#new engineering

[mangacapsaicin]

yuichi yokoyama’s new engineering || 横山裕一の『new engineering』

[reasonsforhope]

"With “green corridors” that mimic the natural forest, the Colombian city is driving down temperatures — and could become five degrees cooler over the next few decades.

In the face of a rapidly heating planet, the City of Eternal Spring — nicknamed so thanks to its year-round temperate climate — has found a way to keep its cool.

Previously, Medellín had undergone years of rapid urban expansion, which led to a severe urban heat island effect — raising temperatures in the city to significantly higher than in the surrounding suburban and rural areas. Roads and other concrete infrastructure absorb and maintain the sun’s heat for much longer than green infrastructure.

“Medellín grew at the expense of green spaces and vegetation,” says Pilar Vargas, a forest engineer working for City Hall. “We built and built and built. There wasn’t a lot of thought about the impact on the climate. It became obvious that had to change.”

Efforts began in 2016 under Medellín’s then mayor, Federico Gutiérrez (who, after completing one term in 2019, was re-elected at the end of 2023). The city launched a new approach to its urban development — one that focused on people and plants.

The $16.3 million initiative led to the creation of 30 Green Corridors along the city’s roads and waterways, improving or producing more than 70 hectares of green space, which includes 20 kilometers of shaded routes with cycle lanes and pedestrian paths.

These plant and tree-filled spaces — which connect all sorts of green areas such as the curb strips, squares, parks, vertical gardens, sidewalks, and even some of the seven hills that surround the city — produce fresh, cooling air in the face of urban heat. The corridors are also designed to mimic a natural forest with levels of low, medium and high plants, including native and tropical plants, bamboo grasses and palm trees.

Heat-trapping infrastructure like metro stations and bridges has also been greened as part of the project and government buildings have been adorned with green roofs and vertical gardens to beat the heat. The first of those was installed at Medellín’s City Hall, where nearly 100,000 plants and 12 species span the 1,810 square meter surface.

“It’s like urban acupuncture,” says Paula Zapata, advisor for Medellín at C40 Cities, a global network of about 100 of the world’s leading mayors. “The city is making these small interventions that together act to make a big impact.”

At the launch of the project, 120,000 individual plants and 12,500 trees were added to roads and parks across the city. By 2021, the figure had reached 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees. Each has been carefully chosen to maximize their impact.

“The technical team thought a lot about the species used. They selected endemic ones that have a functional use,” explains Zapata.

The 72 species of plants and trees selected provide food for wildlife, help biodiversity to spread and fight air pollution. A study, for example, identified Mangifera indica as the best among six plant species found in Medellín at absorbing PM2.5 pollution — particulate matter that can cause asthma, bronchitis and heart disease — and surviving in polluted areas due to its “biochemical and biological mechanisms.”

And the urban planting continues to this day.

The groundwork is carried out by 150 citizen-gardeners like Pineda, who come from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds, with the support of 15 specialized forest engineers. Pineda is now the leader of a team of seven other gardeners who attend to corridors all across the city, shifting depending on the current priorities...

“I’m completely in favor of the corridors,” says [Victoria Perez, another citizen-gardener], who grew up in a poor suburb in the city of 2.5 million people. “It really improves the quality of life here.”

Wilmar Jesus, a 48-year-old Afro-Colombian farmer on his first day of the job, is pleased about the project’s possibilities for his own future. “I want to learn more and become better,” he says. “This gives me the opportunity to advance myself.”

The project’s wider impacts are like a breath of fresh air. Medellín’s temperatures fell by 2°C in the first three years of the program, and officials expect a further decrease of 4 to 5C over the next few decades, even taking into account climate change. In turn, City Hall says this will minimize the need for energy-intensive air conditioning...

In addition, the project has had a significant impact on air pollution. Between 2016 and 2019, the level of PM2.5 fell significantly, and in turn the city’s morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections decreased from 159.8 to 95.3 per 1,000 people [Note: That means the city's rate of people getting sick with lung/throat/respiratory infections.]

There’s also been a 34.6 percent rise in cycling in the city, likely due to the new bike paths built for the project, and biodiversity studies show that wildlife is coming back — one sample of five Green Corridors identified 30 different species of butterfly.

Other cities are already taking note. Bogotá and Barranquilla have adopted similar plans, among other Colombian cities, and last year São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, began expanding its corridors after launching them in 2022.

“For sure, Green Corridors could work in many other places,” says Zapata."

-via Reasons to Be Cheerful, March 4, 2024

[auranym]

indie games are safe!!

good news! unity has walked back a lot of the runtime fee!

they made a blog post outlining their new terms, the link is here. but if you want a sparknotes version, here's the highlights:

1. the runtime fee is not retroactive. previously released games are safe.

2. the fee only applies to the next major version of unity. developers can choose not to upgrade if they don't want do deal with it.

3. the fee is opt-in and number of installs is self-reported. if they'd prefer, developers can instead pay a 2.5% revenue share. (for reference, unreal is 4%.)

4. interestingly, the splash screen is being completely removed. this is probably a way to improve their reputation.

overall, this is a HUGE improvement! but, if I remember right, there was not any revenue share before, so, we are not at the same point we started. unity will still be taking a larger cut of developers' revenue if they choose to use newer features. but, it is nowhere near as drastic as we thought it would be.

overall, I think we're in a stable spot now, but I also think unity has lost most if not all of the trust it had. especially with indies. there has already been a mass exodus, and I kinda hope that will keep going.

[thunderglade]

i got csp 🔥

[tyrianluda]

(dracula flow voice) the bugs are back.

(part 1) (part 2)

[fish-in-the-aquarium]

mb I’ve thought about this post too much for a mere human................

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Nobodies

[ruthytwoshakes]

haha turned them into popsicel

what flavor do u think they are… find out next time I respawn. Okay.

[parisoonic]

tf2 characters are my dolls to figure out new techniques and rendering styles. trying something 'animated movie ish' and loosely spiderverse (concept art) inspired

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Bad things tended to happen when Danny was bored. Mainly because he has the most insane bad ideas known to man, like trying to steal Scarecrows Fear Toxin to compare it to fright knights sword.

In his defense, FN was being a bit uppity about how his sword was sooo superior to anything humans could ever make while Danny insisted human invention could do anything magic could do.

Needless to say Danny quickly bites off more than he can chew when he uses his new shape-shifting powers to turn into Scarecrow and enter his hideout and grabs the newest version of the formula and several doses of fear toxin.

Danny hadn't actually planned on being attacked by the bats though.

Arkham sucked and Danny escaped from there as soon as the bats were out of sight and reclaimed his stolen goods from the evidence lockers on his way out.

Emboldened by his questionably successful hiest, he continues to do the same thing with various other Gotham rogues and steals thier stuff so he can figue out how it works and play with it, much to the bats confusion and the criminals ire.

This is going to blow up in Danny's face spectacularly :)

[oobbbear]

Really really really want to make a game

[mangacapsaicin]

yuichi yokoyama’s new engineering || 横山裕一の『new engineering』

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Pagani Utopia Roadster, 2024. The removable roof version of the Italian hypercar maker's V12 Project C10 has been revealed. Developed alongside the Utopia Coupé, it weighs the same as its closed roof sibling at 1,280 kg (2,822 pounds). Production will be capped at 130 units, with prices starting at €3.1M ($3.4M) each.

[cat-cosplay]

Shields up and holding.

Engaging 2024.

[crankybugs]

Happy Pride Skarloey Railway