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 August 30, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Designboom Japanese artist Akira Nakayasu's specialty is robotic plants. He creates things like sunflowers that react to human movement, making the flower seem to communicate with the people around it. His latest work is called "Plant," an interactive piece that was inspired by grass blowing in the wind. With 169 artificial leaves that react independently to the ...
Read more...published August 30, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via hollaa01 Augmented reality is here. If you're unsure of what that is, think of the Terminator movies when they showed you what it was like to look at the world through the robot's eyes, and all the data about whatever he was looking at popped up over the image. It's a tool that we really love around ...
Read more...published August 26, 2010 and has No Comments
Images via Voltaic Systems We usually hear about new solar-charging bags from Voltaic Systems, known for its very high quality backpacks, laptop cases and messenger bags. However, the company is bringing us something new -- stand-alone chargers. They have three new models available, each boasting about four times the charging power of most solar chargers out there on the ...
Read more...published August 26, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Earthtechling When we see personal chargers, they're almost always based on absorbing energy from the sun . Once in a great while, we also hear of new personal wind-powered chargers . But we almost never hear about water-powered personal chargers. This concept device, called the Vena Microhydro System by designer Danial Hull, bridges a gap in options ...
Read more...published August 25, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo by Gonzalo Baeza Hernández The UK has started up its own green ranking system for mobile handsets , but Apple wants no part of it. The company has refused to allow the iPhone to be included in the system by O2, but its reasons for declining the opportunity aren't exactly clear. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger ...
Read more...published August 24, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Google Lat-Long Blog Google Earth's ocean layers are incredible, and the company has made the feature of their much loved software mobile -- Google Earth 1.1 for (of course) Android has just added their oceans layer. You can zoom around the sea floor, exploring the entire Monterey Bay Canyon, for example, or search through photos and videos ...
Read more...published August 23, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via orphanjones Cleveland residents are about to get an extra incentive to recycle -- if they don't, their trash bins will tattletale and they'll be slapped with a $100 fine. The city is starting a new program that features trash bins embedded with microchips. If the recycling cart isn't rolled out to the curb on a regular basis, ...
Read more...published August 23, 2010 and has No Comments
Images via Dreamfarm The return of water fountains across cities has been the buzz lately, with places like London restoring old fountains and New York setting up new ones, though those are only temporary . It seems as though taking back the tap is finally catching on, and access to See more here: Tapi Tap Squeezes a Drink from Any ...
Read more...published August 9, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Instructables The idea of showing air quality by emitting glowing colors is fairly old. In fact, in 2007, Pairs launched hot air balloons above the city that would show citizens the level of cleanliness of the air they were breathing in. Even air filters have started to sport glowing colors to indicate the level of pollutants in ...
Read more...published August 5, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via quapan Our culture is obsessed with technology, and for many people it seems the solution to our environmental conundrums is embedded in the ways we utilize the technology we have to create solutions. To a great degree, technology is what got us into this oil-dependent mess in the first place; still, it can very well be an ...
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Save the sea creatures! Handcraft your own natural specimens using these these simple patterns, some yarn and a crochet hook. View post: 8 Enchanting Sea Creatures You Can Crochet
A Finnish designer has made a working surfboard from broken skateboards. Read the original here: Hollow Surfboard Is Made from Broken Skateboards
