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Inhabitat's Week in Green: lights, water, action
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. All eyes in the design world have been focused this week on the Milan Design Fair 2010 - the biggest and most important design event in the world. Inhabitat scouts have been combing the fair, looking for the latest and greatest innovations in future-forward design. We've spotted a number of ingenious lighting innovations, such as this OLED chandelier from iconic British design Tom Dixon, and a beautiful recyclable pendant lamp inspired by origami. We basked in the gazpacho glare of an incredible table lamp powered completely by tomatoes, and we flipped out over an interactive wooden light wall inspired by the Japanese art of origami. We were also wowed by Yves Béhar's latest foray into fancy chandelier design, with a collection of shimmering paper chandeliers that adorned the Swarovski Crystal Palace. The past week was also awash in H2O tech as researchers unveiled fresh new ways to keep us hydrated and produce clean power. One team of MIT researchers successfully harnessed viruses to split molecules of water to create hydrogen fuel, while another team unveiled a stamp-sized water purifying chip that can be lined up in arrays to generate 15 liters of water per hour. Meanwhile, Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza took a different tact to water purification altogether: he's created a group of robotic "nomad plants" that harvest sludge from polluted rivers and use it as an energy source. We also saw several advances in wearable technology that could improve your game and keep you wired throughout the day. Three engineering students from Northeastern University have developed a "data-logging" compression shirt that helps baseball pitchers avoid torn ligaments, and designer Jennifer Darmour has created a "social-networking garment" that allows you to connect with your virtual audience with every move you make! We also covered several remarkable transportation developments, starting with DARPA's plans to build a futuristic flying transformer car. Speaking of high-flying transportation, we caught wind of a prototype high speed solar airship that could one day offer an emission-free method of hauling cargo across the US. Finally, South Africa is getting set to jump on the high speed rail "train" as it announced it is working on a new rail network that will cut transit times in twain, improve economic development, and modernize the country.
