Sahara
Latest
The 2021 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4xe is a PHEV for trail hounds
The state of technology has advanced by leaps and bounds since the dark day of the mid-80s and, thankfully, a whole bunch of it has found its way into Jeep’s first PHEV, the trail-blazing Wrangler Limited Sahara 4xe.
Morocco is building the biggest solar farm in all of Africa
Morocco's 160 MW concentrated solar farm, Noor 1, was only the start. When the African nation is done, Noor 1 will be joined by three more similarly-sized power plants which will generate a whopping 500 MW of renewable energy. That's enough to power 1 million homes, or about half of the country's residences.
Solar Sinter solar-powered 3D printer turns sand into glass, renews our faith in higher education (video)
Where would we be without the world's graduate art projects? In the case of Markus Kayser's Solar Sinter, we might never have seen the day when a solar-powered 3D printer would turn Saharan sand into a perfectly suitable glass bowl. Well, lucky for us (we suppose) we live in a world overflowing with MA students, and awash in their often confusing, sometimes inspiring projects. Solar Sinter, now on display at the Royal College of Art, falls into the latter category, taking the Earth's natural elements, and turning them into functioning pieces of a burgeoning technology. Solar Sinter uses the sun's rays in place of a laser and sand in place of resin, in a process that is perhaps more visually stunning than the results. See for yourself in the video after the break.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-sustaining airships, turbine base jumpers, and the Sahara's solar oasis
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week opened with the exciting news that Norway and Jordan signed an agreement create a flourishing solar oasis in the scorching Sahara Desert. India also made waves as they announced the first tidal plant in Asia, and we took a look at a novel wind power tech that eschews noisy turbines for piezoelectric pads. We also rounded up our favorite wind-powered gadgets that don't blow, and you won't believe the latest extreme sport: wind turbine base jumping! In other news, green transportation took to the skies as we showcased a futuristic airship that generates its own fuel and a hydrogen-powered UAV that can stay aloft for up to a week. Meanwhile, back on earth we heard several major auto manufactures make exciting announcements as Chevrolet unveiled tech that could double the Volt's battery life and Toyota pulled back the curtain on an upgraded electric motor that requires less rare earth metals. This week we also shined a light on the world of energy-efficient illumination with our Green Lighting 101 guide, and we were blinded by the brilliance of Mischer Traxler's repurposed Relumine desk lamps. Finally, from the realm of wearable tech we brought you the solar-powered Androcell backpack that backs up your data, and we tested a handy alphabet flash card app for tech-savvy tots.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: modernizing the US national grid, not to mention deserts and pyramids
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week at Inhabitat, we were thankful to be able to witness the long-awaited unveiling of the futuristic solar-powered Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, and we also heard the exciting news that scientists are developing a project that could have us using the Sahara desert to supply 50% of the world's energy by 2050. We were also dazzled by the dynamic "dancing" facade of the Kiefer Technic showroom and this towering greenery-lined pyramid caught our eye with its modern take on ancient Mayan architecture. The world of green tech had a lot to be grateful for too as the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it would award $19 million to modernize the national grid and green transportation saw the first flight powered by jatropha-based biofuel. On a lighter note, this solar-powered wheelchair and its designer prepared to embark on a 200 mile journey to showcase its capabilities. For those of you on the hunt for Cyber Monday deals, don't forget to check out our Green Gadget Gift Guide with our picks for the hottest eco-friendly tech out there. We also spotted this ingenious wood speaker system that amplifies music using the properties of the material it's made of and needs no electricity at all.
TabletKiosk's Sahara i440D Slate PC reviewed, benchmarked
Just over a fortnight after the TabletKiosk's Sahara i440D Slate PC began shipping out to interested buyers, the niche machine has now been reviewed and benchmarked for those still mulling a purchase. The folks over at TabletPCReview noted that this machine was a breeze to tote around, had a solid feel, sported a satisfactory (though not awe-inspiring) display, and performed sufficiently enough for those not looking to actually replace their (likely more robust) laptop. Additionally, the pen functionality was highly praised as was the respectable array of ports, but the amount of noise and heat that this bad boy emitted was a slight turn-off. Still, the Sahara i440D benchmarked well against similar alternatives, and while we wouldn't recommend 3D gaming or motion picture rendering on it, it seems like a solid choice for those in the market. Check out a videoed extension of the review after the jump.
TabletKiosk's Sahara i400 series does it up slate style once again
TabletKiosk sure does love its slate PCs, and we're especially liking this new Sahara i440D. It's not exactly for the power users in the house, with an Intel Celeron M ULV 423 processor at the helm, but it makes up for that with its diminutive 0.98-inch thickness and 3.3 pound carrying weight. There's also room for up to 4GB of DDR2 SDRAM, so while your apps might be a bit on the sluggish side, at least you can run lots of them. Up front there's a 12.1-inch XGA screen with a 179 degree viewing angle, but where the i440D really shines is with its connectivity, including Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, two USB 2.0 ports, firewire, eSATA, gigabit Ethernet, a PCMCIA slot and cradle connector. There's also a fingerprint reader and room for a 6-cell battery. No optical drive or keyboard, of course, but the fancy screen can switch between being a pressure-sensitive digitizer and a resistive touch screen, so your fingers can at least keep busy leaving prints all over display. Configurations start at $1,795 for the i412T with 512MB of RAM, a 60GB HDD and Windows XP Professional and ramp up to the $2,295 i440D with 1GB of RAM, an 80GB HDD and Vista Business. Pre-loaded Linux is also an option. TabletKiosk should start shipping these in March.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sahara shows off three new tablets: i440D, i440T, and i417T
Sahara is back at it again with three new additions to its TabletKiosk line: the i440D, i440T, and the i417T. All three computers share a similar feature set, including a 12.1-inch XGA screen, "TruePrint" fingerprint reader, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 802.11 a/b/g WiFi, 802.11d QoS, a PCMCIA slot, and up to 4GB of RAM. The main differences are that the i417T has an 1.2GHz Intel Celeron M ULV, while the i440D and i440T both have a more up to date 1.8GHz Core Duo LV. Additionally, while the i417T and i440T sport a touch screen, the i440D has an active digitizer display so you can actually use the TabletKiosk as, you know, a Tablet PC. All the devices weigh in at a reasonable 3.3 pounds and can be custom configured with either Vista, XP, or Linux.
