October 17, 2010

By: Cooper-Hewitt N. from New York, NY
Comments: 8

Posted By: Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
On: 6/3/2009 12:28:49 PM

We know quite a bit about where stuff comes from, who produces, markets and delivers it, but ever wondered exactly what happens to it when we dump it in our garbage? This is one of the questions that designer Carlo Ratti is trying to answer, and he is doing it by mining the masses of digital data floating around in our cities. Professor Ratti is a designer with a background in engineering and architecture, working in Torino Italy and at MIT in Boston, who thinks a lot about the massive challenges facing future cities. With his design team at MIT he creates experimental projects around the world to demonstrate how technology can become a tool to understand and improve our troublesome city behaviors such as waste disposal and energy consumption. In New York he is tagging trash with sensors to throw light on the waste disposal cycle; in Rome, he has tapped into mobile phones emissions to map human movement around the city center and predict demand for public transport; In Saragosa he is using interactive movement sensors to create a "Moses" pavilion where walls of water open and close to allow the passage of people. In 2009 Carlo has been appointed innovator in residence by the Queensland Government. Watch both these videos from the Brisbane Ideas Festival in March 2009 for the full story. part 1: https://www.indesignlive.com/articles/future-cities part 2: https://www.themonthly.com.au/node/1575

Posted By: Jason Weinberger
On: 6/23/2009 6:00:52 PM

I would love to add to the scientists around the globe (but most specificaly in the Northern Pacific Ocean) who are able to collect and organize data about ocean currents by following the trash (mostly plastics) floating in the North Pacific Gyre. A scary but vitally interesting story that should be shared. Here are a few resources for information. 1 book https://www.amazon.com/Tracking-Trash-Flotsam-Science-Scientists/dp/0618581316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s;=books&qid;=1245797883&sr;=8-1 AND the following 5 films gathered and shared from APEnvironmental Science teacher Dr. Ewoldson: https://www.crypticmoth.com/alphabet_soup.php - Alphabet soup 12:50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnUjTHB1lvM...feature=related https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLrVCI4N67M...feature=related - Good Morning America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a4S23uXIcM...feature=related - Nightline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3UJz3OQecY - animation

Posted By: Marchella B.
On: 6/29/2009 11:49:09 PM

I plan to incorporate further discussion & research on this topic with my students during the environmental population standards. Perhaps we can conduct a global extension project.