August 28, 2007 Tuesday

Underground Gardens
By Musecrack(Musecrack)
Baldassare Forestiere was the ingenious creator and builder of a large maze of underground rooms and passageways that he patterned after the ancient catacombs,and which can still be seen today in Fresno, California. ...

Moon to turn red on Aug. 28 in first total lunar eclipse since 2000
ABS CBN News - Philippines
The network said the brightness of the moon could vary greatly from eclipse to eclipse. "It depends on the amount of dust and clouds in the Earth's ...

First World War tunnels to yield their secrets
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
Peter Barton, a British historian who has been advising the research team, said: "These were basically underground villages and in some of the cases, ...

Family dog defends four kids in tree house from black bear attack
Vancouver Sun - British Columbia, Canada
WEST VANCOUVER - A family dog protected four young children in a West Vancouver tree house from a hungry black bear. The dog assumed a defensive position ...

Home Sweet Dirt and Straw Home
By Erin Brereton
Absolutely nothing, according to a new green building trend that is encouraging use of materials like straw, compressed dirt/rammed earth, an adobe straw mixture and aerated concrete blocks. (Lists of such materials can be found here,

Two miners crawl out after being trapped 130 hours
China Daily - China
On Friday, after 130 hours underground, the two finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. After crawling out, they collapsed and were rushed to hospital ...

Injured New Zealand caver rescued from underground after 3 days
Jerusalem Post - Israel
... climber to the surface early Tuesday, three days after he broke his pelvis and ribs and got trapped under a rock slide deep underground, police said. ...

Israel building underground bunker to withstand nuke attack
Hindu - Chennai,India
27 (PTI): Israel is constructing an underground bunker, which will house the prime minister's office and military command centers, to withstand a nuclear ...

White Cliffs solar energy glory recognised
ABC Online - Australia
But power needs in White Cliffs are modest because most the houses are dug-outs, which are hidden underground, away from the heat of the sun. ...

CHERYL HALL
Dallas Morning News (subscription) - TX,USA
Monolithic Dome Institute founder and president David South stands at the door of 'Bruco,' the caterpillar that's the firm's world headquarters in Italy, ...

A Glimpse on the History of Russian Architecture
Russia-InfoCenter - Moscow,Russia
There used to be wooden constructions and earth-houses. In the early Christian period wooden architecture still prevailed, because wood was more affordable. ...

'Living With Ed' Keeps HGTV in the Green
Zap2it.com - USA
"We're going to Jackson Browne's house, who is off the grid," Begley says. "He's got a wind turbine on site that's quite substantial. He's got solar. ...

Future bright for solar, wind and methane power
Journal-Advocate - Sterling,CO,USA
In fact, she once used a primitive form of the new solar-thermal technology with a tank which heated water by sitting in the sun when living off the grid in ...

Etesian season bad news for Greek wildfires
USA Today - USA
Another seasonal wind that affects Europe during the fall and spring months is the sirocco. Any others leap to mind? (A helicopter flies through the smoke ...

Historic home's crowning glory illuminated
Lebanon Daily News - Lebanon,PA,USA
In addition to the bell tower, the house has several other interesting features, including an arched root cellar and an "Indian" door. ...

Folk group and fundraiser rally sustainable farmers
Columbia Missourian - Columbia,MO,USA
He works the land and, with McMillen's help, manages farmhands and sells produce at The Root Cellar, his grocery store in Columbia. ...

Apartment block collapses into underground cave. Family trapped ...
Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation - Barbados
Efforts are underway to rescue a family of four trapped underground after part of the apartment building they were living in collapsed into a cave,

Climate Change Goes Underground
Science Daily (press release) - USA
According to the guest editors, resource management and government policies will need to be assessed based on both surface and underground climate impacts

Super Energy Efficient Home, and Safe from Nature too!
Groovy Green - Ithaca,NY,USA
In some publications I read there has been some discussion about earth sheltered homes, sometimes called "Hobbit Homes" or eco homes.

Secrets of an ancient underground river
El Defensor Chieftain - Socorro,NM,USA
FORT STANTON FORT STANTON -- Snowy River, a sparkling calcite underground "frozen river" over 2 miles in length was discovered in Fort Stanton Cave in 2001, ...

