Hasta La Ideas

Airbus is targeting to bring zero-carbon passenger plane to the masses by 2035, keeping in line with its vision for emission-free flights in the future. The ultimate goal is to pave way for the “decarbonization of the entire aviation industry.” To this end, the aerospace giant has revealed three concept airplanes that will harness the power of hydrogen to give their future-forward vision, WINGS! Choosing hydrogen fuel for these concepts makes complete sense – after all, it is clean aviation fuel and is one of the solutions for the aerospace and other industries to reach their climate-neutral milestones.

As Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO said, “I strongly believe that the use of hydrogen – both in synthetic fuels and as a primary power source for commercial aircraft – has the potential to significantly reduce aviation’s climate impact.” Guillaume added that this venture requires able support from the government and industry partners. It will require increased funding for research & technology and digitalization. He also emphasized on the fact that airports will have to be ready for the hydrogen transport and refueling infrastructure to make it feasible in day-to-day operations.

Designer: Airbus

The trio of concept aircraft, for now, is christened “ZEROe” – each one having a unique configuration depending on the requirement of the commercial aviation operation.

Airbus ZEROe Turboprop

Fit for short interstate trips, the ZEROe Turboprop aircraft uses a turboprop engine which is again powered the liquid hydrogen fuel. By the way, it can carry up to 100 passengers on-board. The plane goes more than 1,000 nautical miles on a full tank, making it perfect to be a private airliner for the filthy rich.

Airbus ZEROe Turbofan

The ZEROe Turbofan is more of a conventional airplane configuration that accommodates 120-200 passengers. Totally capable of conducting transcontinental flights (more than 2,000 nautical miles), the ZEROe Turbofan is propelled by a modified gas-turbine engine, powered by liquid hydrogen fuel. The fuel is stored and supplied to the airplane engine via the storage tanks on the back of the rear pressure bulkhead. The passengers are seated in the other three-fourth of the plane along with the crew.

Airbus ZEROe Blended-wing body

The ZEROe Blended-wing body is the most eye-catching of them all – looking to be inspired by the Stealth bomber plane. It has a wide configuration as compared to the other two which have a very sleek, lengthy structure. The wings are a part of the airplane body – that’s why the name “blended-wing body”. It can haul up to 200 passengers in one go and has a range of 2,000 nautical miles, similar to its sibling, the turbofan concept. This design has a very wide fuselage, thereby, giving flexibility for multiple configurations when it comes to the cabin layout and the hydrogen fuel storage option.

Facebook’s recently-announced Project Aria (not to be confused with Project Ara, Google’s stalled modular smartphone project), reveals the social media giant is dipping their foot into the world of physical hardware. Starting with a pair of data-gathering eyeglasses, their end goal is to produce a wearable augmented reality device with mass appeal. Here’s what they’re envisioning:

The first step will be these chunky ‘n clunky spectacles, which they’ve designed purely to conduct research:

“The Project Aria glasses are not a consumer product, nor are they a prototype,” the company writes. “They won’t display any information on the inside of the lens, and research participants cannot view or listen to the raw data captured by the device. As a research device, the glasses will use sensors to capture video and audio from the wearer’s point of view, as well as eye movement and location data to help our engineers and programmers figure out how AR can work in practice. The glasses will encrypt, compress, and store data until it’s uploaded to our separate, designated back-end storage systems.”

To start with, this month Facebook is handing out pairs of these to “a limited group of Facebook employees and contractors” from which they can harvest data. And while the company states that “this initial dataset has to be relevant for as many people as possible” and are thus “asking people of diverse genders, heights, body types, ethnicities, and abilities to participate in the research program,” I do think they’ve made one major mistake:

“The initial batch of research participants will be limited to about one hundred Facebook employees and contractors, primarily located in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle.”

San Francisco and Seattle are both great cities. They are also not representative of the rest of the country or world, not by a long stretch. By largely confining their research to these two areas, I’m certain that a West Coast urban bias will be baked into the design of both the UI and the UX.

It’s early days yet, so I’m hoping they not only target cities in other regions, but the roughly 20% of Americans that live in rural areas. The design of our Electoral College system has had the result of giving these folks outsized political influence, and we’ve all seen what happens when they are ignored.

Dutch studio VenhoevenCS and French practice Ateliers 2/3/4/ have unveiled the designs for a timber swimming pool complex in Paris, which will be the only permanent venue built for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Set to be built alongside the Stade de France stadium, which will host the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics events, the timber aquatic centre will be the venue for swimming, diving and water polo events.

It will be the only major facility built for the 2024 Olympic Games as all the other events will be hosted in existing venues or temporary structures.

The venue’s main hall, which contains the competition pools, will be topped by a timber roof that spans 80 metres but is only 50 centimetres in diameter.

“In this immense cathedral dedicated to aquatic sports, there is no false ceiling or cladding,” said VenhoevenCS and Ateliers 2/3/4/.

The curved roof is raised at the sides to accommodate the stands while dipping in the middle to reduce the volume of the space, making it more efficient to heat.

“The roof, stretched with wooden beams, magnifies the space thanks to its dynamic curves that make it both intimate and airy,” said the studios.

“Adapted to open heights and optimal visibility from the stands, this sculpted membrane seems to move and undulate like a living organism.”

VenhoevenCS and Ateliers 2/3/4/ chose to make the structure from timber as the material has less CO2 emissions than other materials – such as concrete and steel – and Paris is aiming to be the most sustainable games in history.

To contribute to the power needed to run the building the timber roof will be topped with solar panels to make the “largest urban photovoltaic farm in France”.

Within the main arena, the swimming pool is designed to be flexible, with a mobile bulkhead positioned between the competition pool and the diving pool so that the lengths of the pools can be changed for different events.

