Walls keep fire contained—if they are there

Firefighters have trouble battling blazes in areas larger than 7,500 square feet. But the Freedom Tower will have the open plan favored by corporate tenants: 35,000 to 52,000 square feet (depending on the floor), broken only by a central corridor. Designers in China have an innovative solution to this conflict between safety and the flexibility businesses require: fireproof partitions housed in the ceiling that lower automatically in case of fire.

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June 2013: American Energy Independence

Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


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