As part of UAE Innovation Month, Virgin Hyperloop One and the Government of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) have unveiled the first prototype pod for Dubai Hyperloop One, which will transport passengers between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The full-scale model debuted on Feb. 22 in Dubai’s City Walk district. Upon completion, the Dubai Hyperloop will be able to accomodate roughly 10,000 passengers per hour, with a one way trip clocking in at just 12 minutes. The same trip currently takes approximately one-and-a-half hours by car. [ARCHITECT]
A team of researchers at MIT have found a method for generating electric power through temperature fluctuations. Using a system called a thermal resonator, the method “could enable continuous, years-long operation of remote sensing systems, for example, without requiring other power sources or batteries,” according to MIT News. [MIT News]
On Feb. 28, Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza opened the world’s first plastic-free aisle in its Amsterdam branch. In lieu of plastic, each item is packaged in glass, metal, cardboard, or other compostable materials. [The New York Times]
Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde’s Smog Free Tower recently opened in a park in Krakow, Poland. The 23-foot-tall tower acts as an outdoor smog vacuum cleaner, filtering 30,000 cubic meters (over one million cubic feet) of air per hour. [Studio Roosengaarde]
Japanese design studio Nendo‘s five-piece lighting collection, Light Fragments, is made of white acrylic boards that are hand-carved to form delicate gradients from opaque to translucent to transparent. The thin layers are encased in clear acrylic cubes. [ARCHITECT]
In order to tackle urban air pollution, the city of Paris has announced plans to develop a 5.2-square-mile forest that would be five times the size of New York’s Central Park. [CityLab]