A deep, timeless blue was heralded in 2020, but this year the Carlstadt, N.J.–based paint manufacturer Pantone opted for a duo of colors for its 2021 Color of the Year: Pantone 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and Pantone 13-0647 Illuminating. Pantone envisioned that the two colors—one a somber, pebble gray and the another a bright shade of yellow—would reflect the trials and moments of hope that many have experienced over the past months and set the tone for 2021. “The selection of two independent colors highlight how different elements come together to express a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting, conveying the idea that it’s not about one color or one person, it’s about more than one," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, in a press release. “Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is a color combination that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted, this is essential to the human spirit.” [Pantone]
One more horrible milestone for 2020: Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, have determined that human-made mass has exceeded the global amount of living biomass for the first time in human history. In a study published in Nature, the researchers explained how they quantified the human-made mass—also known as "anthropogenic mass" and including things such as plastics, glass, and paper—and compared it to the Earth's approximately 1.1 teratonnes of living biomass. By estimating that the amount of human-made mass has doubled every 20 years with each person on Earth producing anthropogenic mass equal to or exceeding their body weight every week, the researchers calculated that 2020 was the "crossover point" at which the amount of human-made mass surpassing global living biomass. "This quantification of the human enterprise gives a mass-based quantitative and symbolic characterization of the human-induced epoch of the Anthropocene," the study authors state. [Nature]
Researchers from the University of British Columbia's Okanagan School of Engineering have found an effective way to keep concrete rubble out of landfills: recycling. Led by Shahria Alam, co-director of UBC’s Green Construction Research and Training Centre, the researchers sourced concrete from building and construction site waste and demolition materials to make aggregate for new concrete, in lieu of virgin sand and gravel. The researchers compared the long-term performance of recycled versus traditional concrete in a building foundation and a municipal sidewalk for five years. They found, after 28 days of curing, the recycled concrete had maintained a compressive strength higher than or equal to that of conventional concrete. "The composition of the recycled concrete gives that product additional flexibility and adaptability,” Alam said in a UBC press release. “Typically, recycled concrete can be used in retaining walls, roads, and sidewalks, but we are seeing a shift towards its increased use in structures.” [OBC Okanagan]
Researchers from the University of Illinois have identified racial microaggressions as contributing to the longstanding racial disparities in STEM education. After surveying more than 4,800 students of color enrolled in large, public universities, the researchers discovered that "when students of color in STEM majors felt excluded, invisible, or isolated on their college campus because of their race, sometimes combined with discouraging experiences in academic settings, they were less likely to continue in STEM," according to a university press release. The researchers also found that Black STEM majors—and women in particular—experienced the highest rates of microaggressions overall, while Black men and women, Latina women, Asian women, and Indigenous women reported the highest instances of microaggressions in campus life settings, outside of academic settings. "If we can find those ways to reenergize ourselves toward solutions and toward working collaboratively to find solutions, that's where I would love to see future research in this field go," said study co-author Jasmine Collins, an assistant professor of organizational and community leadership at the University of Illinois, in the same release. [University of Illinois]
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a surge of interest in disinfectant lighting. Now, a team of researchers from the University of New Mexico Center for Biomedical Engineering has developed a light-focused process that it claims as a "possible breakthrough in how to manage this virus, as well as future ones," according to a UNM press release. Tapping into the idea of materials activated by UV light, the researchers found that a specific combination of polymers and oligomers when combined with a UV light "almost completely kill the coronavirus," providing a disinfectant alternative that is less hazardous or corrosive than bleach or alcohol. “These materials have shown to have broad-spectrum antiviral properties,” said UNM professor and research team member Eva Chi in the same release. [UNM]
The Israeli-American 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys has acquired the San Francisco–based 3D printing startup Origin in a $100 million cash-and-stock deal. With the merger, Stratasys aims to expand its reach in the mass manufacturing market with Origin's digital light–processing technology, expecting that move will result in up to $200 million in incremental annual revenue over the next five years. “Our customers are looking for additive manufacturing solutions that enable use of industrial-grade resins for mass production parts with process and quality control,” said Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif in a press release. “We believe Origin’s software-driven Origin One system is the best in the industry by combining high throughput with incredible accuracy." [Stratasys]
A new study in Environmental Research Letters states that climate change-driven sea level rise and coastal flooding could most profoundly affect low-lying affordable housing. Led by Oregon Department of Energy senior climate policy analyst Maya K. Buchanan, the research team utilized high-resolution building footprints and probability distributions for local flood heights and sea-level rise, isolating areas where subsidized and market-driven housing is at the highest risk of flooding and estimating the number of units that changing weather patterns might impact in the future. "The number of affordable units exposed in the United States is projected to more than triple by 2050," the study states. "New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts have the largest number of units exposed to extreme water levels both in absolute terms and as a share of their affordable housing stock. Some top-ranked cities could experience numerous coastal floods reaching higher than affordable housing sites each year." [Enviromental Research Letters]
The American Institute of Architects has named Edward Mazria, FAIA, founder of the Santa Fe, N.M.–based Architecture 2030, as the winners of its 2021 AIA Gold Medal in recognition of his efforts "raise awareness about the role of the built environment in climate change among the design and construction industries, political leaders, and the general public." [ARCHITECT]
