Styrofoam homes may sound like a recipient for disaster, but Japan Dome House Co., Ltd. thinks they're the future. A future in which all of us will be hobbits or smurfs. Made with 7-inch-thick 100% expanded polystyrene foam modules, the company says that they don't have the maintenance problems of wood or metal structures, and they are "highly resistant" to earthquakes, fires, and typhoons. Still, the 480 domes at Aso Farm Land resort village in Kyushu look like a suburban community on Mos Eisley's outskirts or a world from Myst.

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Buckminster Fuller might best be known for the molecules named after him and dome designs that inspired structures such as the Epicot centre. But even more impressive is The New Yorker's rundown of Fuller's life and forgotten inventions, such as his three-wheeled, all-terrain car with a periscope, cities designed to float in the clouds or bathrooms designed like refrigerators. Here are a few of my favourite "Bucky" facts from the article:

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