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Inhabitat's Week in Green: Bicymple, computer-age fossils and an underground mushroom tunnel
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. We tend to look to green designers and architects to inspire us and reshape our understanding of what's possible, and this week we've seen plenty of visionary green designs over at Inhabitat. First, JM Schivo & Associati unveiled ambitious plans for "Earth City," a futuristic green city that would be entirely powered by renewable energy. Then, inspired by NYC's High Line, Fletcher Priest won the Green Infrastructure Ideas Competition with his proposal for an underground mushroom tunnel beneath the streets of London. At the World Architecture Festival, Nikken Sekkei took home the sustainable building award for its evaporative cooling bioskin building in Tokyo, and science fans successfully purchased Nikola Tesla's old Long Island workshop to turn it into a museum.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar panel printer, gold producing bacteria and a life-size of horse made of computer keys
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. Inhabitat is always interested in finding innovative uses for old technology, and this week we saw artists and designers from around the world produce new things from old, unused or outmoded gadgets. In Osaka, a local goldfish club has been transforming old phone booths into gigantic public fish tanks. In another large-scale art installation, Babis Panagiotidis used 18,000 recycled computer keys to make a life-size rocking horse. London artist Leonardo Ulian also makes beautiful, ornate mandalas from bits and pieces of old circuitry. And Benjamin Yates makes his unique coffee tables from recycled circuit boards, old VCRs and computer components.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: ECOLAR house, transparent solar panel and Star Wars terrariums
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. For the past two weeks Inhabitat has been reporting live from the Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, where 18 student teams from around the world have been competing for the title of the world's most efficient solar-powered prefab house. As usual, suspense was running high in the final days of the competition, and we're excited to announce that Team Rhône-Alpes' Canopea House has been named this year's winner! The beautiful modular house took top honors in the architecture and sustainability categories, and it features a 10.7 kW photovoltaic array on the roof that produces more than enough energy to power the home. Some of the other standouts at the Solar Decathlon Europe include Germany's ECOLAR House, which features a flexible, modular design that can expand or shrink to accommodate the needs of its owners. It came as no surprise that the German team was tops in the engineering category, and the team incorporated hemp insulation in the floors, walls and ceiling to prevent thermal loss. Team Andalucia's Patio 2.12 House, which consists of four separate prefabricated modules built around an interior courtyard, scored high marks for energy efficiency and innovation. And although Italy's MED in Italy House might not look like much on the outside, step inside and you'll enter a different world altogether. The highly efficient home features a central courtyard and a rooftop photovoltaic array that generates about 9.33 kWh of energy per year -- roughly double what it needs. Team Rome also added wall layers that can be filled with heavy materials to provide high thermal mass once the home is installed.
Amazon launches Vine.com for shoppers who live life on the 'green' edge
Love Amazon's renowned two-day shipping? How about organic eats and other miscellaneous environment-friendly products? If so, then today's your very lucky day. Adding to the endless list of shopping sites it already owns, Amazon has just introduced Vine.com; a site which aims to be a one-stop web store for folks looking to snag anything from organic ingredients to beauty products like all-natural shaving oils and Kiss My Face foam soaps -- and yes, as we stated earlier, there's an option to get that speedy two-day delivery service. While chatting with Bits Blog, a Vine representative said the goal isn't "necessarily about saving the planet," but that his team does "feel the products are useful in that regard." Currently Vine.com is live in beta form, though that doesn't mean folks interested can't go browse around and order some goodies -- to do that, give the source link below a quick tap.
