Canadian architects posit that so much of their country’s architecture is environmentally unfriendly because Canadians have learned to settle for mediocrity. Toon Dressen has witnessed this first-hand after his proposal for an environmentally friendly police detachment in the Arctic was lost in a bid. His design exceeded the necessary levels of energy efficiency, but was rejected, apparently as most buildings are designed to just reach their efficiency certification, rather than to be truly energy-efficient buildings. Read full article here
Research
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
The Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest work of world literature, has been brought back to life by LMU researchers in the Electronic Babylonian Literature project. Using their new Fragmentarium tool, they have discovered hundreds of manuscripts, including the most recent tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic which dates from 130 BC – thousands of years after the earliest known version. This shows how highly valued the Epic was, even at a late period. With the public release of the Fragmentarium, anyone can now explore the thousands of cuneiform fragments and explore the ancient Babylonian literature. Read full article here
Merv
March 12, 2023
