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After New Yorker Alex Rein lost his job as a corporate lawyer in 2009, he decided to trade long hours reading contracts at his desk for... slushies. But not the neon, artificially flavored, convenience-store concoctions—he wanted to sell frozen treats that combined real pureed fruit with grown-up flavors like ginger and green tea.

If you're looking for an excuse for your poor work performance, tell your boss it's the office's fault. Here are the three worst environmental productivity killers--and how to cure them. If you're looking for an excuse for poor productivity, tell your boss it's the office's fault.

On April 8, 1911, at the Leiden Cryogenic Laboratory in the Netherlands, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and his collaborators immersed a mercury capillary in liquid helium and saw the mercury's electrical resistance drop to nothing once the temperature reached about 3 kelvins, or 3 degrees above absolute zero (around –270 Celsius). This phenomenon of "superconductivity" was one of the first quantum phenomena to be discovered, although back then quantum theory did not exist. In subsequent decades theoreticians were able to put quantum physics on a solid foundation and explain superconductivity.

Illustrations by Shingo Shimizu Breakthroughs in materials science mean greener, cleaner, and safer spaces. We take a closer peek at three that amaze. .h2{ color:rgb(0,113,146) !important; clear:both !important; } .p{ font-size:11.5px !important; clear:both !important; } #float_box { width:580px; margin:10px auto; } #bird_windows { width:250px; margin-right:20px; float:left; } #bird_windows img { margin-bottom:10px; } #liquid_glass { width:300px; float:right; } #liquid_glass img { margin-bottom:10px; } Heat-Releasing Walls To keep a room cool, just let the walls melt