August 21, 2007 Tuesday

Despite Unfounded Fears, Straw Bale and Rammed Earth Homes Catch On
Daily Green - USA
AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, Lonnie Timmons III HEADLINE: People in straw houses ... ... love the adaptability and energy efficiency that come with having ...

Environmentally-Friendly Earth Homes
By hyacinthieodum
Rammed earth homes may have over 18-inch, thick walls that are made from a comcination of dirt, sand, cement and water. Energy conservative, rammed earth homes have the appearance of bungalow-style charm and help keep the house warm in ...

Straw Finds Niche as Eco-Friendly Building Material
Washington Post - United States
Hutchins painted the thick, adobe-like walls in dreamy earth tones and accented the house with natural wood, for a kind of hobbits-in-Santa Fe look. ...

Drought as a way of life
Napa Valley Register - Napa,CA,USA
Oh, and incidentally, rainwater is free. We pay for the stuff that comes out of our hoses and sprinkler systems. In California, we use more water on our ...

Revolutionary Solar Power
Pacific Free Press - Victoria,BC,Canada
Despite the humble surroundings, the work going on behind its doors is at the cutting edge of solar technology. It could change the way we produce energy ...

Learning how to harness solar energy
Canada.com - Canada
His firm also provided solar power technology to operate cash registers at this year's Edmonton Folk Music Festival. One of his main messages is that ...

Sun and mirrors
Mail & Guardian Online - Johannesburg,South Africa
Solar technology typically is limited by costly storage when the sun is not shining. Three possible sites have been identified on the Orange River near ...

Silicon Nanoparticles Enhance Performance Of Solar Cells
Science Daily (press release) - USA
That work was reported in the August 2004 issue of the journal Photonics Technology Letters. To make their improved solar cells, the researchers began by

Natural disasters plague Asia-Pacific
Taipei Times - Taiwan
Asia-Pacific countries accounted for 90 percent of people affected by natural disasters around the world since 2000, the region's emergency management

Solve a mystery
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
Now, one man says a mysterious doctor bought the Golden Book around 1952 and took it from Ohio to Tucson. The mystery has baffled Cleveland's historians for ...

Geothermal energy may supplant fossil fuels, others
Vanguard - Apapa,Lagos,Nigeria
It's in a race with a firm in Australia to be the first to generate power commercially by boiling water on the rocks three miles underground. ...

Ancient Farm Discovery Yields Clues to Maya Diet
National Geographic - Washington,DC,USA
The discovery may help solve the long-standing mystery of how the ancient culture produced enough energy-rich, starchy food to support its large ...

Family faces battle over ultimate tree house
CTV.ca - Canada
A Vancouver architect thought he was doing something nice for his kids when he built them a fancy tree house. However, Andrew Dewberry didn't count on an ...

Large Sinkhole Appears
Lakeland Ledger - Lakeland,FL,USA
Sinkholes are fairly common in Florida, which has more of them than any other state. According to the University of Florida's Institute of Food and ...

August 14, 2007 Tuesday

Doubts over 'green' solar panels
Scotsman - United Kingdom
The research was carried out by a team in Greece which looked at the reasons why renewable energy technology has not yet reached a high enough standard to ...

Solar cells that can be printed
Malaysia Star - Malaysia
Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic

Solar power - in the rain
Guardian Unlimited - UK
In time, G24i envisages companies being forced to "account for their carbon footprint and offset power usage", which it argues its solar technology can help

In search of truffles
Waterloo Record - Waterloo,Ontario,Canada
Unlike other mushrooms, which disseminate their spores easily for natural propagation, the truffle, in its underground home, requires that the ground be

Does it pay to be green?
Plant Services - Itasca,IL,USA
Ford Motor Company had the 10.4 acre "living" roof installed at the assembly plant with drought-resistant perennial groundcover that is virtually .

Growing and using cabbage & kale
Franklin County Courier - Enosburg,VT,USA
... hang in a moist cellar, roots and all, or cut heads, remove loose outer leaves and spread one layer deep on shelves or pallets in a moist root cellar. ...

UN Reports on Extreme Weather and Climate Events
Voice of America - USA
It said record-breaking heat was reported in southeastern Europe and central Russia earlier this year. A full report on weather in two thousand seven will ...