The whole space will be naturally lit with both ends of the structure made from glass walls, one of which looks over the neighbouring Stade de France.

During the Games stands for 6,000 people on the first floor will be positioned alongside the pool on either side, with a third at the opposite end to the diving tower.

Following the Games, one of the stands will be removed to reduce the capacity to 2,500. The space were the stand stood will then be used for five-a-side football pitches, which will overlook the main pool.

The building also contains a smaller training pool and a warm-up pool along with changing rooms, a bouldering wall, basketball courts and exercise rooms. After the Games, a restaurant will also be built.

Both sides of the building will be clad in timber with a sunshade made from a steel structure supporting timber louvres, enclosing walkways that will contain seating.

According to the architecture studios, this is part of the effort to integrate the building into the surrounding park.

Following the Games, the pool will be reopened as a public facility and will also be used to host events like the European and world swimming championships, when temporary seating will be reintroduced.

The masterplan for the Paris Olympics, which was designed by Populous and Egis, will see events take place across the city with temporary venues installed in prominent locations including the beach volleyball court being placed at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

Visualisations by Proloog.

Project credits:

Client: Métropole du Grand Paris
Main contractor: Bouygues Bâtiment Île-de-France Operations: Récréa
Maintenance: Dalkia
Control office: Socotec
Architects: VenhoevenCS and Ateliers 2/3/4/
Project partners: Cécilia Gross and Laure Meriaud
Project managers: Yves de Pommereau and Tjeerd Hellinga Landscape architect: Ateliers 2/3/4/
Project managers: Arnaud Talon et Clément Arnaud Structural engineer: SBP Schlaich Bergermann partner Mep: INEX
Water treatment: Katène
Acoustic consultant: Peutz
Sustainability consultant: Indiggo
Economist: Mazet & Associés
Security consultant: CSD & Associés

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As the cannabis industry expands, there’s a renewed focus on hash and its production

Hash, the concentrated form of cannabis, has a storied history. The product appears in literary works and anthropological studies as far back as the 16th century. It’s a complex form of the cannabis flower that’s surprisingly simple to produce—and exponentially more potent than smoking the dried flower on its own. The plant’s thrichomes (where the cannabinoids, or active components, are found) are separated from the cured flower through a variety of methods. Calihash, one of LA’s top recreational and medicinal hash producers and retailers draws theirs—whether it be pressed or raw—from California’s finest indoor-grown cannabis, and they extract it gently and without solvents, to both preserve the profile of the cannabis plant and ensure the full spectrum of components remain intact.

Their extraction method employs ice water and a series micron filters meant to separate excess plant biomass. Founder and CEO Michael Domecq ensures that sinking cannabis in ice water, and thus freezing the trichomes, proves most natural for the plant and best for the end consumer. On the contrary, hydrocarbon extractions—which are often done on the commercial level to make batches of product quicker and more consistently—often require harmful fuels like butane. Domecq launched Calihash with the intention of making hash (for consumption, infusion in pre-rolls, and beyond) at a commercial level without compromising flavor, composition or potency. We spoke with him to further understand the processes behind his brand’s selection.

Can you explain Calihash’s ice water extraction?

Ice water extraction is a relatively simple process that incorporates traditional methods of extraction with modern technology. It works by using ice-cold water to separate the trichomes of cannabis flower from the rest of the plant material. Trichomes are dense and waterphobic, so when placed in cold water, they separate from the plant material, fall to the bottom and are collected as cold water hash.

Why is this your preferred method?

This is the preferred method because it does not require high pressure or harsh solvents that disrupt the integrity of the trichome. Instead, ice water extraction is an extremely safe and gentle process that preserves the most useful cannabinoids within the trichomes without leaving behind the chemical residues associated with other extraction methods. This not only makes for a cleaner product with a robust profile, but it also revives the nature flavor and experience of hash.

What’s the primary objective of the method?

Preserving the trichomes is the main objective of ice water extraction in order to produce the highest quality, full-spectrum hash product without disrupting the integrity of the original cannabinoid profile. There are many benefits to making hash through ice water extraction, one of which is that it is an inherently safer way to extract trichomes using ice and water rather than harmful chemicals like Butane and Ethanol.

Is it fair to call hash an emerging category in both craft and consumption?

To say emerging would imply that hash has not been a large factor in the global cannabis market—which it has. The United States has just been lagging behind. Now, hash is finally growing in popularity in the US in both craft and consumption.

What are the primary methods of consumption?

Hash can be used in a multitude of ways. Ice water hash can come in a raw, granulated-like texture and can be pressed into a brick or a temple ball, that can be either smoked on its own to experience its full effects or mixed with cannabis flower to add a higher level of THC and create a slow burn effect for pre-rolls when mixed with flower.

For some, the final product transcends the visual expectation of cannabis. How do you explain it to someone who may have only experimented with flower or oil?

All cannabis lies on a spectrum of THC (and other cannabinoid) concentration. Cannabis flower lies lower on this spectrum while oils, rosins and other dab-able products are the highest—many advertise levels of THC over 80%. Hash is a happy medium on this spectrum and produces products that are higher in THC than most flowers yet lower than stronger oils. Being an age-old tradition within cannabis use, hash is for those who want to experience the full history and benefits of the plant.

Images courtesy of Calihash

With 100% of the proceeds from sales donated to the Anotherwild Fund—a grant for BIPOC LGBTQ+ independent makers—this colorful mug offers double the positivity. Emblazoned with “Radical Lovers Forever” in all the hues of Daniel Quasar’s Pride flag—which incorporates black and brown stripes to represent People of Color, along with the pink, white and blue of the trans pride flag—this cute ceramic cup is microwave- and dishwasher-safe.