Emerging Objects Creates Eco-Friendly 3D Printing Materials

These days, 3D printers can create just about anything – from human organs to deadly weapons . But one innovation we haven’t previously seen in 3D printing? Printer filament made from of planet-friendly materials rather than Earth-damaging plastics. That’s changing however, with design firm Emerging Objects ‘ recycled and recyclable 3D printing materials. Using materials like salt, concrete, wood and paper, they are putting the green in 3D printing. Read the rest of Emerging Objects Creates Eco-Friendly 3D Printing Materials Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: 3d printing advances , 3d printing technology , Emerging Objects , Emerging Objects 3d printing , Emerging Objects printing material , environmentally friendly 3d printing , environmentally friendly printing materials , recyclable 3d printing , recycled 3d printing , renewable 3d printing , renewable printing materials        

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Emerging Objects Creates Eco-Friendly 3D Printing Materials

Can Technology Save the World?

Can technology save the world? In short: No, not by itself. A sweeping set of changes in the way we interact with the planet is needed to stabilize our rapidly deteriorating biosphere and avert a bleak future. Technology is simply a tool to help us achieve these changes. A dangerous argument, however, is when decision-makers and influencers say our impact on the planet is not a concern, and changes in our behavior are not needed in the near future, or ever, because technology will save us. Sounds ridiculous, but various forms of this argument are commonly invoked in government and international forums, particularly when profits and votes come into play. Read the rest of Can Technology Save the World? Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: can tech save the world , drones , eco-innovations , environmental damage , genetic engineering , global issues , life saving inventions , recycling , tech solutions for a changing world , technology and climate change , technology and global warming , water issues        

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Can Technology Save the World?

DIY: How to Plant a Personal Garden In a Small Urban Space

Many people bemoan the fact that they can’t grow their own food (or even flowers) because they lack any kind of garden space, but guess what? You can actually grow more than you realize in really small areas as long as they get a bit of direct sun. Hell, you can even grow things indoors under a lamp, but there’s something special about plucking your own food from a stalk that’s been sitting in summer sunshine all day. In any case, whether you have a little concrete slab behind your house, a fire escape outside your window, or even a tiny balcony, your urban garden can be a veritable Eden of fresh, healthy, home-grown vegetables, and herbs. Read the rest of DIY: How to Plant a Personal Garden In a Small Urban Space Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: balcony garden , companion planting , food , herbs , Organic vegetables , patio garden , patio gardening , self sufficiency , tomatoes , urban food gardening , urban food solution , urban garden , urban gardening , vegetables        

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DIY: How to Plant a Personal Garden In a Small Urban Space

San Francisco Drops Law Mandating Radiation Warning Labels on Cell Phones

Photo via Shutterstock Citing high costs and extreme resistance from the mobile phone industry, San Francisco has dropped a law that would have required a radiation warning label to be placed on all new mobile phones sold within the city limits. On Tuesday, the city Board of Supervisors voted to settle a lawsuit with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association by accepting a permanent injunction against the right-to-know cell phone ordinance. However, the city was quick to point out that legal fees prompted the action, and that fears about the health risks posed by phone radiation still exist. Read the rest of San Francisco Drops Law Mandating Radiation Warning Labels on Cell Phones Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: cell phones , health hazard , mobile phone industry , radiation , safety , San Francisco , smart phones        

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San Francisco Drops Law Mandating Radiation Warning Labels on Cell Phones

Google’s New Timelapse Shows How Much Our Changing Planet Has Changed in Past 30 Years

Google ’s amazing new Timelapse may be the closest thing to a time machine that we’ve seen yet. Forget waiting for Doc to fix the time-traveling Delorean , Timelapse has the capability of showing some of the big changes seen on Earth since 1986. Although it can only go back 28 years, the feature lets us see the incredible growth of urban sprawl, or deterioration of the world’s forests , and the drift and melt of glaciers from year to year. Read the rest of Google’s New Timelapse Shows How Much Our Changing Planet Has Changed in Past 30 Years Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Climate Change , eco design , global change , Google Timelapse , green design , nasa , sustainable design , US Geological Society        

