Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published November 3, 2009 and has No Comments
Image via Sahara Meteorite Prospecting I recently returned from the Do Lectures in Wales, a collection of talks given by visionary people who've decided to put their ideas into action; to "do." I walked away inspired by nearly all of the lectures, but there was one lecture in particular that got my design juices flowing. It was given by ...
Read more...published November 2, 2009 and has No Comments
Images: Jetson Green Biomimicry is everywhere these days. It seems increasingly clear that design inspired by nature will play a great big role in our energy future. Case in point: Green Wavelength , an up-and-coming California engineering biz, has prototyped a small wind turbine, the xBEE, the elegant flapping motion of which is inspired by the buzz of insect ...
Read more...published November 2, 2009 and has No Comments
Credit: G.L. Kohuth, Michigan State University We've heard a lot about robotic fis h over the last year, including that they'll patrol for pollution , and gather information to monitor climate change in the oceans. Michigan State University researchers are bringing another version of a robotic fish to the scene, having just received funding to move the project forward. ...
Read more...published October 30, 2009 and has No Comments
Image via PopSci Sharklet Technologies, a Florida-based biotech company, has figured out a way to capitalize on shark skin - specifically on the way parasites and bacteria can't stick to sharks. The trick is in the pattern of the skin's surface. Scientists have figured out how to print the pattern onto adhesive film, which wards off bacteria and is ...
Read more...published October 27, 2009 and has No Comments
Photo via Stephen Childs Mantis shrimp - giant shrimp living on Australia's Great Barrier Reef - are being eyeballed (har har) as holding solutions to creating a higher quality DVD player, and it's all because they have the most complex set of eyes in the animal kingdom. That complexity could be translated into a DVD player that can handle ...
Read more...published October 16, 2009 and has No Comments
photo: Kyknoord via flickr. There's lots of cool stuff going on with biomimicry these days and on Wednesday I got to see one of the coolest things I've seen in this arena in a while: Experimental superhydrophobic coatings for wind turbine blades. Inspired by the way water balls up on certain types of leaves, these promise more eff... Read ...
Read more...published September 28, 2009 and has No Comments
Photo via tanakawho NASA is taking a hint from biomimicry and looking at lotus leaves for inspiration for a special coating that will prevent particles from sticking to surfaces of spaceflight equipment. The many tiny spikes covering the surface of the leaf are idea for minimizing the amount of surface area where dust and other matter can accumulate. It's ...
Read more...published September 28, 2009 and has No Comments
Photo via Axel Rouvin We have viruses and worms that infect our computers, reflections of nature in our digital world that are anything but pleasant. Now we might get another dash of nature in our computers, this time coming to the rescue. Computer security experts are devising ways to protect our computers by mimicking ants and how they swarm ...
Read more...published July 6, 2009 and has No Comments
Photo: Wikipedia , Public domain Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho! Breaking Down Dead Leaves! Leaf-cutter ants, fungi and bacteria are playing as a team when it comes to the most energy possible out of dead leaves, and scientists think that by studying this 50-million years old "symbiotic bioreactor" they can figure out how to make biofuels more effectively. But they can't just ...
Read more...published June 3, 2009 and has No Comments
Designboom presents cool things from the DMY Design Festival in Berlin. Nominees for the DMY Award include the Idea of a Tree from Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler. it is a machine that "starts producing when the sun rises and stops when the sun settles down. After sunset, the finished object can be ‘harvested’."... Go here to see the ...
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A new beverage labeling initiative that is starting this fall provides an interesting example of how businesses can change without government mandates or laws . Launched by the American Beverage Association (ABA), Clear on Calories provides a standard disclosure ...
Image credit: Matt Callow /Flickr Most conservation, unfortunately, is reactive. Though improved assessment methods make this reaction more timely, plans are crafted after habitats are degraded and species are recieve protected status after their populations have demonstrated critical declines. ...
