Trick is to get light just right for our health - and wealth
Biologists, light physicists and architects are collaborating to make your day at the office less of a drag. As the relentless desert sun beats on the façades of UAE skyscrapers, millions of dirhams are spent to keep office workers cool...
How maths can prevent a repeat of the Heathrow airport chaos
In 2008, a chain of events that began with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom cutting a ribbon led to almost a week of chaos at Heathrow Airport. Passengers were stranded as mountains of luggage piled up, and hundreds of flights...
Sensors may be the solution to finding underground water leaks
Around the world, close to 20 per cent of drinking water is lost to leaks in water networks, and that figure doubles in some developing countries, where resources to repair outdated infrastructure are lacking...
UAE can learn lessons from Europeans on renewables
Abu Dhabi is on a mission to get 7 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, and it is starting to show. The rooftop solar plant at the Masdar Institute is up and running...
Predicting air turbulence is almost like catching the wind
Clear air turbulence has long been a nuisance and a hazard to aircraft and passengers. It is invisible, unpredictable, and tends to strike when it is least welcome – during your in-flight lunch, for example...
Sharing knowledge across disciplines is key to the future
As the global appetite for energy grows, the way it is produced, distributed and consumed is undergoing a profound transformation. As educators, we need to prepare our students to confidently enter the job market and participate in finding solutions for tomorrow's energy...
Can rooftop solar power make a difference to the UAE?
Europe has become a world leader in solar-power production, with often-cloudy Germany leading the pack. Essential to that progress have been feed-in tariffs, a mechanism that obliges local utilities to buy locally produced renewable electricity at a predetermined price…
A solar sandwich for 21st century buildings
Imagine a building that, like a plant, uses its entire surface to capture sunlight and convert it into energy. It’s not an average rectangular building with black solar panels jutting out from the roof; instead, picture an aesthetic, organic structure with solar cells built right into its...
Smart plugs will ease risk of blackouts from power surges
What if your home were smart? If it knew what room temperature you liked to wake up to, which lights you dimmed when you watched television, and told you how much power you consumed every day? Technology has permeated our lives via our smartphones, but the buildings we inhabit still feel like...
Ancient Arabic architecture may be answer to coping with hot climate
When we think of mashrabiya, the elaborately designed screens used in traditional Arabic architecture, modernity is not the first thing that springs to mind. But like other traditional architectural solutions, mashrabiya could help us develop more sustainable ways of dealing with age-old challenges...
