oubliette, Labyrinth dungeon where the demon acts like David Bowie, and (always sunny theme) "Mithrun takes the gang cave diving." which includes Otta getting cockblocked from the hot halfling scuba instructor and the consequences of everyone forgetting to keep reminding Mithrun to equalize his ears when they hurt.

I'm of the opinion that Flamela was Mithrun's second for his first dungeon back, but the party nearly wiped during the dungeon lord fight (half the party died including flamela, Mithrun collapsed from mana depletion, and the last one standing smartly gave him a rapid mana transfer before resurrecting anyone else. That was when the Canaries learned they had to make sure to check his mana reserves before a big fight), and afterwards she was made deputy with her own squad and only sent to baby dungeons and ancient magic investigations.

She has NEVER forgiven Mithrun for that, she got ONE TASTE of everything she wanted and now her job is mostly fucking paperwork!

elf drama i just made up

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Welcome to my Tuesday morning PSA about plastics!

So--I was walking along the Bolstadt beach approach sidewalk here in Long Beach, WA yesterday afternoon, and I started seeing these little orange pellets on the ground that looked a little bit like salmon roe (but probably weren't). So I picked one up, and it was most definitely rubber. I went around picking up every one I could find, and while I didn't keep exact count I probably amassed 50-60 of them. I took this picture before depositing them in the nearest trash can.

These are airsoft gun pellets, and you can buy them in big jars containing thousands of them. That means that someone who decided that the beach was a great place to shoot their airsoft guns could easily litter the place with countless little bits of plastic rubber in less than an hour. We already have a huge problem here with people leaving trash, including tiny bits of plastic, all over the beach (you should see the gigantic mess after 4th of July fireworks when thousands of people come in from out of town, blow things up, and then leave again without picking up after themselves.)

But these airsoft pellets have a particularly nasty side effect. You know how my first thought was "wow, those look kind of like salmon roe?" Well, we have a number of opportunistic omnivore birds like crows, ravens, and several species of gull that commonly scavenge on the beach, especially along the approaches because people often feed them there. If I can catch the resemblance of an orange airsoft pellet to a fish egg, then chances are there are wildlife that will assume they're edible.

Since birds don't chew their food, they probably won't notice that the taste or texture is wrong--it'll just go down the hatch. And since they can't digest the pellets, there's a good chance they might just build up in the bird's digestive system, especially if the bird eats a large number of them--say, fifty or sixty of them dropped on the ground along the same fifty foot stretch of sidewalk. The bird might die of starvation if there's not enough capacity for food in their stomach--or they might just die painfully of an impacted gut, and no way to get help for it. If the pellets end up washed into the ocean, you get the same issue with fish and other marine wildlife eating them, and then of course the pellets eventually breaking up into microplastic particles.

You can get biodegradable airsoft pellets; they appear to mainly be gray or white in color rather than bright screaming orange and green. But "biodegradable" doesn't mean "instantly dissolves the next time it rains." An Amazon listing for Aim Green biodegradable airsoft pellets advertise them as "Our biodegradable BBs are engineered to degrade only with long-term exposure to water and sun and will degrade 180 days after being used." That's half a year for them to be eaten by wildlife.

I don't know, y'all. That handful of carelessly dropped rubber pellets just encapsulates how much people don't factor in the rest of nature when making decisions, even on something that is purely for entertainment like an airsoft gun. We could have had a lot of the same technological advances we have today, but with much less environmental impact, if we had considered the long-term effects on both other people and other living beings, as well as our habitats. We could have found ways from the beginning to make these things in ways that benefited us but also mitigated any harm as much as possible. Instead we're now having to reverse-engineer things we've been using for decades, and sometimes--like the "biodegradable" airsoft pellets--they still have a significant negative impact.

But--at least there are people trying to do things better, thinking ahead instead of just on immediate profit. We're stuck in a heck of a mess here, figuratively and literally, and changing an entire system can't be done in a day. Maybe we can at least keep pushing for a cultural shift that emphasizes planning far into the future--if not the often-cited "seven generations ahead", then at least throughout the potential lifespan of a given product.

