science wire

Civil Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - 16.09.2016

Drive-by monitoring for urban streetlights
Is there a streetlight burned out on your block? Unless you or your neighbors phone the right city department, there's a good chance nobody knows about it. Most cities don't have any comprehensive listing or map of where their lights are located, what kind they are, what their expected operational lifetimes are, how high they are, or when they were last replaced.

Computer Science - Civil Engineering - 13.09.2016

Engineers Teach Machines to Recognize Tree Species
Engineers from Caltech have developed a method that uses data from satellite and street-level images, such as the ones that you can see in Google maps, to create automatically an inventory of street trees that cities may use to better manage urban forests.

Administration - Civil Engineering - 30.08.2016

General Conservator Pfeil appointed as honorary professor

Civil Engineering - Environment - 29.08.2016

Chicago becomes first city to launch Array of Things
This week in Chicago, the Array of Things team begins the first phase of the groundbreaking urban sensing project, installing the first of an eventual 500 nodes on city streets.

Civil Engineering - Computer Science - 29.08.2016

Inferring urban travel patterns from cellphone data
In making decisions about infrastructure development and resource allocation, city planners rely on models of how people move through their cities, on foot, in cars, and on public transportation.

Computer Science - Civil Engineering - 24.08.2016

Structural, regulatory and human error were factors in Washington highway bridge collapse
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When an important bridge collapsed on Interstate 5 near Mount Vernon, Washington, in 2013, questions were raised about how such a catastrophic failure could occur.

Civil Engineering - Physics - 22.08.2016

Engineer elected to elite European academy

Civil Engineering - Environment - 08.08.2016

Former Philadelphia mayor joins UChicago Urban Labs in new role
Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter is joining the University of Chicago Urban Labs to help guide strategy and growth as an executive fellow'a new role for the organization, which is dedicated to addressing challenges faced by cities through evidence-based policymaking. Nutter was mayor of the nation's fifth-most populous city until January 2016 when he reached his term limit.

Civil Engineering - Health - 04.08.2016

Out of the Lecture Hall, into the Olympic Stadium
Campus news They are studying medical technology, civil engineering and management. But they also do sports - and are so successful they'll be participating in the Olympic Games opening in Rio de Janeiro tomorrow.

Civil Engineering - Architecture - 05.07.2016

Cities of tomorrow
Cities can be confusing, messy places. Traffic jams make it hard to get around. Public transit can be puzzling.

Civil Engineering - Architecture - 30.06.2016

Living on the edge: succeeding in the slums
Cities exist in a state of constant flux: not always 'smart' and successful, they can be vulnerable, chaotic and seem on the edge of failure.

Architecture - Civil Engineering - 24.06.2016

UCLA architect Greg Lynn reenvisions site of abandoned factory in Detroit
UCLA Greg Lynn designed the Center for Fulfillment, Knowledge and Innovation for the site of a milelong abandoned building that once housed a bustling Packard automobile factory in Detroit.

Civil Engineering - Architecture - 23.06.2016

Would you live in a city made of bone?
The cities of today are built with concrete and steel - but some Cambridge researchers think that the cities of the future need to go back to nature if they are to support an ever-expanding population, while keeping carbon emissions under control.

Civil Engineering - History / Archeology - 17.06.2016

Book chronicles rise of urban planning in ancient Egypt
The pyramids and temples of Egypt, which still stand as magnificent monuments to ancient Egyptian civilization, were the result of some of the world's first urban planners-the ruling pharaohs who invested in town planning. New research at the University of Chicago offers additional insights into how the pharaohs invested in town planning.

Civil Engineering - Environment - 03.06.2016

Finding connections to nature in cities is key to healthy urban living
The modern city is a place where a vibrant array of ideas, sights, sounds and smells intermingle to spawn creativity, expression and innovation.

Civil Engineering - Environment - 31.05.2016

Live from the Hive: world’s first live tweeting honeybees in Bristol project
A new project comparing the lives of bees living in the countryside with those in the city is being launched today, featuring the world's first live tweeting honeybees.

Civil Engineering - Economics - 26.05.2016

Bristol citizens in driving seat for urban regeneration project
People living in Bristol are set to benefit from a new UK research and innovation initiative that will put them in the driving seat to help improve the city's health, well-being and prosperity as they face up to challenges of modern urban living.

Civil Engineering - Environment - 25.05.2016

Mellon seminar tours a changing, urbanized Amazon
Bruno Bosteels, professor of Romance studies, at the site of an evicted informal neighborhood in Cidade das Luzes (City of Lights) in Manaus, Brazil.

