Back to the RadioSpace™ home page
NewsDirect story topics:
Consumer, Business & General Interest
Current Events & Public Affairs
Entertainment & Sports
Health & Medicine
"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Fly-ing Bricks"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
-- How Will You Use This Story? --
READER SCRIPT
(DOES NOT FULLY MATCH AUDIO)
DUST TO DUST; ASH TO, BRICKS? THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS PRODUCE AND CAPTURE A FINE-PARTICLE WASTE PRODUCT CALLED "FLY ASH". SOME OF THE ASH IS RECYCLED, BUT TWO THIRDS OF IT--SOME 45-MILLION TONS--IS LAID TO WASTE. MOST SEE A BIG ASH-HEAP; ONE SMALL BUSINESS SAW AN ECO-OPPORTUNITY--AND A BRICKYARD BONANZA. FREIGHT PIPELINE COMPANY--UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PRESIDENT HENRY LIU--HAS DISCOVERED A WAY TO TURN WASTE ASH, INTO BRICKS. THE BRICKS LOOK AND PERFORM JUST LIKE REAL, KILN-FIRED ONES--BUT CAN BE PRODUCED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. THAT'S A SOLID ADVANTAGE IN ITSELF--BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER, AND NON-POLLUTING: NO KILN, NO ADDITIONAL GREENHOUSE GASES EMITTED IN THE MANUFACTURING OF THESE MULTI-COLORED BUILDING BLOCKS. WHILE THE IDEA MAY HAVE HIT THEM LIKE A TON OF, WELL, BRICKS, IT TOOK THREE YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT AND "BRICK-OROUS" TESTING TO ENGINEER THE BRICKS TO WITHSTAND FREEZING AND THAWING. THESE BRICKS COULD HIT THE MARKET AS ONE OF THE BEST NEW EXAMPLES OF GREEN MANUFACTURING. YOU MIGHT SAY THAT THIS INNOVATIVE COMPANY IS STARTING TO FOLLOW THE GREEN-BRICK ROAD. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
