Wood Toy

Wood Toy

Choosing Wood Outdoor Furniture Easily

No patio, deck, lawn or any outdoor living space is complete without outdoor furniture. Wood, wrought-iron and concrete are the common materials of outdoor furniture today. However, wood is considered to be the most well-liked among all. They are durable and ages gracefully with regular maintenance and care. The warm tones of wood outdoor furniture make any living space a cozy, inviting place to relax. With the wide variety of wood outdoor furniture in the market today, it is important to be able to choose the right one for you. The following are pointers on how to choose quality wood outdoor furniture.

Style. Decide on the style you desire first. Today you can choose among contemporary, rustic, elegant, Victorian and simple wood outdoor furniture styles. Style mainly hinges on the materials used and the overall design of the furniture. One good tip when choosing the furniture design is to make sure that your choice suits your present outdoor decoration.

Material. There are different wood types available that are used for wood outdoor furniture. There is teak, cedar, oak, hickory and even bamboo. It is vital for you to understand that these woods aren’t similar when it comes to durability and appearance. Teak and cedar are durable, naturally oily woods that repel insects and last a long time. Teak is a wood type that turns into silvery gray when it ages and has light grain shade when new. Brown or purple is cedar’s shade and ages into a darker shade of brown. You may have thought hickory as weak but it turns to be strong once made as furniture. Same as the teak, it is a light grain color when young and becomes silvery gray over time. All these woods can withstand the effects of all types of weather conditions, some better than others.

Maintenance. Outdoor furniture need to be maintained to keep it looking its best. Just oil them out of season or wipe them with moist cloth. Through oiling out of season, the oil is absorbed by the wood making them more durable and stronger. You can also try washing them up with soap and water but make sure they are not finished as the finishing will be removed. You can also just let them look naturally and wait until it colors like silvery gray by not applying finishes or oil on them.

Whatever type of wood outdoor furniture you decide on, comfort should still be a primary consideration. Remember, the reason why you decide to grab one isn’t just for decoration purposes alone but likewise for comfort too so be always certain about your pick.

Here's more information on: Log Outdoor Furniture

Satellites in the developing world (MIT)

Within 24 hours of the catastrophic 2010 earthquake near Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, space agencies and companies around the world tasked satellites with
providing free images of the earthquake’s aftermath. Experts quickly analyzed
and interpreted images taken from space, mapping out essential information for
rescue workers on the ground: areas with many damaged buildings, roads likely
closed by debris.

The information was provided through an international charter under which
satellite operators around the world offer to share satellite data after a
natural or man-made disaster. But now, a number of developing countries are
taking steps to build their own national satellite programs, seeking more
control over remote-sensing data to map and forecast disasters, monitor crop
yields and track environmentally driven diseases such as malaria.

In a paper published recently in the journal _Acta Astronautica_, Danielle
Wood, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Engineering Systems Division, and Annalisa
Weigel, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering
systems at MIT, examine countries including Nigeria, Malaysia and Thailand
where nascent satellite programs have cropped up, thanks to a relatively
recent philosophical change within the space industry.

“For the first few decades [of space exploration], satellites and their
components were considered sort of craft items ...

MIT