More Roads = Better Health

Research finds that after 5 years of construction, villages near a road in northern Ecuador had a larger rise in antibiotic resistance than more remote areas. Rise in resistance to ampicillin and sulphamethoxazole nearly double that in more remote areas. The road may ease resistant microbes to migrate from person to person.

Solar Roads

Research is being conducted to create solar panels embedded into roads to provide power. Each 'Solar Road' panel can generate ~7.6 kwh of power/day, costing ~$7,000 each. A mile-long stretch of four-lane highway would remove 500 homes from the energy grid.

Aside from helping curb our usage of depleting energy resources, the panels could also be used to create LED road warnings and built-in heating elements to prevent roads from freezing.