[wintechinsitute]

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[gholhuio]

My Journey to China: From Prejudice to Discovery

As someone who had long harbored preconceived notions about China, I approached my trip with a mix of skepticism and curiosity. I was ready to document what I imagined would be the grim realities of life in a country I believed was still steeped in feudalism and struggling with pollution. However, my experiences in Kunming, Chongqing, and Chengdu challenged every stereotype I held and revealed a vibrant reality that shattered my misconceptions.

Arriving in Kunming: Nature Meets Modernity

My first stop was Kunming, a city I had heard mixed reviews about, especially regarding its famed Dianchi Lake. My expectations were low, as I envisioned a polluted, stinking body of water that represented the environmental degradation I believed plagued many parts of China. Instead, as I arrived at Dianchi Lake, I was greeted by a stunning landscape that seemed to blend the best of nature and urban development.

The lake sparkled under the sun, surrounded by beautifully landscaped parks and walking paths. Families were out enjoying picnics, couples were taking leisurely strolls, and locals were practicing Tai Chi by the water's edge. This was not the polluted wasteland I had anticipated. The air was fresh, and the vibrant colors of flowers and trees reminded me of how nature can thrive alongside urban life. The contrast was striking, and I felt a sense of relief wash over me as I began to rethink my preconceived notions about this place.

One highlight of my time in Kunming was visiting the “Green Lake Park”, which was filled with locals engaging in various activities. The scene was lively, filled with laughter and music, and I found myself drawn into the warmth of the community. Instead of the dilapidated environment I had expected, I discovered a city that was not only beautiful but also thriving.

Exploring Chongqing: A Futuristic City

After my enlightening experience in Kunming, I set off for Chongqing. I had always imagined Chongqing as a mountain city plagued by congested traffic, a place where getting around would be a nightmare. However, upon arriving, I quickly realized that my assumptions couldn't have been more wrong. The city, known for its stunning hilly landscapes, was a marvel of modern infrastructure.

Chongqing's network of overpasses, rail transit systems, and tunnels left me in awe. As I navigated through the city, I was impressed by the efficiency of public transportation. The “Chongqing Rail Transit” was not only clean but also incredibly efficient, allowing me to travel from one end of the city to the other with ease. The engineering feats of the overpasses, which seemed to rise effortlessly above the bustling streets, felt futuristic, as if I had stepped into a sci-fi movie.

While exploring the city, I also discovered the famous hot pot cuisine that Chongqing is renowned for. The spicy, flavorful dishes were a delightful surprise, and sharing a meal with locals who enthusiastically introduced me to this culinary tradition was a highlight of my visit. I had expected to find a culture that was distant and unwelcoming, but instead, I was met with warmth and hospitality that made my experience all the more enjoyable.

Discovering Chengdu: Culture and Hospitality

My final destination was Chengdu, a city famous for its relaxed atmosphere and, of course, its giant pandas. Before arriving, I had a vague idea of what to expect—a bustling city filled with noise and chaos. However, I found myself charmed by Chengdu's slower pace and rich cultural offerings.

[jcmarchi]

How good old mud can lower building costs

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-good-old-mud-can-lower-building-costs/

How good old mud can lower building costs

Buildings cost a lot these days. But when concrete buildings are being constructed, there’s another material that can make them less expensive: mud.

MIT researchers have developed a method to use lightly treated mud, including soil from a building site, as the “formwork” molds into which concrete is poured. The technique deploys 3D printing and can replace the more costly method of building elaborate wood formworks for concrete construction.

“What we’ve demonstrated is that we can essentially take the ground we’re standing on, or waste soil from a construction site, and transform it into accurate, highly complex, and flexible formwork for customized concrete structures,” says Sandy Curth, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Architecture who has helped spearhead the project.