Civil Engineering - Physics - 25.05.2016

Finding a new formula for concrete
Researchers at MIT are seeking to redesign concrete - the most widely used human-made material in the world - by following nature's blueprints. In a paper published online in the journal Construction and Building Materials, the team contrasts cement paste - concrete's binding ingredient - with the structure and properties of natural materials such as bones, shells, and deep-sea sponges.

Architecture - Civil Engineering - 24.05.2016

U-M to represent US, Detroit at Venice Biennale, world’s top architecture show
ANN ARBOR-With eight faculty participants representing three different countries, the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning will take center stage at the world's top architecture show this summer.

Civil Engineering - 23.05.2016

Researchers stress role of subsidized housing in easing affordability crisis
New research from UC Berkeley's Urban Displacement Project stresses the need for the production of both market-rate and subsidized housing, along with aggressive preservation of affordable units and protection for tenants, to resolve the San Francisco Bay Area's housing affordability crisis. "Our research suggests that both subsidized and market-rate housing development make a difference.

Civil Engineering - 17.05.2016

International workshop reveals shared urban challenges
That was the conclusion of a workshop on 'Urban Dialogues' held in Brazil earlier this month, organised by Dr Sarah Ayres from the University of Bristol and Professor Clélio Campolina Diniz of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Civil Engineering - Environment - 17.05.2016

New model from Masdar Institute-MIT collaboration to support a cooler, more sustainable Abu Dhabi
The following is adapted from a Masdar Institute article by Erica Solomon . Cities generate a lot of heat, from car motors to heat-trapping pavements and structures, to the very things we use to cool our homes - air-conditioners.

Civil Engineering - Health - 05.05.2016

Deaths
Nolan McNeely , 99, died May 2 in Chandler, Ariz. He worked at the university as a foreman. Jean Colee "Jeanie" Mullen , 89, died June 25 in Marietta, Ga.

Environment - Civil Engineering - 27.04.2016

SOA’s Initiative on Race, Gender, and the Built Environment
AUSTIN, Texas - The School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin will address one of the most pressing issues affecting 21st-century design and planning by establishing a new program on race, gender and the American built environment.

Health - Civil Engineering - 26.04.2016

U of’T joins with European, Asian universities to tackle urban issues
Urban issues were the main topic of discussion as U of'T President Meric Gertler met with Utrecht University President Marjan Oudeman and Chinese University of Hong Kong President Joseph Sung in in Utrecht, Holland recently.

Environment - Civil Engineering - 26.04.2016

From big cities to small islands, Australia-Indonesia research will deliver
Urban and small island communities facing major social and environmental challenges will be the first to benefit from close to half a million dollars of joint investment by The University of Queensland and Indonesia's national research organisation, the Indonesia Institute of Science (LIPI).

Civil Engineering - Architecture - 26.04.2016

Simulator lets campus planners envision UCLA in the future
Take a tour of the future Geffen Hall via this 3-D visual simulation, courtesy of UCLA Capital Programs.

Social Sciences - Civil Engineering - 12.04.2016

Opinion: Here’s how tweets and check-ins can be used to spot early signs of gentrification
Desislava Hristova (Computer Laboratory) discusses how data from location-based social networks can be used to predict when a neighbourhood will go through the process of gentrification.

Architecture - Civil Engineering - 08.04.2016

Timber skyscrapers could transform London’s skyline
London's first timber skyscraper could be a step closer to reality this week after researchers presented Mayor of London Boris Johnson with conceptual plans for an 80-storey, 300m high wooden building integrated within the Barbican. If London is going to survive it needs to increasingly densify. One way is taller buildings.

Health - Civil Engineering - 07.04.2016

Kids face higher lead exposure playing in urban gardens
Cornell and New York state scientists estimate that some gardeners who toil in urban gardens and children who play in them could be exposed to lead levels that exceed U.S Food and Drug Administration thresholds.

Civil Engineering - Life Sciences - 21.03.2016

City birds are smarter than country birds
By Cynthia Lee, McGill Newsroom Life in the city changes cognition, behavior and physiology of birds to their advantage Birds living in urban environments are smarter than birds from rural environments.

Civil Engineering - Administration - 17.03.2016

When slower is faster
Imagine a scenario where sensor-laden vehicles pass through intersections by communicating with each other, rather than grinding to a halt at traffic lights.