O2 to sell upcoming HTC smartphone without a wall charger, says it's part of a 'simple vision'
In what could be considered a relatively strange move, O2 has announced that an upcoming, unannounced HTC smartphone won't come with a wall charger inside the box. According to the Euro carrier, this idea is part of a "simple vision" in which it wants "to take chargers out of boxes full stop," adding that research has shown more than 70 percent of UK customers don't have the need for such charger as they already own one with the same compatibility. The soon-to-be HTC device will, however, include a USB to micro-USB cable, so not everything will be completely lost. Now O2 didn't give any fruitful details about which HTC handset it'll be using to kick off the program, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: rotating house, desktop 3D printer and a Star Trek-style warp drive
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. Mid-September is a busy time of year in the world of design as the Solar Decathlon Europe takes place in Madrid and the London Design Festival kicks off -- and Inhabitat has correspondents on the ground at both events bringing us a steady stream of photos and updates. At the Solar Decathlon, Team Portugal designed an innovative house that can actually rotate to follow the sun in order to increase energy production and adjust interior daylighting. Team Valencia developed a modular home that can grow or contract depending on the family's needs. And the team from Tongji University produced an eye-catching house that embraces both Western and Daoist principles. In the competition, Rome's super-efficient MED in Italy house jumped out to an early lead -- but it's still too soon to call the winner so stay tuned.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: GPS shoes, shape-shifting bicycle and a wheelchair helicopter
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. Apple dominated the news cycle this week with the debut of the iPhone 5, as the internet was buzzing with details about the lighter, thinner and faster new iPhone. But not everyone was thrilled with the news. A journalist in China spent 10 days undercover working at a Foxconn factory, detailing the grueling conditions workers undergo to produce the new gadget. Apple wasn't the only tech company in the news this week, though; Google got some time in the spotlight this week too, as the company's new augmented-reality glasses were trotted down the runway at New York Fashion Week. Continuing the trend of high-tech fashion, British designer Dominic Wilcox unveiled a GPS shoe that guides you home from anywhere in the world. This week, a team of Finnish researchers did what we would have thought was impossible, building an electricity-free computer that's powered by water droplets. Israeli designer Nitsan Debbi cooked up a batch of working electronic products made of bread. A Boise-based tech company used 3D printing technology to produce a new working beak for an injured bald eagle. Artist Luzinterruptus fitted 10,000 books that had been discarded by public libraries with LED lights and covered the streets of Melbourne with them, and in an exciting development the much-anticipated Low Line underground park in NYC debuted a full-scale model of their incredible fiber-optic solar-concentrating technology in New York City's lower east side. And in a surprising development, a researcher in Switzerland discovered a special strain of fungus that can make an ordinary violin sing like a Stradivarius.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Eindhoven's Evoluon Center, folding compact cars and the best of 3D printing
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. As we enter mid-August, millions of people will load up the car and head out to the beach for summer vacation. But no matter how much energy you put into building a sandcastle, it's unlikely to be as impressive as the structures produced by Stone Spray, a solar-powered, robotic 3D printer that can create entire buildings out of sand. It's hard to deny that 3D printing has the ability to change the world -- especially after learning about a two-year-old girl who gained the use of her arms with the aid of a 3D-printed robotic exoskeleton (she calls them her "magic arms").
Stone Spray research project wants to print bridges with sand, solar power
Envious of your pet hermit crabs' 3D-printed domicile? Maybe you should cast your green eyes upon the Stone Spray project, an Eco-friendly robot printer that's exploring the viability of soil as a building material. Although making actual buildings is a bit out of the robot's reach, its team has managed to print a series of scaled sculptures (such as stools, pillars and load-bearing arc structures) out of sand, soil and a special solidification compound. The machine's jet-spray nozzle seems to have an easier time constructing objects over per-existing scaffolding, but the team is striving to design structures that don't require the extra support. "We want to push further the boundaries of digital manufacturing and explore the possibilities of an on-site fabrication machine," the team writes on the project's homepage, citing makeshift printed bridges or an on-beach canopy as possible applications of technology. If the Earth itself doesn't make a green enough building material, consider this: the Stone Spray robot can be powered by solar energy alone. Check it out in all of its sand-sculpting glory in the video below.
Alvarez Electric Motors rolls out budget-friendly line of Eco vehicles
Sure, there's already a ton of electric rides out there, but some folks might not be interested in all those bells and whistles found in something like, say, that precious Tesla Model S or the upcoming Audi A3 e-tron. Luckily for them, there are indie companies like Alvarez Electric Motors trying to stir things up a bit in the EV market. The California company (with the help of Chinese OEM Liuzhou Wuling) has just announced three eco-friendly vehicles, starting with its Eco-E Commuter Car and followed by two larger ones, the EcoTruck and EcoVan -- all of which are priced at around $10,000, $17,000 and $18,000, respectively, though this isn't taking into consideration the tax credits and rebates that come with going the green route. Naturally, saving cash also means taking a couple of hits in key departments, and thus it shouldn't come as a surprise the EV trio is only expected to have a mild range of 30-40 miles, while top speeds are said to clock in at a mere 25 mph. You'll find more info on these at the source below, along with extra pictures for your kind viewing pleasure.
