Filed under: Technology
For those who have been following the HP/Forum for the Future Climate Change Challenge, the Cardboard Oven has won. This simple, yet brilliant, innovation costs next to nothing, and will give people in developing countries dependant on gas or wood-burning stoves a viable alternative.
“The oven is targeted at the three billion people who use firewood to cook in developing countries.
Mr Bøhmer said: ‘We’re saving lives and saving trees. I doubt if there is any other technology that can make so much impact for so little money.’”
This innovation will help engage the developing world without forcing them to make drastic changes in their lives. Since climate chage is a global issue (though caused primarily by developed nations) it will require a global response.
So congratulations to Mr. Bøhmer for his great invention and a well deserved reward. To see all the finalists, please go here.
A new report called Predicting the Present with Google Trends outlines how Google trends, linked with google search, can predict consumer behavior month by month. By combining the information collected with the Google Search function, one could potentially predict what people are going to do. For example, if a certain model of car is searched for, it could be predicted that the purchases of that model will increase in the near future. This type of modeling has huge implications for all industries, and just about anyone wishing to sell something.
Google searches as well as Twitter are just a couple ways all this new information can help researchers understand what people are thinking. the New York Times reported on how businesses and people are using Twitter to know what people are thinking. While the individual ‘tweets’ are seemingly mindless chatter, taken as a whole provides insight into the “global collective brain.”
“By tapping into the world’s collective brain, researchers of all kinds have found that if they make the effort to dig through the mundane comments, the live conversations offer an early glimpse into public sentiment — and even help them shape it. Companies like Starbucks, Whole Foods and Dell can see what their customers are thinking as they use a product, and the companies can adapt their marketing accordingly. Last week in Moldova, protesters used Twitter as a rallying tool while outsiders peered at their tweets to help them understand what was happening in that little-known country.”
You might think transformers, but you’ll be disappointed.
I read about research in the area of cyborg insects a while back, and was recently reminded of it by an article about an actual beetle that has been turned into a cyborg, which you can watch here.
This is an amazing feat of technology, but it also raises all sorts of ethical questions regarding animal rights. Where will this technology stop? Will these insects be used for eco-terrorists as well?
This new form of animal subordination will most suredly receive serious backlash from activists, but they may soon be questioning the integrity of the very animals they are fighting for.
This new school, Sigularity University, is backed by Nasa and Google and headed by Ray Kurtzweil, and promotes a strong focus on the future of the most advanced technologies. These technologies, i.e. nanotech, biotech and AI, are growing at an exponential rate and are poised to make huge changes in the way society works.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/feb/03/nasa-google-futurology-kurzweil-singularity
Filed under: Environmental, Technology | Tags: airplane, algae, biofuel, Climate Change, environment, jet
The preliminary trials in alternative fuels for airplanes continues, with more positive results.
** First flight of algae-fuelled jet **
Continental Airlines is the latest to to test-fly a jet biofuel, this time with a product derived partially from algae.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7817849.stm >
Combining the genius of the amazonians and the intelligence of open source, these new machines for home use are a brilliant way of empowering individuals as we work together to combat climate change. Biochar, a way of sequestering carbon and enriching soil, can now be converted to a biofuel at the same time. How? That is up to you to figure out…sort of.
This gasifier experimenter’s kit allows people to work out the method that works best for them.
“The Gasifier Experimenter’s Kit Jim Mason (creator of the Rosetta Project for the Long Now, among other things), has developed an experimenter’s kit for gasification. It is an open-source modular platform which a researcher or hobbyist can use to try the different reactor types that have been developed over the years, different fuels, different air mixes and temperatures, etc. Power hackers can make their own new kinds of reactors as well, add instrumentation, or attach their reactor to whatever other systems they want upstream or downstream.”
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008070.html
Good ole’ Doc Brown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCRUvX2D0E&feature=related) It’s a little bit more (around 1.3GW) energy pouring through every square kilometer of space around the earth every second. Isaac Asimov, of course, wrote about harnessing these solar waves and sending them to earth through microwaves. While using current technology would not make this a financially viable source of energy, costing around 50 cents per kilowatt hour, three things make this potentially possible, and profitable, for the future.
1) Geopolitical interest is piqued and international collaboration would allow the cost to be more evenly distributed. 2) Advances in robotics and computing are constantly changing the face, and abilities, of these machines, making them more reliable and efficient. 3) The entrepreneurs now interested in space travel will make the costs of space travel and transport affordable.
While this remains an exceptionally weak signal, the prospects are more promising than ever.
www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12673299&CFID=33924590&CFTOKEN=53944839
