A weekly round-up of innovation, social impact, and design news from around the web.
1. Denver Urban Ramble
On March 8th, 2014, Join TEDxYOUTH@MileHigh speaker and Founder of Walk2Connect, Jonathon Stalls, on a free TEDxMileHigh-themed 5.5 mile walking trip exploring some of Denver’s most popular neighborhoods. More information can be found here.
2. Quality Control by Darpa
The military will now have a new way of detecting faulty equipment. Darpa will be creating a new device that will be used by the armed forces to detect used and counterfeit electronic components in the Pentagon’s supply chain.
3. X-class Solar Flare Imaging
On Monday, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory—which is on sun watch 24/7—caught an X-class Solar Flare on camera through six different wavelengths. You can see the images
4. Creating Interaction While Drinking Tired of going out and not talking to the people you are with? Porto Alegre is a new Brazilian brand cooler that blocks all mobile signals within a five-foot radius.
5. Strangers Meeting for Art Ice breakers can be awkward, but artist Hunter Franks is looking to get communities engaged and talking by traveling four different cities over the next several months to stage a series of three-week-long “creative interventions.”
6. Student Designed Library
Libraries have always been important to education in America. Now, students in Berkeley, California are designing their own library in order for it to reflect their experiences.
7. A Streetcar Named Colfax
Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Denver had a few streetcar lines for citizens to use to get around the city. Now, as Colfax Avenue continues to be redeveloped, there is talk of bringing those streetcars back, starting with Denver’s main street.
8. Google Glass on the Battlefield
As more technology like Google Glass develops at an astounding rate, the military will now be using the Q-Warrior, a gadget that soldiers can wear over their eyes to aid in combat.
9. Engineering Custom Dollhouses
Roominate is a new toy that will allow little girls to design, wire, and engineer their own dollhouses. This may lead to more girls and young women to pursue jobs in STEM.
10. New Planets Discovered
With NASA’s $600 million Kepler Space Telescope, over 715 new exoplanets were discovered recently, effectively doubling the number of known planets.