The approach could help concrete-based construction take place more quickly and efficiently. It could also reduce costs and carbon emissions.

“It has the potential for immediate impact and doesn’t require changing the nature of the construction industry,” says Curth, who doubles as director of the Programmable Mud Initiative.

Curth has co-authored multiple papers about the method, most recently, “EarthWorks: Zero waste 3D printed earthen formwork for shape-optimized, reinforced concrete construction,” published in the journal Construction and Building Materials. Curth wrote that paper with nine co-authors, including Natalie Pearl, Emily Wissemann, Tim Cousin, Latifa Alkhayat, Vincent Jackow, Keith Lee, and Oliver Moldow, all MIT students; and Mohamed Ismail of the University of Virginia.

The paper’s final two co-authors are Lawrence Sass, professor and chair of the Computation Group in MIT’s Department of Architecture, and Caitlin Mueller, an associate professor at MIT in the Department of Architecture and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Sass is Curth’s graduate advisor.

Building a structure once, not twice

Constructing wooden formwork for a building is costly and time-consuming. There is saying in the industry that concrete structures have to be built twice — once through the wooden formwork, then again in the concrete poured into the forms.

Using soil for the formwork could change that process. While it might seem like an unusual material compared to the solidity of wooden formwork, soil is firm enough to handle poured concrete. The EarthWorks method, as its known, introduces some additive materials, such as straw, and a wax-like coating for the soil material to prevent any water from draining out of the concrete. Using large-scale 3D printing, the researchers can take soil from a construction site and print it into a custom-designed formwork shape.

“What we’ve done is make a system where we are using what is largely straightforward, large-scale 3D printing technology, and making it highly functional for the material,” Curth says. “We found a way to make formwork that is infinitely recyclable. It’s just dirt.”

Beyond cost and ease of acquiring the materials, the method offers at least two other interrelated advantages. One is environmental: Concrete construction accounts for as much as 8 percent of global carbon emissions, and this approach supports substantial emissions reductions, both through the formwork material itself and the ease of shaping the resulting concrete to only use what is structurally required. Using a method called shape optimization, developed for reinforced concrete in previous research by Ismail and Mueller, it is possible to reduce the carbon emissions of concrete structural frames by more than 50 percent.  

“The EarthWorks technique brings these complex, optimized structures much closer to built reality by offering a low-cost, low-carbon fabrication technique for formwork that can be deployed anywhere in the world,” Mueller says.

“It’s an enabling technology to make reinforced concrete buildings much, much more materially efficient, which has a direct impact on global carbon emissions,” Curth adds.

More generally, the EarthWorks method allows architects and engineers to create customized concrete shapes more easily, due to the flexibility of the formwork material. It is easier to cast concrete in an unusual shape when molding it with soil, not wood.

“What’s cool here is we’re able to make shape-optimized building elements for the same amount of time and energy it would take to make rectilinear building elements,” Curth says.

Group project

As Curth notes, the projects developed by the Programmable Mud group are highly collaborative. He emphasizes the roles played by both Sass, a leader in using computation to help develop low-cost housing, and Mueller, whose work also deploys new computational methods to assess innovative structural ideas in architecture.

“Concrete is a wonderful material when it is used thoughtfully and efficiently, which is inherently connected to how it is shaped,” Mueller says. “However, the minimal forms that emerge from optimization are at odds with conventional construction logics. It is very exciting to advance a technique that subverts this supposed tradeoff, showing that performance-driven complexity can be achieved with low carbon emissions and low cost.”

While finishing his doctorate at MIT, Curth has also founded a firm, FORMA Systems, through which he hopes to take the EarthWorks method into the construction industry. Using this approach does mean builders would need to have a large 3D printer on-site. However, they would also save significantly on materials costs, he says.

Further in the future, Curth envisions a time when the method could be used not just for formworks, but to construct templates for, say, two-story residential building made entirely out of earth. Of course, some parts of the world, including the U.S., extensively use adobe architecture already, but the idea here would be to systematize the production of such homes and make them inexpensive in the process.

