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Acer's new Aspire Vero 15 has a better webcam and faster processor
And now the company's eco-friendly laptop is now made with even more recycled plastic.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 3D-printed suites and a new Prius
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. Researchers at the University of Michigan are making waves in solar panels -- literally. It turns out that their undulating photovoltaic strips can collect up to 30 percent more energy than flat arrays. In other energy news, China and Pakistan just announced plans to build the world's largest solar farm in the Punjabi desert, and Aspen, Colorado, just became the third city in the US to be powered entirely by renewable energy. Heads up students -- we're giving away three solar energy-generating Voltaic backpacks and you can win one here. Voltaic also just launched a new solar-powered light that shines for 30-plus hours on a single charge. And designer Pauline van Dongen debuted a solar parka that keeps you charged when you journey off the grid.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: artificial leaves and green roofs
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. Silicon Valley is a hotbed for technology, but it will soon be known for green building as well. Last week architects unveiled plans to build the world's largest green roof just down the street from Apple's spaceship campus. In other architecture and design news, Sky Greens has developed a hydraulic vertical farm that can grow 10 times more produce than a traditional farm, and Caltrans proposed the largest wildlife overpass in the US for Los Angeles' 101 freeway. As much as we love to celebrate good examples of architecture, there's also fun to be had in panning bad ones -- this past week, London's "death ray" "walkie talkie" skyscraper was crowned the worst building in Britain. Summer is winding down, but there's still time for one last road trip -- and this tiny camper that telescopes to three times its size is the coolest RV we've ever seen.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: robot wars and edible batteries
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. Tesla gets a lot of press -- but just how good are its vehicles? Well, Consumer Reports just awarded the Model S P85D a rating so high that it broke the scale. The Model S also put range anxiety to rest this week by traveling a record-breaking 452.8 miles on a single charge. Are you in the market for an electric car? We just rounded up the best EVs of 2015 -- from the perfect city car to a family-friendly EV and a midlife crisis sportster. Water and electricity might not mix, but EVs are also taking to the seas -- check out this solar- and wind-powered self-driving boat and this all-electric personal submarine that lets you explore the ocean deep. And in Europe, Paris announced plans to go completely car-free for one day in September and all Netherlands Railways trains will be 100 percent wind-powered by 2018.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: hoverboards and a 3D-printed car
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. A working hoverboard has been the elusive dream of Back to the Future fans and transportation nerds for decades. Now, Lexus claims that it has built a prototype. The company's SLIDE hoverboard uses magnetic levitation technology, similar to high-speed bullet trains, and it is cooled by liquid nitrogen. In other transportation news, the US Department of Defense is working with Malloy Aeronautics to develop a hoverbike for the Army. Getting stuck behind a big truck isn't just annoying -- it can be very dangerous. So tech giant Samsung has designed "see-through" trucks with rear-mounted video panels that display the road ahead.
NASA and Boeing to test eco-friendly technologies for airplanes
Boeing's new ecoDemonstrator (a 757) is slated to go on a series of flights this spring to try out two of NASA's experimental fuel-saving techniques. One of them's the Active Flow Control Enhanced Vertical Tail Flight Experiment, which entails installing 31 tiny jets on a plane's vertical tail or dorsal fin, as you can see below the fold. These jets can manipulate the flow of air over the tail's surface and generate enough force to stabilize the plane during takeoff and landing, even if the fin's around 17 percent smaller than usual. A smaller tail means a lighter plane and, hence, lower fuel consumption.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar-powered planes, Audi EVs and custom-fit bikes
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. After months of preparation, a pair of Swiss aviators has embarked on the first-ever around-the-world flight in a solar-powered airplane. The Solar Impulse 2 took off from Abu Dhabi last week, and it already set a world record for the world's longest solar-powered flight when it landed in India a day later. Over the next five months, André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard plan to make 12 stops around the globe, showing the potential solar power holds. In other renewable energy news, Goodyear announced plans to develop a heat-gathering, electricity-generating car tire at the Geneva Auto Show.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 3D-printed buildings, wooden skyscrapers and UFO-shaped tree tents
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. The big news out of Silicon Valley this week is that architecture heavyweights BIG and Heatherwick Studio will be collaborating to design Google's new Mountain View headquarters. Following the announcement, Google published a video providing a sneak peek at renderings and models of the forthcoming Googleplex. In other green architecture news, UC Berkeley just unveiled the world's largest building 3D-printed from powdered cement. The "Bloom" pavilion is made of 840 printed bricks, and it glows like a lantern when it's lit from within. Rüdiger Lainer just announced plans to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper in Vienna. About three quarters of the 24-story tower will be made from wood, saving 2,800 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Google's new HQ, folding bikes and fancy beehives
