Researchers at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia have developed a sodium-ion battery that could make renewable energy technologies more affordable. The salt battery can be used in place of more expensive lithium ion batteries to store solar and wind energy so as to provide continuous power even on cloudy or windless days. According to project leaders Drs Manickam Minakshi and Danielle Meyrick, the battery "has excellent potential for large-scale use, including storing energy from wind turbines and solar farms for later feeding into local electricity grids, as well as use in industry". As we look to transition to renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind power we are faced with a number of problems. Currently wind turbines and solar panels are dependent on weather conditions; wind turbines don't operate on a still day, while solar panels can't be used at night or during cloudy weather. It can leave the electricity demand unbalanced with the energy supply generated by renewables. These limitations require the storing of excess energy where possible so as to remain entirely off-the-grid, and the new water-based sodium-ion battery is the most affordable, low-temperature energy storage created so far. Previous storage batteries have been using rare and expensive compounds like molten sulfur and liquid metals, making the price too steep for commercialization. Unlike its predecessors, the new battery is based on globally abundant and affordable sodium, whose chemical properties are similar to the widely-used lithium. The next challenge was to find a material for cathodes and anodes capable of accommodating sodium's ionic size. After extensive testing, Drs Manickam Minakshi and Danielle Meyrick have found that using manganese dioxide as the cathode and a novel olivine sodium phosphate as the anode gave best results. Claiming that this breakthrough will make renewable energy more accessible in developing countries, Dr Manickam Minakshi states that the "research has reached the stage where we're ready to move beyond our lab towards larger-scale commercialization".

2 months ago The Morning Whistle published shocking news, which was hard to believe. As reported the publication, Changsha, China's Hunan province will be home to world's tallest building , which will be built in just 7 months. 220-store building will be 838 meters high. This information was really incredible. How high will raise Chinese ambitions, to make such a statement? China's new propose also was unbelievable, as world's current tallest building Burj Khalifa required six years to build. However, later the information was confirmed by DailyMail, Reuters and CNN information agencies. In addition, they stated that the building will be built not in 7 but in 3 months. The DailyMail reported, the project has been given the go-ahead in Changsa, but the central government still needs to sign off on the deal. But if the go-ahead comes, BSB chief executive officer Zhang Yue wants to start building this November - and finish in January 2013! Interview with the head and founder of Broad Sustainable Building Company Zhang Yue, published in the Reuters Journal, much increases the likelihood of the realization of this incredible project. As stated Zhang Yue, Land shortages are already a grave problem for us and their pre-fabricated skyscrapers "can fix many of the world's pollution, congestion, transportation and even disease problems by completely purifying the tower's air." During the interview, a Chinese man said that the 220-story skyscraper, which he called "Sky City" certainly to be built. In addition, he presented to the public another ambitious project, which height is 2 kilometers. Details of the new project are still unknown, but Yue said that 100 percent they will build this building. Recently the prefab Hotel in China's south-central Hunan province standing 30 stories was erected in an incredible 360 hours or in 15 days. The hotel built Chinese sustainable-building firm Broad Group and the building is designed to withstand up a 9.0 magnitude earthquake - and even boasts energy-efficient building techniques. In 2010 Broad Group during 6 days built another prefab building, the 15-story Ark Hotel in the Changsha Province, demonstrating fantastic speed of prefab building construction.

Future plans for London's 2012 Olympic Park have been unveiled, and James Corner-the landscape architect behind the famous suspension park High Line in New York-will be taking his talents across the pond to turn the park's south plaza into 222 thousand square meters of "active spaces", reported The Inhabitat. Due to be completed by spring of 2014, the redesigned park will include areas for public performances, picnics and even rock-climbing within the vast urban green space. The redesigned Olympic Park will include a 12-metre wide tree-lined promenade that will open up to a series of outdoor "rooms", separated by tall grasses. These active spaces will host a classic carousel, an amphitheater and a play space with a climbing wall. There will also be spaces reserved for picnics, concerts and other events. The design also includes the addition of variety of trees and plants native to the local area, with planting and horticulture by Piet Oudolf , who also lent his design talents to The Highline. We think London is pretty lucky to be receiving such talent! So for those of us who didn't make it to the Olympic Games this year-no worries-here is a reason to plan a visit to the park grounds for future years to come.

