This week's international concrete-related news comes from Turkey, where researchers at Namik Kemal University said they're making progress on an improved form of concrete, made by utilizing a waste material of the agricultural industry - sunflower seed husks. The husks are a waste product of the vegetable oil and food industry, and the improvements are related to fact that through the use of the sunflower seed husks, the density of the concrete is reduced while at the same time improving "the material’s resistance to cracking after exposure to icy then thawing conditions."