Similarly, LED lighting has allowed architects to transform the courtyard into a functional room at night so it doesn't just sit there like, "dead space, " says Baywood Park, Calif.

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The kitchen includes a unique but functional family room area.

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Birney also identified the elephant in the room: the wording of the claim that the genome is 80% functional.

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The issue is now being studied at the ATV control room in Toulouse, France, and at prime contractor EADS Astrium's Functional Simulation Facility at Les Mureaux north west of Paris.

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The design team outfitted the room with a 150-year old piano found on Craigslist and had it fixed up to be fully functional.

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