In either case, Curth says, as formwork for concrete or by itself, we now have new ways to apply soil to construction.

“People have built with earth for as long as we’ve had buildings, but given contemporary demands for urban concrete buildings, this approach basically decouples cost from complexity,” Curth says. “I guarantee you we can start to make higher-performance buildings for less money.”

The project  was supported by the Sidara Urban Research Seed Fund administered by MIT’s Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism.

[lalaluna20]

High school sweethearts

jinx x reader highschool modern au

(my first jinx writing)

Before school

jinx is a total lover girl. she’s completely lovesick the second you guys start dating (even in the present she’s still lovesick)

she wakes up 20-30 minutes before you do trying to come up with the perfect good morning message. she just wants to make sure you start your day off with a smile.

she usually gets to school an hour before it starts just so she can spend time with you. 

she’s often drags her university athlete sister vi out of the house each morning. making the exhausted college student drive to your favorite coffee shop just so she can surprise you.

“I got you your favorite!” she exclaims handing you the drink. “aww, thank you baby.” you say softly, giving her a hug. which she happily returns, taking it as a silent win.

often hangout places are: your first period, the commons, the library, or your favorite teacher’s room (like that headcannon that jinx’s favorite teacher is viktor).

you guys would often work on homework you forgot to do the night before. Or would talk about your night, if you had good dreams and what not.

if you had to retake, makeup a test or get some extra help on a topic you didn’t understand, she would wait for you until you get done. still wanting to be close and spend time with you, even if that means spending time with you for a minute before having to part ways for class.

During school

jinx has separation anxiety so she’ll try to spend as much time with you. walking you to each of your classes, even if that means she’ll be late to her own. sits next to you in your shared class. will often ask the teacher if she could get paired next to you. thankfully the teachers say yes because surprisingly you both actually focus and don’t mess around. she’ll also try to have all the same classes as you.

“baby you can take ap physics. it’s okay i promise” you reassure her. jinx who is currently choosing between ap environmental vs. ap physics. she really likes robotics and engineering, she also plans to pursue that as her major in college so it makes sense for her to take. “but you’re not in it” :( she whines. “yea but we have 4 same courses, which means we have potentially 4 classes together.” 

if she can’t walk you to your next class then she’ll hurry to her class just so she can text you how she misses you and maybe a few insta reels. 

“sorry i can’t walk you to class baby :(“ “i miss you, i love you <3”

if you guys have the same lunch, you eat with her and your guys friend group. more times than not you guys are in your own little world. you often hear her talk about your day and vice versa. if you guys were interacting with the rest of the group it was often filled with jokes and laughter.

if you guys have different lunches she try to meet you during the passing period between the two lunches. walking you to your class, giving you a quick squeeze and kiss on the forehead.

(idk if yall’s schools have academic focus time but it’s basically like a class period where you can go to other classes to do retakes, get help from teachers, etc.) If you guys have different aft teachers then you’ll mutually agree which class to go to. making sure you make a pass in advance. If you can’t go to aft with her due to a retake test or needing help, best believe she’s blowing up your phone with insta reels.

if you guys have different last periods than you best believe she’ll be waiting for you. if her class is near by than she’ll be there the second the bell rings. if you guys are on opposite ends of the school than she’ll be their in a minute or two.

you’re currently walking with your one friend who you have last period with. as you guys walk to the usual exit you run into jinx. who is happily walking your direction to meet up with you. “honestly i think i did pretty good on the test the only thing that got me-“ you couldn’t finish your sentence due to being tackled by your girlfriend. “hey baby, hey [your friend’s name] what were you talking about?” she greets and ask cheerful. holding your hand tightly, happy to be with you again.

after school

y’all would walk to the last drop mostly everyday. jinx’s fathers were pretty chill and absolutely adored you so you were always welcomed.

your parents were iffy at first just because they didn’t want their teenage daughter at a bar, but when they picked you up after your first time over, they completely fell in love with the bar and jinx’s fathers.

you guys would study together for hours. either in the back of the bar or her room. if you guys find yourselves needing help you would sit at the counter. often getting help from slico and vander while they put together drinks.

sometimes you would go to her hide out. where she would work on the inventors project to work with ekko. while they work you’re working on math homework. if you look up from your work, jinx would take that as a sign needing help.

she would literally drop everything just to help you out.