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. Buildings are among the biggest energy users, but new developments in the design world could help change that. ArchiBlox recently unveiled Australia's first carbon-positive prefab home -- in other words, the house produces more energy than it uses. The gorgeous 800-square-foot structure is now on display in Melbourne's City Square. In other architecture news, Google just unveiled plans to build a giant bubble in Mountain View! The new Googleplex headquarters will be a biosphere-filled utopia designed by Heatherwick Studio and BIG. Speaking of BIG, the Danish architecture firm recently unveiled plans for a luminescent, geodesic dome biomass power plant. The rainbow-colored dome wouldn't just produce green energy; it would also serve as a public park.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: RFID-blocking jeans, EV buses and mystery USB drives
The internet abounds with unlikely stories of how to make thousands of dollars by doing little or nothing, but here's one money-making scheme that's actually true: A Massachusetts-based nonprofit is paying people up to $13,000 per year for turning over their stool samples. The samples are then used to help fight a rare bacteria called C. difficile. In other science news, an eight-year-old girl may have just made some serious headway in finding a cure for cancer. Camilla Lisanti's parents are cancer researchers, and the child suggested to them that they use antibiotics, "just like when I have a sore throat." It just might be simple enough to work. UK lawmakers voted this week to allow in vitro fertilization using DNA from three people. The technique would be used to eliminate mitochondrial diseases in IVF babies. The FDA recently revealed that several herbal supplements found on the shelves of GNC, Walmart, Walgreens and Target don't contain the ingredients they claim. Instead, they're filled with cheap substitutes, like wheat and soy powder. On the green tech front, the folks at the Oakland-based 3D-printing firm Emerging Outfits have developed a 3D-printed ceramic "Cool Brick" that uses nothing but water to cool homes in hot, dry climates. The brick is now on display at the Museum of Craft Design in San Francisco. In wearable tech news, the PC security firm Symantec (best known for its Norton security products) has teamed up with Betabrand to create a pair of jeans designed to stop so-called digital pickpockets from poaching your personal data. And if you've ever walked around New York City and wondered why USB drives are embedded in building walls, click here for the full story.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Super Bowl LEDs, modified bugs and Lego Pompeii
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. When the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots take the field for the Super Bowl this evening, it will be one of the most widely watched sporting events in the world. And it will also be one of the greenest. The game, which will take place at University of Phoenix Stadium, will be the first Super Bowl host to light its stadium entirely with LEDs, cutting energy use by 75 percent. In other news, Spain announced plans to install the world's first streetlight system that's powered entirely by solar and wind energy. An early prototype shows lampposts with small solar panels and vertical-axis wind turbines attached to the top.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar-powered planes, bamboo bikes and mud houses
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. One of America's most innovative solar power plants officially opened in the Mojave Desert this past week, and it's expected to provide enough energy to power nearly 90,000 homes. The Mojave Solar Project is a concentrated solar plant that uses parabolic troughs to create steam, which produces energy when passed through a turbine generator. In other renewable energy news, the folks at Solight have developed a compact solar-powered lantern that provides off-grid light to communities that lack electricity. The flat-pack, LED lantern was inspired by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and it's designed to replace kerosene lanterns. Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are preparing for the first-ever flight around the world in a solar-powered aircraft. With the flight, the two pilots hope to gain broad support for solar energy. On the green transportation front, self-driving cars are widely believed to represent the future of transportation, but scientists at NASA are already looking further into the future. NASA and Nissan are partnering to research how autonomous vehicles could be used not only here on Earth, but also in space. And in Mexico, a company has produced a bamboo bicycle that generates energy as you pedal around town. The BambooTec bike captures and converts the kinetic energy into electricity, using that energy to charge mobile devices. Best of all, the designs are simple enough to be built by hand.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Warka Water Tower, self-driving cars and purifying water with sunlight
