Cyclone: Maharashtra schools, offices closed

Mumbai is bracing for cyclone Phyan with the level six cyclone now approximately 250 km from the city and expected to make landfall by the evening.

Cyclone in Mumbai

All schools in Mumbai and coastal Maharashtra have been shut; government offices are also closing down.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister has said emergency services have been activated and people in low-lying areas have been put on alert. Extra local trains are being run to take people home quickly. It hasn’t been raining in Mumbai for over an hour.

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New York City’s Dragonfly

A Locavore Wet Dream

Photo courtesy of: Vincent Callebaut Architectures

Architect Vincent Callebaut will have locavores drooling if his 128-floor vertical farm concept is actually realized.

The Dubai-esque Dragonfly addresses issues like food production and agriculture in cities that are horizontally-challenged for space like New York City. The concept supports housing, offices, laboratories and twenty-eight different agricultural fields.

Photo courtesy of: Vincent Callebaut Architectures

Set at the Southern bank of New York’s Roosevelt Island, the Belgium-designed Dragonfly consists of two towers and is completely Hobbit free. It’s a 2,000 foot tall structure that harnesses both solar and wind power. In fact, it’s completely self-sufficient!

Photo courtesy of: Vincent Callebaut Architectures

The exterior gardens are used for capturing and filtering rain water. Using the water, and domestic liquid waste, the water is recirculated and used for irrigation.

The greenhouse, which gives the structure its wing-like design, supports the load of the building and is inspired by the structural exoskeleton of dragonfly wings.

Photo courtesy of: Vincent Callebaut Architectures

Photo courtesy of: Vincent Callebaut Architectures….