Paris is innovating again.
When Paris’ now famous bike share system Velib’ in 2007, it was a pioneer in the field. Now similar programs are popping up in major cities all over the world, and Paris is looking to break the mold again. This week the City launched Autolib’ – a car sharing system that works the same way…
Continue reading… “Paris launches a vehicle sharing program with 3,000 electric cars”
A whole new way to garden.
If there ever was a product that best demonstrated our increasing disconnect with nature, this one may be it. Click & Grow is an electronic gardening set that includes a soil-less pot, plant ‘cartridges’ and yep, even batteries. The premise is that people are either too busy or too much of a brownthumb to grow their own plants, so why not let some gadget do all the hard work?
Developed by an Estonian entrepreneur, Click & Grow is the result of a meshing of hydroponics and aeroponics, all reduced to a series of sensors, processors and software, which surround the seeds in the disposable cartridge…
Continue reading… “Electronic gardening kit”
Taurus G4
A Pennsylvania company has landed a $1.35 million prize from NASA for developing an ultra-efficient electric airplane.
Continue reading… “Electric plane wins $1.35 million NASA prize”
Self cleaning cloth.
This is laundry science at work. Researchers at the University of California at Davis have developed a compound that blends into cotton clothes and, when exposed to sunlight, destroys bacteria and toxins.
The compound is known as 2-anthraquinone carboxylic acid, or 2-AQC, and can be incorporated into cotton threads without the risk of washing off. After an hour’s exposure to our yellow sun, the super compound produces reactive oxygen species, such as hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide, that break down nasties like E. coli and dangerous pesticides…
Continue reading… “Self-cleaning cloth keeps your shirts bacteria-free with pure sunlight power”
Toilet Bike Neo
Japan’s top commode manufacturer, TOTO, has just unveiled a crazy poop-powered motorcycle topped with a toilet. The motorcycle, dubbed the Toilet Bike Neo, will travel across Japan to promote the company’s “Green Challenge” of reducing emissions 50% over the next five years. The vehicle runs on biogas that is produced by an on-bike toilet, communicates in Japanese using LED lights, plays music, and talks. A poop and ride motorcycle!
Continue reading… “Toilet Bike Neo – a poop-powered motorcycle”
Creative and functional artwork.
Wind-powered karaoke? Only in Shanghai would such a thing exist. These colourful pavilions were initially built as an art installation — one of many themed pavilions in a new waterfront park created for Shanghai’s 2010 World Expo — but now they have been torn down, except these Skittle-like structures. Currently, these neon-bright pavilions are utilized by city residents for leisure activities such as karaoke, games, picnics and music — all powered by the wind turbines spinning above each pavilion…
Continue reading… “Shanghai Park’s Pavilions are wind-powered urban leisure spots”
Another new invention from Dean Kamen.
Inflatable wind turbines may not be an entirely new idea, but prolific inventor Dean Kamen has detailed one of a slightly different sort in a recently published patent application. In addition to generating energy for general use, the turbine would also be able to power a set of LEDs adorning the turbine itself, which could be used to display advertising or other information using a persistence of vision effect…
Continue reading… “Dean Kamen files patent application for an inflatable, illuminated wind turbine”
A new destination for diapers.
For those of us who wince every time a dirty diaper is discarded, take heart: Canadian company Knowaste can now transform those soiled, disposable nappies into roofing material. That’s right, billions of baby-poop gems and even adult ‘accidents’ due to incontinence, are ripe for the picking and destined for our roofs, thanks to a process that transforms diaper waste into plastic pellets, which can then be made into roofing tiles and tubing.
Continue reading… “Dirty diapers? Knowaste will turn them into roofing material”
John Fleming and Tim Maxwell claim they can make ammonia for 75 cents a gallon.
John Fleming of SilverEagles Energy and Tim Maxwell from Texas Tech University, say they have developed a way to make ammonia that is cheap enough so that it could be used as fuel for cars. If their claims turn out to be true, many consumers might consider switching over because ammonia, when burned in an engine, emits nothing but nitrogen and water vapor out the tailpipe. And if that’s not enough incentive, they claim they can make the ammonia for just 20 cents a liter (approximately 75 cents a gallon).
Illac Diaz, of non-profit My Shelter Foundation, brought the simple, cheap and innovative technology to the Philippines.
The slums in Manila are being transformed by a new twist on recycling. Plastic bottles are now being viewed as a cheap and sustainable way to light homes instead of trash.
Continue reading… “Solar Bottle Bulb – a cheap and sustainable way to light homes”
Tulane University has applied for a patent for a method to produce the biofuel butanol from organic material.
Scientists have found one way that old-fashioned newspaper beats the internet. Tulane University scientists have discovered a novel bacterial strain, dubbed “TU-103,” that can use paper to produce butanol, a biofuel that can serve as a substitute for gasoline. They are currently experimenting with old editions of the Times Picayune, New Orleans’ venerable daily newspaper, with great success.
Continue reading… “Scientists produce biofuel from recycled newspapers”
Would you believe this could be the new look of solar power?
7th grader Aidan Dwyer was walking in the woods during the winter, and looking up, he noticed something about the bare branches above him. They didn’t appear to be growing randomly. So he took some measurements of the angles of the branches, crunched some numbers, and wouldn’t you know it, he found that the ubiquitous Fibonacci Sequence was behind it all. He suspected there was a reason behind this. That trees were using this pattern to gather more light.
So he did an experiment. Using the same number of solar cells, he built two working models. One was a traditional, flat array will all of the panels on a single plane. The other used the Fibonacci Sequence to create the same spiraled pattern he observed in the trees. The results? The little man himself reports…
Continue reading… “Genius 13-Year-Old has a solar power breakthrough”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.