Record-Breaking Weather Pounds Planet
National Geographic - Washington,DC,USA
The violent weather is among a slew of record-breaking climate events that have pounded the world in the first months of 2007, the United Nations' World ...

Going underground
Southeast Missourian - Cape Girardeau,MO,USA
"Every cave trip has to have a real purpose," Hartman said, whether that purpose is exploration, photography, documentation or scientific research. ...

Softly, softly at the eco lodge
New Zealand Herald - New Zealand
The Hapuku Lodge in Kaikoura, which launched its Tree House accommodation last year, has luxury conference facilities and is doing its bit by running an ...

Looks like it's over for underground superstore dream
Scotsman - United Kingdom
AN underground supermarket designed to blend in with its surroundings has failed to win the backing of city planning officials. Supermarket chain Aldi had ...

Supporters of solar energy taking charge of own utilities
LaSalle News Tribune - LaSalle,IL,USA
Eco-friendly living is nothing new for Paul Ebener of La Salle, who once lived in an earth shelter home in the foothills of Montana. For the past 10 years, ...

August 7, 2007 Tuesday

Atlas-E Missile Silo Open For Tours
TheDenverChannel.com - Denver,CO,USA
The Atlas-E missile silo was built in the early 1960's. It was the first ICBM intercontinental ballistic missile put into the ground.

Subway Map 2.0
By Annie Mole(Annie Mole)
Many thanks to Tami Brisset (our favourite New Orleans cop) for giving me heads up to a map based on Tokyo's subway map which attempts to chart the interconnected-ness and relative popularity of the internet's top 200 websites ...

Energy search goes underground
White Rock Reviewer - White Rock,SD,USA
It's in a race with a firm in Australia to be the first to generate power commercially by boiling water on the rocks three miles underground. ...

Underground bounty
Cincinnati Post - OH,USA
By Dean Fosdick AP STRASBURG, Va. - Janet Heishman spends a great deal of time in a steamy kitchen in midsummer, processing the harvest from her garden. ...

Tourists encouraged to go underground
Think Spain - Spain
The Association of Spanish Tourist Caves (ACTE) wants to promote what it calls 'underground tourism', particularly amongst those who are less keen on ...

County's greenest buildings on show
Norwich Evening News - Norwich,England,UK... buildings in Europe, the Old Barns in Upper Stoke, the Greenhouse in Bethel Street and the UK's first earth-sheltered social housing in Honingham. ...

Forestiere Underground Garden
By Alex
In the comment section of our previous This Bold House post, Neatorama reader Laura told us about this gem of a home in Fresno, California: the Forestiere Underground Gardens, which was built by a Sicilian immigrant named Balsadare ...

The tools of torture
Long Beach Press-Telegram - Long Beach,CA,USA
The most lasting impression came when we were all taken into an underground bunker that had a torture chamber at one end with a one way mirror so we could ...

Shanghai sets up shelter in case of emergency
Xinhua - China... the 27-square-kilometer region, he added. The city plans to establish a massive underground shelter network that covers more than 16 million square meters.

Traveling Within An Unassuming Natural Beauty
- USA The Cave House located in Arkansas is a 530 acre estate is the place for you. It most defiantly makes you one with nature. Its walls and ceiling are ...

Just as Weird Inside: Cave House offers tours
Tulsa World - Tulsa,OK,USA
Call it the Cave House. The Flintstone House. The Hill House. Or just the Weird House. Tulsans have come up with a lot of names for this quirky landmark, ...

Blasting to begin near caves
Albany Times Union - Albany,NY,USA
He also said plans for a museum of mining and technology are moving ahead, and that the former Cave House hotel next to the quarry is being restored to ...

A real scorcher
Attleboro Sun Chronicle - Attleboro,MA,USA
Before Saturday, the most recent record-breaking high was 94 degrees set on June 2. This year, the area is averaging more than one record-breaking day every ...

Eco-tourists take to village life in India's 'Little Tibet'
Daily Times - Lahore,Pakistan
The region is dependent on glaciers for 90 percent of its water and with little infrastructure to deal with sewage or garbage, wasting water has never been ...