Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Unearthed ancient ruins, extended art awards, astronaut urine and more in our look around the internet

Astronaut Urine Will Be a Valuable Resource on the Moon Since the cost of shipping resources to the moon remains prohibitively high, planning for long stints—or even habitation—requires savvy, as the rugged surface (aka regolith) restricts growth. Earlier this year, researchers found that, when mixed with moon dirt, astronaut urine could be a remarkably useful building material. When urea, “the second-most common compound in human …

Ancient Roman Mosaic Discovered Under Italian Vineyard

In Negrar di Valpolicella (located near Verona in northern Italy), archeologists have discovered an ornate, ancient mosaic floor buried beneath the soil of a vineyard. The tiles belong to what’s known as the Roman Villa—a site discovered over a century ago—and have been sitting just a few meters underground since the third century AD. The land-owners, researchers and municipality are working together to find a …

Concrete 3D-Printed House Built in 48 Hours

Working in collaboration with developer Buřinka (aka Stavebni Sporitelna Ceske Sporitelny), sculptor Michal Trpák has designed a 43-square-meter concrete house called Prvok—a structure that can be 3D-printed in just 48 hours and will float on water. The first of its kind in the Czech Republic, the house’s building process not only cuts construction costs, reduces CO2 emissions by 20% and minimizes waste, but the resulting …