For thousands of years bamboo has been used in many different ways -- from food to medicine to clothing and, in small ways, as a building material. However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world. It is not made according to officially set measurements, or standards. It simply grows in the ground. A professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania is trying to change that. The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo. They are testing its radial load, or how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking. That pressure was too much. Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all. They need to be standardized. Building codes everywhere require strict standardization of tests for all materials, such as timber or concrete. But tests for bamboo have not been standardized.
Title: Making Bamboo a Common Building Material
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/bamboo_audio.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Making Bamboo a Common Building Material' data-article-id='1678'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='13458'>For thousands of years bamboo has been used in many different ways -- from food to medicine to clothing and, in small ways, as a building material.</span> <span data-start-time='13458' data-end-time='20313'>However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world.</span> <span data-start-time='20313' data-end-time='26813'>It is not made according to officially set measurements, or standards.</span> <span data-start-time='26813' data-end-time='29583'>It simply grows in the ground.</span> <span data-start-time='29583' data-end-time='38333'>A professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania is trying to change that.</span> <span data-start-time='38333' data-end-time='43438'>The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo.</span> <span data-start-time='43438' data-end-time='53542'>They are testing its radial load, or how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking.</span> <span data-start-time='53542' data-end-time='55667'>That pressure was too much.</span> <span data-start-time='55667' data-end-time='60646'>Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.</span> <span data-start-time='60646' data-end-time='68146'>Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all.</span> <span data-start-time='68146' data-end-time='71104'>They need to be standardized.</span> <span data-start-time='71104' data-end-time='82625'>Building codes everywhere require strict standardization of tests for all materials, such as timber or concrete.</span> <span data-start-time='82625' data-end-time='87208'>But tests for bamboo have not been standardized.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/bamboo_img.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=6610 data-hint-location='20313' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/what_does_standard_mean.m4a'>What does standard mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='a fixed official unit of measurement'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/a_particular_way_of_thinking.m4a'><span>a particular way of thinking</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/as_effective_as_possible.m4a'><span>as effective as possible</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/to_change.m4a'><span>to change</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/a_fixed_official_unit_of_measurement.m4a'><span>a fixed official unit of measurement</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=6611 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/what_has_bamboo_not_been_used_for.m4a'>What has bamboo NOT been used for?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='computers'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/computers.m4a'><span>computers</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/medicine.m4a'><span>medicine</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/food.m4a'><span>food</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/clothing.m4a'><span>clothing</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=6612 data-hint-location='29583' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/researchers_would_like_to_use__blank__as_a_building_material.m4a'>Researchers would like to use <span class='blank'>bamboo</span> as a building material.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='bamboo'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/bamboo.m4a'><span>bamboo</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/wood.m4a'><span>wood</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/metal.m4a'><span>metal</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1180/concrete.m4a'><span>concrete</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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