Civil Engineering - Health - 15.03.2016

Pigeon patrol gives air pollution study a flying start
Pigeons have been road testing wearable sensors that will provide air pollution data for Imperial research.

Civil Engineering - 02.03.2016

Looking upwards for transport solutions
Level crossing removals should be viewed as part of a total picture for an effective transport system and the best way to achieve this is to incorporate elevated lines or 'skytrains', according to Melbourne researchers.

Civil Engineering - 29.02.2016

Statewide home sales, affordability up in fourth quarter of 2015
Home sale prices were up fractionally in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter but up 9.7 percent compared with the previous year, and the rate of home sales also dropped, according to the  Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies  at the University of Washington.

Civil Engineering - Media - 25.02.2016

March Madness: U-M experts available as candidates vie for voters in debates, primary
EXPERTS ADVISORY March Madness: U-M experts available as candidates vie for voters in debates, primary U.S. presidential candidates will descend on Michigan in March to attract voters and solidify their base.

Civil Engineering - Economics - 24.02.2016

Soft solids and the science of cake
Researchers hope that working out the behaviours of soft solids, which can act like either solids or liquids, may make for tastier cakes - and safer oil wells.

Environment - Civil Engineering - 22.02.2016

Berkeley professor suggests a look at aligning state’s climate and tax policies
When Karen Chapple delivers the second annual Bacon Lecture at the UC Center in Sacramento this week, she could turn up the heat on a debate on California's climate protection goals and tax policies that may fuel sprawling land use and how much people drive.

Social Sciences - Civil Engineering - 12.02.2016

Interactive Online Documentary: Ageing in urban Asia
Heidelberg researchers present website with short films and texts - research project of the Cluster of Excellence 'Asia and Europe in a Global Context' What is life like for older people in Asian cities and what changes do they observe in their environment?

Civil Engineering - 11.02.2016

Poll: Minority Voters Oppose Concealed Carry on Campuses
AUSTIN, Texas - The majority of black and Latino voters in Texas oppose the new state law that allows for the concealed carry of handguns on college campuses, according to the first public opinion po

Civil Engineering - Environment - 08.02.2016

Riddle of cement’s structure is finally solved
Concrete is the world's most widely used construction material, so abundant that its production is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet answers to some fundamental questions about the microscopic structure and behavior of this ubiquitous material have remained elusive. Concrete forms through the solidification of a mixture of water, gravel, sand, and cement powder.

Civil Engineering - Economics - 27.01.2016

Seamless union between metals and plastics
The lighter the better. That is the golden rule, at least in the automobile, aircraft and aerospace industries.

Health - Civil Engineering - 18.01.2016

Text messages can help reduce blood pressure
An Oxford University led study, working with the University of Cape Town in South Africa, has found that text message reminders can help reduce people's blood pressure.

Environment - Civil Engineering - 13.01.2016

Fewer than 1 in 25 Seattleites can really eat locally
How many of Seattle's residents could live off food grown in their city? If abundant P-Patches and backyard gardens teeming with kale come to mind, you're like many residents who assume urban agriculture in Seattle could support 50, 80 or even 100 percent of the people who live in the city.

Life Sciences - Civil Engineering - 06.01.2016

Urban Canid Project helps track Madison’s coyotes and prevent conflicts
For News Media : David Drake or Marcus Mueller, uwurbancanidproject [a] gmail (p) com photos × A still-groggy adult coyote stirs in the brush after being caught, sedated and tested at Curtis Pra

Civil Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - 03.12.2015

Researchers from Sheffield to collaborate on £138m Infrastructure and Cities Hub
In the spending review and autumn statement announced by the UK Chancellor, George Osborne last week, construction work on the UK Collaboratorium for Research in Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC) hub, which has secured £138million of funding, was included in the key project starts for next year.

Civil Engineering - Economics - 24.11.2015

Centre for Urban Science and Progress in London
King's and Warwick partner with NYU to establish Centre for Urban Science and Progress in London King's College London, the University of Warwick and New York University (NYU), have signed an agreeme

Civil Engineering - History / Archeology - 23.11.2015

Illuminating urban planning
One of the key insights of MIT historian Jennifer Light's career came when she was a summer intern at the RAND Corporation, the think tank famed for its analysis of Cold War military systems.

Health - Civil Engineering - 20.11.2015

Nurturing community connections between nature and health
Public health and thriving urban green spaces go hand-in-branch, a panel of experts told a group of Yale alumni gathered at the Yale School of Public Health.