A bizarre new tourist attraction has opened its doors to the public in Dordrecht, the Netherlands - a life-sized Noah's Ark, reported The Inhabitat. The project first began in 1992 when contractor Johan Huibers dreamed that waves from the ocean washed over the Netherlands during a storm. Then he claimed that his dream was followed by even more signs, prompting him to build the Ark. Firstly, while it does float, Huibers has stressed that the Ark is not designed to save people from a global flood. Instead, he built it as a symbol of his faith. Huibers built the Ark exactly to the specifications noted in the Bible resulting in a structure that is approximately 23 meters wide, 13.7 meters high and 137 meters long. That's 50 cubits wide, 30 cubits high and 300 cubits long according to the Bible. Despite planning the Ark's construction since 1992, construction on the full-size Ark only started in 2009. Huibers had previously built a smaller model with volunteers, but sold it to focus on the life-size version. Every detail was taken into account, in order to make the Ark as accurate as possible. There were however deviations in Huibers contemporary construction; according to the Bible, Noah used "gopher wood" when he built the Ark, but this has been disputed so the hull was built by welding the metal hulls of several old barges together and then using Scandinavian pine for the skin. The Ark cost US$ 1.6 million, stands four stories tall, is as long as a football field and even comes complete with animals-although they are not real. However no expense has been spared in that department either, with Huiber's wife Shamlian claiming it cost $US 11 thousand for just one elephant! There were rumors that the Ark could have been sailed to London in time for the Olympics, though this turned out not to be the case. Deborah Venema-Huibers, manager of the Ark, said that they had to abandon plans to sail the ark to the London Olympics, after they were asked to make the wooden boat safer for visitors. Earlier this year, Armenian media reported, that a life-sized Noah's Ark to be built on the rise, next to the "Victory" park. However, then the information was refuted. Press Service of the Public Council announced, that the idea of project was accepted, but the construction site not. Noah's Ark construction at the suggested site architects considered impossible for three reasons. First, the project needs additional space for needed infrastructures. Second, it may push Victory Memorial in the background, and the third Noah's Ark will have a vast impact on the nearby historical and cultural monuments. According to the project, the length of the ark is planned to be 133.5 meters, width - 22.25 meters, and height - 13.35 meters. The building will have three floors. On the ground floor will be a museum, the first floor will accommodate a conference hall, cinema and offices, and the second floor is a hotel. Construction of US$ 20 million building is planned to be completed by 2015, to the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide. The project's funding will not be public; the project will be realized solely by benefactors' donations.

The ancient Coliseum of Rome, where gladiators fought for their lives, is slanting about 40 centimeters lower on the south side than on the north, and authorities are investigating the project for urgent repairs. The Coliseum has been in need of restoration for years. Last year chunks of masonry and stone have regularly fallen from the arena. Authorities became aware of the tilt in the 2000-year-old amphitheatre about a year ago and have been monitoring it closely for the past couple of months. They believe that "dynamic vibrations" caused by Rome's heavy traffic, may be responsible for the drop on the south side next to one of Rome's busiest thoroughfares. Experts from Rome's Sapienza University and the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering (IGAG) conducted an urgent scientific study to determine the cause. Professor Giorgio Monti, from Sapienza's department of structural engineering, said he fears there may be a crack in the base of the monument. "The concrete (Roman Cement) foundation on which the Colosseum is built is an oval-shaped 'doughnut' which is about 13 meters thick," ProfMonti said. "There could be a stress fracture inside it." On July 31 Lorenzo Ornaghi, Italy's culture minister, unveiled the timetable for the controversial restoration, flanked by Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome, and Diego Della Valle, the billionaire businessman footing the bill, reported the Telegraph. In the first stage of the project, four floors of scaffolding are expected to cover the monument's arches for a total of 915 days - two-and-a-half years - as the ancient amphitheatre's facade and entrances are rebuilt. Culture officials however stressed the monument would remain open to the public during construction. The new project will also look at the "dynamic vibrations" that officials fear have caused a drop of up to 15 inches on the south side of the monument, although as yet there are no plans to address the list. The restoration also provides for the construction of a tourist service centre outside the monument, while the third phase includes restoration of the internal area and a more comprehensive restoration of the underground cells or hypogeum beneath the arena. The restoration works have been delayed by a series of protests by trade unionists over Italian tycoon Diego Della Valle's plans to clean up the dirt-streaked arena. In January, the billionaire threatened to pull US$ 32 million in financing following investigations into alleged irregularities. The three-year restoration project, which aims to increase by a quarter the areas to which tourists will have access, was supposed to begin in March. It was postponed to July and is now unlikely to start before the end of the year. Designed as a 50 thousand seat amphitheatre and completed in 80 AD under the Emperor Titus, the Colosseum was used for gladiator contests and mock sea battles. It is considered one of the masterpieces of Roman architecture. The number of visitors to the site has gone from around one million visitors a year to around six million annually over the past decade. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, another popular Itaian attraction was reopened last year after being shut for a long time as engineers worked to prevent it from falling over and to make it safe for visitors.