Bio-Manufactured Bricks Are Made at Room Temperature, From
Bacteria, Sand and UrineS  An American architecture professor in
Abu Dhabi has come up with a new generation of sustainable
bricks — grown by bacteria using sand, calcium chloride, and
pee.  Rather than being fired in a kiln, the bricks are formed
at room temperature, according to Metropolis Magazine, which
honored the invention with a Next Generation Design award.
There's still some work to be done, because the bricks can be
poisonous to groundwater. But the concept is simple enough.  The
bricks are made in a process called microbial-induced calcite
precipitation, or MICP. In a chain of chemical reactions, the
microbes on sand are joined together like glue. The resulting
brick looks like sandstone, but is as strong as clay-fired brick
or even marble, Metropolis Mag says. The ingredients include
common bacteria and urea, a principal ingredient of human urine.
Ginger Krieg Dosier, an assistant architecture professor at the
American University of Shar