Hybrid Living

These two fair impressive Christmas trees were made of recycled bottles. Nice use of all those empties! The one of the left was made with 1050 beer bottles by Paul Deakin, a student at the University of Southampton (the south coast on England). The tree on the right was made with Grolsch beer bottles. Feeling [...]

Have you ever wanted to take green computing to the next level? Maybe, instead of upgrading to an EPEAT Gold machine, instead you want to take it a little bit further? Like…you want your computer to consume NO electricity EVER.

Well, this Christmas season, you can do just that. This tiny Linux box from Aleutia consumes 8 watts when running at maximum capacity, and it will only cost you around $350 dollars. The rest of your thousand dollar budget goes into a tiny 8-inch, 12-watt LCD screen and a big ol’ Brunton Solar Roll to power the low-impact workstation.

You can buy them all together from Aleutia right now. Of course, the system isn’t designed for home users…more for researchers and aid workers in developing countries, but it is a fantastic example of what can already be done with existing technology.

Via TreeHugger

The oddities never cease…now we have a wireless camera that can be powered entirely by the energy a fluorescent lamp wastes. The camera gets its power from the electromagnetic field generated by the AC souce in the light. Just clamp it on, and it runs.

Sharp expects that the technology can be used as a low-cost way to monitor (spy on) employees and improve productivity. The ultra-low-power camera can take a picture once every ten seconds and then wirelessly transmit it (using an 802.11b transmitter) to the boss’s workstation. Kinda cool…kinda creepy…but definitely ecogeek.

Via TechON

Optimal gift wrapping comes from renewable sources and does not contain toxic substances. Virgin forest fiber, bleach and heavy-metal inks need not be a part of gift giving. What are some of the better choices? One of the more optimal ways to wrap gifts is Furoshiki, a traditional Japanese technique of wrapping gifts using cloth. [...]

Not to be confused with a much more star-studded announcement concerning the climate today, a company in the U.S. is attempting to remove carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired power plant by creating baking soda.

Simply pumping the CO2 through a sodium hydroxide solution at the right temperature gives the folks at skymine a pure, stable, food-grade sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) precipitate. That sodium bicarbonate’s carbonates come from the carbon dioxide that we so frequently bemoan as the world’s largest contributor to global warming.

The Skymine process, pioneered by Skyonic, is really very simple. The big problem with it, in my eyes, is that sodium hydroxide doesn’t just bubble out of the ground anywhere. Actually, that’s a really good thing, because that probably wouldn’t be very good for the world’s water supplies.

A pilot version of the process is already underway. And there is a lot of good news. All of the byproducts in the creation of sodium hydroxide (hydrogen and chlorine) can be sold commercially. And the baking soda (which is currently mined) would fill the world’s markets pretty quickly, reducing the need for those mines.

Apparently the system would cost roughly as much as the $400M scrubbers that power plants already have on them…but would scrub both toxics and 80% of their carbon dioxide.

I still don’t feel like they could find enough sodium hydroxide in the world to make this possible, but I could be wrong. And I hope I’m wrong, because this could be a fantastic breakthrough.

Via CNet

PHILADELPHIA – Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and other study sites have found that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – a non-invasive technique that excites neurons in the brain via magnetic pulses passed through the scalp – is a safe and effective, non-drug treatment with minimal side effects for patients with major depression who have tried other treatment options without benefit.

OK…there’s something going on in England right now…something mysterious. A lot of famous influential people (including our favorite Albert) have purchased £1,000 tickets to some dinner in London. Some, are paying up to £50,000 for their cut of (hopefully, carbon-neutral) steak.

The purpose of the dinner is to launch some new, fantastic, global warming cure. Some kind of "climate safe" energy source that will…of course…save the world. The estimated net worth of everyone at the dinner is $100 billion…which is a little bit staggering. I’m starting to think they should’ve charged more for the tickets.

All statements about the technology are extremely vague. Apparently it’s a breakthrough in "microtechnology" which makes us skeptical. I almost didn’t write this post at all, for fear that it was just another in an extremely long line of "free energy" scams. But the people who are touting it are intelligent, wealthy and influential. It’ hard to imagine the wool being pulled over so many eyes.

But we’ll try to be subjective here…and if you want to keep pressing "refresh"…we’ll keep updating the below as news comes in.

1. Prime Minister Gordon Brown kicked off the event with a remote video on the U.K.’s future commitment to climate mitigation…and said he was investigating whether they could cut emissions by 80% before 2050.
2. Gore Launched into his Keynote, saying he was greatful for Brown’s leadership, and wishing "that was the case in my own country."
3. No word on the "breakthrough" yet…though the effing rich and famous, probably know about it by now, since it’s like 11:00 pm in London.
4. Is it possible that they got too drunk on $200 bottles of wine to send out a press release? Yes…yes, I think it may be…we’ll have a full post when the news comes out.

Via Engadget and The Independent

OK…there’s something going on in England right now…something mysterious. A lot of famous influential people (including our favorite Albert) have purchased £1,000 tickets to some dinner in London. Some are paying up to £50,000 for their cut of (hopefully, carbon-neutral) steak.

The purpose of the dinner is to launch some new, fantastic, global warming cure. Some kind of "climate safe" energy source that will…of course…save the world. The estimated net worth of everyone at the dinner is $100 billion…which is a little bit staggering. I’m starting to think they should’ve charged more for the tickets.

All statements about the technology are extremely vague. Apparently it’s a breakthrough in "microtechnology," which makes us skeptical. I almost didn’t write this post at all, for fear that it was just another in an extremely long line of "free energy" scams. But the people who are touting it are intelligent, wealthy and influential. It’s hard to imagine the wool being pulled over so many eyes.

But we’ll try to be subjective here…and if you want to keep pressing "refresh"…we’ll keep updating the below as news comes in.

1. Prime Minister Gordon Brown kicked off the event with a remote video on the U.K.’s future commitment to climate mitigation…and said he was investigating whether they could cut emissions by 80% before 2050.
2. Gore launched into his keynote, saying he was grateful for Brown’s leadership, and wishing "that was the case in my own country."
3. No word on the "breakthrough" yet…though the effing rich and famous, probably know about it by now, since it’s like 11:00 pm in London.
4. Is it possible that they got too drunk on $200 bottles of wine to send out a press release? Yes…yes, I think it may be…we’ll have a full post when the news comes out.
5. OK…I give up…it’s now 9am in London and I’ve still got nothing. I’m sure we’ll all find out eventually…but I guess this isn’t as earth-shattering as the press before hand implied. I’m going to sleep.

Via Engadget and The Independent

PHILADELPHIA – Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and other study sites have found that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – a non-invasive technique that excites neurons in the brain via magnetic pulses passed through the scalp – is a safe and effective, non-drug treatment with minimal side effects for patients with major depression who have tried other treatment options without benefit.

TORONTO (Reuters) – David Suzuki, Canada's best-known environmentalist, has spent a generation encouraging Canadians to look after the environment, but it seems they have not been listening.

Goateed, soft-spoken and avuncular, Suzuki has built a devout following from 28 years narrating “The Nature of Things,” a popular television series on the science of the natural world.

Now aged 71, he notes Canada's environmental credentials are eroding just when he says it is more important than ever to move in the opposite direction.