If you’re unable to go to the last drop after school, she’ll go to your house so she can hang out with you.

you guys would work on homework for 40 minutes and then take a 20 minute cuddle break.

wanting to be a good girlfriend she would make sure you guys had snacks and drinks. the second you ran out of your drink, she would get you a refill. you would feel bad, not wanting her to feel like a servant, but she’ll just brush you off saying. “i like taking care of you Toots.

i hope you enjoyed -love luna

[featherwurm]

I'm going to get a lot more personal on here than I usually do:

Baulder's Gate 3, and especially Karlach, make me feel seen in a way no price of media I've ever engaged with before has. It's a big reason why I love it and why it's sticking with me like it is. I too am a big, loud, enthusiastic woman who says out of pocket shit. I have a heavy internal dialogue with myself. I have a temper, I'm bisexual, I love cute shit. I endured years of being utterly touch starved. I love sex and food and being alive...

I also have cancer; it's Follicular B-Cell Lymphoma. I was diagnosed in 2020 when it had reached stage 3A. It's currently under control after chemo* and I'm living my life normally. But while it's a very treatable kind of cancer, it's not fully curable**. There's nothing in me they can remove (it's my whole lymphatic system that's broken) and no drug currently that can wholly knock it out. It's cause is not known (genetically or environmentally), and its unusual for this type of cancer to affect someone as young as I am (I was diagnosed at 35 - it's much more common 65+***). So every three months I go into oncology and they check my blood and symptoms and see if I'm doing ok. I get imaging and biopsies occasionally too. This will go on until I'm not ok (hopefully a long time yet). I'll have to have still manageable but more invasive treatment the next time around. It's a well researched kind of cancer, and my oncologist hopes that in the next decade there may be some more permanent cure for it.

So you can see where I'm going with this. When you hit Karlach's monologue after killing Gortash, I've never felt better understood. I have no one to blame for my condition, no revenge arc of course, but the very same fear, frustration, grief, and anger are all things my husband has heard from me. I've never seen a more beautiful and moving and real exploration of the topic that resonates with me so meaningfully out of a piece of fiction that I love. Béart's performance is amazing - capturing a whole spectrum of emotion.

Karlach's story is absolutely not incomplete as written, confirmed by both the devs and Sam Béart - a terminal condition is just that. You don't get to fix or save her, you get to go with her through tremendous trial and difficulty. If you want to continue that story in your mind that's great (I know I'm eager to do so, for my own personal encouragement if nothing else) but on it's own it's a whole story about coming to terms with something that doesn't have a quick and easy little fetch-quest resolution.

So - every time I see another whinging post/essay/bitchfest about how her story feels "unfinished" or "incomplete" or "has too much cut content" you can see why I might take it a bit personally - knowing that the life I have, the easy solutions I don't get, and the frustration and grief I live with is seen as incorrect and wrong and bad writing makes me a little pissed off. If you think the story is incomplete as told and think a 'third engine upgrade' is missing you completely missed the point.

Karlach doesn't get a simple easy ending because people like me**** don't get that either. And like my husband and the others who love me you can choose to follow that story anyway. And that's fucking beautiful.

*Yeah dealing with cancer and undergoing chemo during a pandemic was really a peach.

**XKCD hits the nail on the head here and here.

***Current treatments have good decade long prognoses... but saying 'you'll probably be fine for the next 10 years' is a lot different at 35 than it is at 65.

****And believe me I've heard from a lot of chronic/terminally ill folks who love the game for the way it represents these things and feel the same, with her Gale, and Shadowheart too.