greenhouse
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San Diegans convert carbon dioxide to fuel via solar energy
Being Earth Week and all, it's not too surprising to hear of San Diegans stretching their mental might and figuring out an effective way to convert carbon dioxide to fuel, but according to the University of California, San Diego, that's precisely what they've done. Clifford Kubiak and Aaron Sathrum have reportedly developed a prototype device "that can capture energy from the sun, convert it to electrical energy, and split carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen." Interestingly, this concept produces more than just an alternate source of fuel, as CO2 splitting also creates a "useful industrial chemical" in CO, and furthermore, helps reduce a greenhouse gas. Currently, they are building the device using a gallium-phosphide semiconductor, and while the existing rendition still requires "additional energy" outside of sheer sunlight for the process to work, they're hoping that the American Chemical Society will warm up to the idea and give 'em a helping hand.[Via Physorg, thanks Richard N.]
UK households to get "free" energy monitors
The environmentalists in the UK have certainly been earning their paychecks of late, as it's been the Brits who have looked at outlawing standby buttons, offered up a way to kill power en masse, and now, officials are readying the launch of free household energy monitors to bring wasteful habits to light. As a part of the upcoming Energy White Paper, England is hoping that the real-time monitors "will help cut greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of energy wasted by appliances being left on standby." The devices are supposed to give dwellers a quick look at just how much energy is going to waste by leaving the bathroom light on, and a handheld extension allows you to view the killowatt-burning action from all over your domicile. Of course, it should be noted that while citizens can request one for free starting sometime in 2008, "the cost of the scheme will either be recouped through taxes or their energy bills."[Image courtesy of MoreAssociates]
Swedes envision greener navigation routing
We can all agree that having a navigation system at all helps the environment out, since you'll be headed right where you need to go (well, most of the time, anyway) rather than spinning your wheels trying to figure out what's what, but a group of Swedish researchers have envisioned a plan that could actually help drivers cut down on emissions without even requiring them to hop in a hybrid. Instead of sorting your routes by criteria like "shortest distance" or "near food," Eva Ericsson at the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden would rather you follow the path of least resistance, which would channel through the most efficient pathway depending on traffic, time of day, and speed limit. The team has trialed various routes and estimates that its thrifty approach to navigating provides fuel savings of "near four percent," but commercializing the idea has some tall hurdles ahead. A spokesperson for NAVTEQ insinuated that re-mapping the current roadways based on these scenarios is practically infeasible, and the idea only becomes marginally plausible if drivers were to volunteer en masse to use their vehicle as a "probe" device that could track and record data as they drove, slowly covering larger areas. Of course, folks aren't apt to cruise around for hundreds of miles (and burn through multiple tanks of fuel) on a whim, but with the right marketing approach, it's possible to turn an entire fleet of vehicles into one giant guinea pig.
Greenhouse intros pocket-friendly 1GB Kana D DAP
Greenhouse is apparently taking a break from TV tuners and USB ashtrays to update its wee Kana-SD MP3 player, this time giving it a more refined look, a (tiny) LCD screen, and removing the "S" from the nameplate. The Kana D touts a 1.12- x 3.27- x 0.87-inch enclosure, USB 1.1 connectivity, USB-stick design, 1GB of storage, about seven hours of battery life from a single AA battery, and six pre-packaged EQ settings. The unit comes in black, white, or blazing red color schemes, plays nice with Windows, and supports both MP3 and WMA. Best of all, the pocketable DAP can be had for just €39 ($52) when it drops later this month.[Via Akihabara News]
Greenhouse kicks out 1Seg TV tuner in USB fashion
While we've seen plenty of TV tuning love for the UK / US crowd, it's about time we saw a new rendition to pick up those delightful digital terrestrial broadcasts while cruising through Tokyo. Greenhouse has busted out a silicon-wrapped 1Seg TV tuner for the Japanese market, but upped the ante on the typical USB stick design. By offering 360-degree rotation, you shouldn't have any problems blocking up spare ports while tuning on your laptop, and it also includes a magnetic base / extension cord to place the antenna at the faraway sweet spot. Aside from pulling in ISDB-T signals, this device also touts an electronic program guide and USB 2.0 / 1.1 connectivity, but unfortunately encodes the content as it's recorded so it can only be played back on the PC in which it was brought in on. So if the inability to view your shows on any other device than the one you used to tune with (somehow) doesn't faze you, you can pick up the GH-1ST-U2K now for ¥10,800 ($94).[Via Akihabara News]
Matsushita Electric Works busts out remote-controlled garden
Even if you've got the greenest thumb in your neighborhood, sometimes exerting all that effort to hydrate your flora just doesn't seem worthwhile. Presumably satisfying the couch dweller in us all, Matsushita Electric Works has remarkably created yet another invention that keeps us firmly planted on that oh-so-comfortable couch, all while giving the utmost attention to those needy azaleas. The remote-controlled Aiterrarium is an indoor gardening system in which the florescent lighting, temperature, humidity, and food / water supply is all controlled via the internet; with just a few clicks, you can make critical tweaks to the environment of your indoor greenhouse, and thanks to an "optional camera system," you don't even have to be home to watch your plant life blossom (or perish). While these are being primarily aimed at universities and agricultural research centers, there's just two things stopping you from snapping up your own -- scrounging up the ¥600,000 ($5,017) required to purchase one, and finding the motivation to actually dial up Matsushita.[Via Far East Gizmos]
Game & Watch compilation coming soon?
Nintendo of Japan recently announced that through its Club Nintendo program, gamers over in Japan would be able to acquire Game & Watch Compilation, which features three classics in Donkey Kong, Oil Panic, and Greenhouse. In purchasing Japanese Nintendo games, there are included inserts that equal a certain amount of points, 500 to be exact, will score the gamer a copy of this compilation. As of now, there is no word on a release for the US, but here's to hoping it's successful over there as I know I'm not the only US gamer who would love to get their mitts on a copy.[Via Game Brink]
