A new study published in Science Advances reveals that there’s an ancient sunken ocean floor in between the layer of the Earth’s mantle and its core. Scientists from the University of Alabama discovered this through global-scale seismic imaging that was collected over years, indicating ultra-low velocity zones (ULVs) or places with strong wave speed reduction, along the core-mantle boundary (CMB). “Analyzing 1000s of seismic recordings from …
Building homes out of hay bales is a method that dates back to the late 1800s, but the straw and seaweed that make up Feldballe School in Rønde, Denmark look nothing like the rough, pre-industrial houses of yesteryear. The school’s 2,700-square-foot expansion, designed by Henning Larsen Architects, is modern yet organic and—more importantly—sustainable. As a biomaterial that absorbs an abundance of carbon, straw creates durable …
David Smith, a hobbyist mathematician based in the UK’s East Yorkshire, is largely responsible for figuring out one of the most puzzling visual mathematical problems: “is there a shape that can be arranged in a tile formation, interlocking with itself ad infinitum, without the resulting pattern repeating over and over again?” The search for this “Einstein” shape—an aperiodic monotile—has been predicted to exist, but never …