BMW's C Evolution electric scooter does 62 miles on a charge, maxes out at 75 mph
All things considered, we think it's safe to say BMW very rarely disappoints with its latest road-friendly creations, and one of the outfit's most recent concoctions is this eco-friendly C Evolution electric scooter. According to the German company, the prototype two-wheeler's quite close to hitting its final production stages, noting "it might soon become a part of everyday road traffic in cities throughout the world" and that it is "outstanding in terms of performance, functionality and design." On paper, the C Evolution appears to be rather promising, with BMW also claiming the environmental hog can ride out about 62 miles on a single charge -- all while being able to reach max speeds of around 75 mph. No word yet on how much you'll have to save up for one of these, but for now, there's a video of the C Evo in action waiting on you just past the break.
Air Canada embarks on its first biofuel-powered flight from Toronto to Mexico City
Not looking to be left out of the biofuel party, Air Canada is the latest to try out the eco-friendly alternative for its jet engines. An Airbus A319 will make the outfit's pseudo-sustainable flight from Toronto to Mexico City powered by a 50 / 50 mixture of the aforementioned material and regular ol' jet fuel. This particular blend is derived from recycled cooking oil and meets all standards to avoid any modifications to the aircraft's existing systems -- while still offering a 40 percent cut in emissions. In addition to green-powered trips, the airline is implementing several other measures to improve its impact on Mother Nature, including the use of iPads over paper documents for pilots. Here's to hoping that the company will be fueling it's own 787s with the blend in the near future. [Thanks, Renaud]
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar supertrees, pee-powered plasma and a bug-eyed mantis shrimp with a serious right hook
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 big week for energy-efficient breakthroughs in the scientific community. Scientists at MIT developed a new type of textured nano surface that could reduce the thickness of silicon used in solar panels by more than 90 percent, bringing down the cost of photovoltaic technology. Meanwhile, in the land down under, researchers at the Australian National University are working on a pee-powered plasma thruster that could make deep space missions more feasible. Also this week, a team of engineers from MIT developed a new glucose fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers the human body and could be used for brain implants.
Inhabitat's Week In Green: cities in the sky, a cloned Chinese village and a few green DIY Father's Day projects
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. As the race to develop new, more efficient modes of transportation heats up, it could soon become even easier (and greener) to jet around the globe. This week saw the Solar Impulse -- that broad, funny-looking airplane -- complete the world's first solar-powered intercontinental flight. Meanwhile, Boeing's hydrogen-powered 'Phantom Eye' drone aircraft successfully completed its first flight, releasing only water as a byproduct. Both developments signal growing confidence in employing new green technologies in air travel. Now that green airplanes are taking flight, what will we do with all of those old fuel-guzzling planes that are currently in use? One Oregon man may have found an answer -- Bruce Campbell transformed an entire Boeing 727-200 into his home, converting one bathroom into a shower and installing a computer monitor in the middle of the control panel.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Jake Dyson's lamp, wooden light bulbs and weed-killing lasers
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 Inhabitat has been reporting live from New York Design Week, where we've witnessed countless innovative green designs from around the world. To kick things off, we were pretty impressed with this desk lamp designed by Jake Dyson (son of the vacuum god) that extends the life of its LED bulbs by a whopping 37 years. Also in the category of "bright shiny things we love" is QisDesign's Aurelia lamp, which bears a striking resemblance to a glowing jellyfish. We were also dazzled by UM Project's collection of retro, robot-inspired lamps, Light & Contrast's cute LED flower lights, and we were absolutely floored by Alessandro Jordão's larger-than-life LEGO chair. Can't get enough of NY Design Week? Check out all of our favorite green designs from this year's shows. Continuing with the topic of innovative green lighting technology, artist Ryosuke Fukusada has created the impossible: a glowing wooden light bulb. Confused? The light was created using a technique called Rokuro, and it consists of an LED light bulb wrapped with a very thin layer of wood. When the bulb is turned on, it illuminates the grain of the wood. As Fukusada's creation demonstrates, LED lighting technology has taken some incredible strides recently, and we took some time to round-up 24 of our all-time favorite green lamps that look great with LED bulbs.
