Bugging the Forest
 
Have you ever wondered what happens in the rainforest when no one is looking?
Research in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Science may soon be able to answer that question. The departments of computing science and earth and atmospheric science have been working together to create a Wireless Sensor Network that allows for […]

 
 Teaching birds to become petty thieves
This vending machine is for the crows to use! The point of the experiment is to create a device that will train crows to pick up change dropped on the ground and exchange it for peanuts, using this specially-designed vending machine. Video after the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtB8DX70ihM

 This bicycle lift is used by cyclers to get up a steep hill
Hilly cities normally have a low share of cycling. Why is it that Trondheim, the third largest city of Norway, has the highest share of cycling compared to all the other Norwegian cities? Second video after the jump.

 
While some people go way over the top when choosing an abode for their pets, there really are times when it’s just to hot or cold for pets to stay safely outside. 
 

 
It has been called the holy grail of the modern era - cheap solar energy. And scientists say it may be within our grasp soon. 
 

 
Three main things about Czeers MK1 are solar power, high-performance, and not to forget glamor design.

Varying mixtures of aggregate, sand and other binder materials used to create asphalt concrete samples

A great deal of effort is being invested towards discovering ways to make our world greener, with cars in particular being the focus of research and development initiatives. But what about the green credentials of the millions of miles of roads […]

A device to help some of the most impoverished farmers in Africa maximise their crop yields is being tested at London’s Kew Gardens.

New genetic evidence shows that the same trait developed independently on separate branches of the evolutionary tree .

 
 
As Indiana Jones races against time to find an ancient crystal skull in his new movie adventure, he should perhaps take a moment to check its authenticity.
 

 That rule about not crossing the streams still applies, even if it comes from a plastic laser diode
Imperial researchers have come one step closer to finding the ‘holy grail’ in the field of plastic semiconductors by demonstrating a class of material that could make electrically-driven plastic laser diodes a reality.

Africa obviously has their share of pyromaniacs
A geographer from the University of Leicester has produced for the first time a map of the scorched Earth for every year since the turn of the Millennium.

 By geeks, for geeks. Long live the extreme geeks
This is the nerdiest surfboard ever. The “Shredder” surfboard was designed by a computer programmer named Mike Sheldrake after he decided to replace his old board.

 The power of the ocean without the smell of the sea
Marine Current Turbines Ltd, the global leader in tidal stream technology, has successfully completed the installation of its 1.2MW SeaGen tidal energy system in Strangford Narrows in Northern Ireland. There will now be a 12-week period of commissioning and testing before it starts regularly feeding […]

 T. Boone Pickens - Putting his money where his hot air is

Dallas oilman and investor Boone Pickens wants to build the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, a project that would put as many as 2,000 turbines on nearly 200,000 acres in four counties. Pickens’ Mesa Power presented its plans to about 250 […]

 
 Rich people sewage always sells for more than the sewage of the poor
A growing number of cities and counties in the US grappling with water shortages are turning to a solution that may be tough for some homeowners to stomach: purifying sewage water so that residents can drink it.
Los Angeles mayor Antonio R Villaraigosa announced […]

It took a lot of talking, and they turned down three bridges first, but Honeywell
finally bought into the idea that pond scum makes good jet fuel
Plane maker Airbus and diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. on Thursday said they are developing a biofuel that by 2030 could satisfy nearly a third of the worldwide demand […]

 
 
MIT engineers have improved the power output of one type of fuel cell by more than 50 percent through technology that could help these environmentally friendly energy storage devices find a much broader market, particularly in portable electronics.
The new material key to the work is also considerably less expensive than its conventional industrial counterpart, […]

 
 
Scientists of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena succeeded in capturing syntrophic (means “feeding together”) microorganisms that are known to dramatically reduce the oceanic emission of methane into the atmosphere.
 

 
Space vegies such as this could solve world hunger, or just create more leftovers
Scientists have said that vegetables grown in zero-gravity conditions in space can grow to huge sizes, which could help solve the world’s food crisis.
According to a report in the Telegraph , it is thought that the near zero gravity conditions in space result […]

 
Surprisingly this isn’t a picture of Cobra headquarters in the new G.I. Joe movie — the Veil Solar Shade might one day grace the schoolyards of some Australian elementary schools. A concept from design firm Büro North, the Veil has a couple of cool things going for it: First, it automatically rotates during the day to ensure the […]

Are LED Lights The Wave Of The Future?

Faiz Rahman, a nanoelectronics researcher at the University of Glasgow, predicts that LED light bulbs for the home will start appearing on store shelves in the next 2-3 years to compete with incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.
If so, the LED bulbs would provide a much greater efficiency (up to […]

LET THE SUN IN!

Summer’s almost here, and it’s warm enough to throw open the windows, letting the fresh air in. Don’t forget to put up those window screens to keep the bugs out. But that’s not all good. Not only do those old screens make everything look hazy, they block out a lot of light, […]

A123’s battery is made from nanoparticles of lithium iron phosphate modified with trace metals
A123’s batteries will make lithium-ion technology practical for the auto industry. Instead of cobalt oxide, they use an electrode material made from nanoparticles of lithium iron phosphate modified with trace metals. The resulting batteries are unlikely to catch fire, even if […]

 No word on what happens when you write a check on this paper and it erases before the bank can process it.
Xerox knows a thing or to about paper, and they’ve come up with self-erasing paper that can be used over and over again. Not erasable, but self-erasing, leaving you with an entirely blank sheet […]