Echo House is a renovation project to a small house in Ontario Canada conducted from Kariouk Associates architects. This is not a simple paint and redecoration, the main volumes of the house are completely rearranged in order to reflect the use and the to exploit the new construction methods.

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The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has underway a huge program for land vehicles, light, medium and heavy trucks. In the small category, Lightweight and Light Capability (LLC) the Mercedes G-Wagen is selected. The version that the ADF will buy is using the direct injection 3.0lt V6 Turbo diesel that many MB cars, SUV and commercial vehicles use. There will be different versions of the G-Wagen, a 4WD station wagon, 4WD and 6WD cargo, 6WD dual cab truck and special operations 6WD surveillance and reconnaissance vehicle.

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The new Boeing 747-8 made its first flight. The aircraft RC501 flew yesterday at Boeing's facility in Everett Washington without any issues. This is the freighter version, which has attracted the most customers, and it is the biggest western commercial freighter yet. The passenger version ('Intercontinental') has only one major airline customer, Lufthansa and several private VIP orders..

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Update2 - Endeavour launched successfully on time without any issues. The low ceiling clouds was not a major problem and no further rescheduling was necessary. Endeavour launch video
Update1 - Launch rescheduled for Monday Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST. (11.14 am for Greece) due to weather conditions.

Tomorrow February 7, 2010, at 4:39 a.m. EST (11:39 am for Greece) the Space Shuttle Endeavour will be launched in to Space for mission STS-130. This is a historic launch because it is the last one that would take place at night. The flight will last 13 days and will include 3 spacewalks in order to install the node 3 'Tranquility' ISS module. In this node there is the cupola, a 7 window observation where the astronauts can have a panoramic view of the earth and space. This topic will be updated after the launch.

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District 9 was one of the best movies of 2009 and if you have seen it apart from Neill Blomkamp you should probably be impressed from the conceptual design and the props in that movie. Everything from MNU equipment to alien tools was exquisitely detailed in an extremely realistic way. Now Weta Workshop released limited edition exact replicas of two of the alien weapons in the film.

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The German aerospace institute DLR successfully concluded the first series of tests of the new sandwich nozzle destined for the Vulcan 2 engine that propels the Ariane 5. The new technology nozzle is called NE-X and is designed and constructed from Volvo Aero under contract from SNECMA. Volvo Aero is a pioneer in this design and has a contract for Pratt & Whitney Advanced Rocket Technology Demonstrator Engine which have already been tested and also for the construction of of this booster nozzle demonstrator for a future upgrade of the Vulcan 2 engine.

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Robonaut is a joint-developed program between NASA and General Motors. The aim is to develop a humanoid robot that could be use alongside humans and perform similar tasks in a critical environment. In the image above is the second iteration, the Robonaut2 or R2. The main focus is the arms and hands, R2 can handle basic tools and can reach, lift and hold a weight of up to 9kg, more than most humans can.

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The North Slope Ski Hotel is a conceptual design for a 95-room luxury hotel designed by Michael Jantzen. Its shape is similar to a ski slope and it has an integrated track where residents can glide from the roof to the ground. As described by the designer it has all the eco-trends, with wind turbine in the top, photovoltaic cells etc, however its shape is the most dominant feature.

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The new Renault Wind is a small 2-seat convertible small roadster. It is based mechanically on Twingo (itself a derivative of the Clio 2 platform) and it has a very original retractable hard-top. It will be officially presented at the forthcoming Geneva motorshow and it is not a concept car but a production model.

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