Boeing 787 set for first biofuel-powered flight tonight
Biofuel in planes is hardly a new idea, but when Boeing's latest and greatest aircraft gets in on the green game, we take notice. That's right, a ANA 787 Dreamliner is currently preparing to take off from Everett, Washington this evening and will make its way across the Pacific to Tokyo powered by biofuel. Well played, Boeing, we're all for celebrating Earth Day a little early, and it's always good to see someone giving Sir Richard Branson a run for his money. [Photo credit: Boeing, Flickr]
Nest Thermostat update adds 10-day history, helps send chilly air through the home
There's a first for everything, including Engadget stories about software updates for thermostats. If we're going to suddenly start getting granular in our coverage of home automation products, though, we may as well start with the Nest, a device slick enough to make us use "thermostat" and "sexy' in the same sentence. Now that it's been out on the market for about five months, the company's issuing a software update that introduces a couple new features. For starters, particularly fastidious users can now access a detailed 10-day history, showing precisely when and for how long their heating and cooling systems kicked in, as well as the reason for that shift (e.g., you manually changed the temperature, were away). Though you can't view all that data on the device's small, circular screen, you can look it up online or through Nest's iOS and Android apps. Next up is Airwave, a feature that uses your fan to distribute chilled air through the home after your air conditioner has turned off (you know, instead of letting one room get intensely, unnecessarily cold). According to Nest, that feature turns on automatically when the temperature is high and the humidity low, though we're hazy on the algorithm being used there. Rounding out the list, Nest has made certain settings easier to access, and the hardware itself will ship with redesigned connectors that purport to work well even without wall anchors. Save for that last bit, current owners can enjoy all these tweaks via a free software update -- fully automated, 'o course.
ReCellular's headquarters toured by iFixit, recycling and redistribution gets a closer look
ReCellular's hardly a new name in the recycling universe, but as more and more individuals toss their dumbphone for a smarter alternative, the Ann Arbor-based outfit is seeing a new wave of interest. iFixit, a company that thrives on tearing down gadgetry both new and old in order to inform people of their repair and upgrade options, recently had the opportunity to tour ReCellular's monolithic warehouse, where some 10,000 used phones are processed every 24 hours. The tour also included a bit of back-and-forth with the founder, who isn't against the seemingly endless churn of devices. In fact, he quips that "we have the right to get a phone that's smaller and a prettier color if we want," insinuating that ReCellular simply exists to provide a better home to older gizmos than in some landfill. Perhaps surprisingly, Chuck Newman even confesses that the whole "environmental message" isn't very effective, which is why it distributes prepaid envelopes to encourage recycling that would probably not happen otherwise. Eager to read more? Give those links below a tap.
Samsung gets tired of neighbors watching its Transparent Smart Window, installs blinds
Sammy's transparent OLED displays may not be the freshest piece of tech at CES, but its still pretty dang awesome. We first saw Samsung's 46-inch 1920 x 1080 digitally augmented window back in March, but dropped by its CES booth for a second look. Although the touchscreen window still teases to fulfill our fevered sci-fi dreams, not much has changed -- it's still clear, it's still loaded with widgets, and it's still not anywhere near being installed in your home. Samsung told us this was still a concept device, although they did mention that the technology could be scaled down for use in military visors and heads up displays. Hit the break to see a video demo of a few new apps, including a rather slick set of digital blinds.Joe Pollicino contributed to this report.
Allure Energy EverSense energy management system hands-on
Allure Energy announced its EverSense energy management system (read: a fancy thermostat) back in December, but we were just on hand for its official unveiling here at CES. EverSense serves both as a thermostat and media playing device (yes, those are speakers you see on either side of the screen). It comes running a custom OS that works in conjunction with the Allure iOS app to control the HVAC systems in your home. The thermostat has proximity controls that work with your iPhone's GPS to turn on or off your A/C depending upon how close you are to your house. That way, the temperature's always just right when you pull into your driveway, but you don't have the increased utility bills that normally come with maintaining a steady temperature all day. EverSense's media streaming works using a wireless technology akin to DLNA to pull tunes from your handset -- when we prodded Allure's reps for more info, all they'd tell us is that it's "proprietary" tech. We got to see the device and the companion app, but couldn't do a full demo of their capabilities as custom software still has some bugs and isn't quite ready for prime time. The good news is, there's plenty of time for Allure to fix it: EverSense is scheduled for a Q2 release, when it can be yours for $349. Zach Lutz contributed to this report.