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. High-speed rail projects have been slow to catch on in the United States, but that could change now that the nation's first high-speed rail line has officially broken ground in California. When it's completed, the rail line will link San Francisco and Los Angeles, and it will travel at more than 220 miles per hour. In other green transportation news, Mercedes-Benz just unveiled its futuristic concept for a self-driving, hydrogen-powered car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The car uses a series of cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radar to drive without any intervention from passengers.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Transparent canoes, mobile cabins and a tree bark skateboard
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. At 2,722 feet, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the planet's tallest building -- and on New Year's Eve it was transformed into a giant LED screen hosting the world's largest light show. The show was part of an epic New Year's celebration in downtown Dubai that featured fireworks, lasers and video projections. As the sun set on 2014, Inhabitat looked back at the year that was in green design, rounding up the year's top green design stories, the top green tech and science stories, the top news stories, the top green kids design stories and the top wearable tech stories from 2014. And to ring in the new year, we asked an all-star cast of architects, environmental activists, urbanists and journalists to offer their predictions for what 2015 will hold for green design and the environment.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Solar farms, hydrogen cars and 3D-printing in space
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. 2015 is coming up quick -- and Inhabitat is counting down the days to the new year by showcasing its top posts of 2014! It's been a big year for green tech and environmental news -- take a look at the most inspiring stories, the funniest and the most disturbing -- plus the biggest breakthroughs in wearable technology.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: magnetic hoverboard, cardboard robots and a Toyota Prius camper
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. The Los Angeles Auto Show kicked off last week, and Inhabitat was on the scene to bring you a first look at the hottest new green cars. Among the vehicles unveiled at this year's show were Volkswagen's SportWagen HyMotion hydrogen fuel cell concept car and Audi's new A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro, which is also powered by hydrogen. Inhabitat editor Mike Chino also had the opportunity to test-drive the futuristic Toyota Mirai, which can be powered by clean hydrogen gas made from raw sewage. In other green transportation news, the company Camp-Inn has created a crazy custom Toyota Prius that transforms the hybrid sedan into a small camper. With a fiber-reinforced plastic hump added to the back of the car, there's enough space for a bed.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Tesla Gigafactory, Blue Lagoon and an electric unicycle
Tesla has emerged as one of the world's most exciting and successful electric vehicle manufacturers -- and now the Silicon Valley company is getting into the battery business in a big way. Tesla CEO Elon Musk just unveiled new images of the company's $5 billion battery "gigafactory" -- and he also broke the news that it will be powered entirely by renewable energy! Most vehicles fall into a specific category: sedan, pickup truck, station wagon, etc. -- but Toyota's new U Squared concept is the Swiss Army knife of cars. The insanely flexible vehicle folds out to seat up to four passengers, or you can fold down three seats and roll out an array of racks, movable rails and storage trays to accommodate everything from surfboards and bikes to bulky equipment.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: plastic bag ban, solar briefcase and gold in the sand
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. It's been a bright summer for solar energy -- Samoa just cut the ribbon on the largest solar array in the South Pacific, and even Saudi Arabia -- the country with one of the largest oil reserves in the world -- is investing heavily in photovoltaic technology. We also showcased an awesome energy-generating briefcase that lets you carry solar power everywhere you go! In other renewable energy news, Seoul, Korea, is planning to install new hydro-powered charging stations so that residents can keep their mobile devices charged. The city will install mini hydroelectric turbines embedded in the Cheonggyecheon River, which runs through the capital's downtown. And a town in Denmark just unveiled an amazing Energy Tower that transforms trash into electricity!
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Renovo Coupe, transparent solar panels and the Lego house
Wind power isn't confined to massive turbines found in the middle of cornfields; a Polish company has developed a 3D-printed, foldable wind turbine that can generate up to 300W of clean electricity -- enough to power your smartphone. And best of all? It fits in your backpack. We're also one step closer to having phones that charge themselves -- Michigan State researchers unveiled a crystal-clear solar panel that can be integrated into smartphone displays, windows and other transparent surfaces.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Naturbad pool, Dyson's river vacuum and Legos lost at sea
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, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the automaker would deliver 100,000 electric vehicles in 2015. That's a big jump up from the 22,000 EVs the company currently produces, and the news sent Tesla's stock soaring. In other green transportation news, the Texas Central Railway is planning to develop a 200MPH bullet train that will connect Houston to Dallas. The project is expected to cost about $10 billion, and it will be funded entirely with private money.