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Google’s New Timelapse Shows How Much Our Changing Planet Has Changed in Past 30 Years

MIT and Harvard’s 3D-Printed Inchworm Robot Can Assemble Itself

The first sure sign of a robot uprising will be when robots gain self-awareness and begin acting autonomously – and if this self-assembling robot is any indication, we’re well on our way to the robopocalypse. Researchers at Harvard and MIT teamed up to produce a 3D-printed inchworm robot that is able to aseemble itself. Using shape memory polymers that automatically fold into desired shapes, the remarkable bot transforms itself from a completely flat, two-dimensional object into a walking inchworm-shaped robot with almost no help from human hands. Read the rest of MIT and Harvard’s 3D-Printed Inchworm Robot Can Assemble Itself Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: 3D printing , 3d-printed inchworm robot , 3D-printed robot , harvard , ICRA 2013 , inchworm robot , MIT , robots , self-assembling robot , Self-folding robot        

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MIT and Harvard’s 3D-Printed Inchworm Robot Can Assemble Itself

The Specialized Turbo is an Electric Bike that Can Hit a Blistering 27 MPH

Whether it’s cruising down a steep hill or whizzing past traffic with a smirk on your face, there are few riders who don’t have at least a small addiction to speed. If you really have the itch to fly down the road, you may want to check out the Specialized Turbo , and electric-assisted bike that can cruise at speeds of up to 27 mph. This is the first plug-in from the California-based company — the bike has already been rolling around Europe for a year — but US federal laws have until now deemed the bike too fast to be sold without calling it a motorcycle. The solution? A top-speed limiting gear that won’t let you break 27mph. Read the rest of The Specialized Turbo is an Electric Bike that Can Hit a Blistering 27 MPH Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: California , charger , electric bicycle , lithium ion battery , motor , plug-in , specialized turbo , SRAM , traffic        

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The Specialized Turbo is an Electric Bike that Can Hit a Blistering 27 MPH

Duke Researchers Create a DIY Invisibility Cloak Using a 3D Printer

Until recently, invisibility cloaks were the stuff of private laboratories or fantasy novels. Now, engineers from Duke University have taken advantage of 3D printing technology to fabricate a obscuring device that is inexpensive and can be put together in just a few hours. Resembling a perforated disc, algorithms determine where holes in the a plastic patter should be placed in order to deflect microwave beams and create the cloak. Led by Yaroslav Urzhumov, the team published their results in the online journal, Optic Letters . Read the rest of Duke Researchers Create a DIY Invisibility Cloak Using a 3D Printer Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: 3d printer , dielectric , disc , DIY , Duke University , invisibility cloak , microwave , optic letters , polymer plastic , stereolithography , yarsolav urzhumov        

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Duke Researchers Create a DIY Invisibility Cloak Using a 3D Printer

Scientists Create Solar Cell Material Using an Old Microwave Oven

Photo via Shutterstock Metallurgists at the University of Utah have cooked up an ingenious way to produce solar cells using something that nearly everyone has right at home: a microwave oven. Scientists used a basic microwave , one that was previously used by students to heat up food, to create a nanocrystal semiconductor. Creating a typical semiconductor requires a lot of time and can be toxic. But this new method is cleaner, cheaper and more efficient than ever before. Read the rest of Scientists Create Solar Cell Material Using an Old Microwave Oven Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: green metallurgy , green solar cell material , green solar technology , Metallurgy innovations , Michael Free , microwave cells , Microwave Semiconductor , Microwave Solar Cell Material , microwave technology , Prashant Sarswat , solar cell innovations , University of Utah Science        

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Scientists Create Solar Cell Material Using an Old Microwave Oven

American Institute of Architects Releases Top Ten Plus List of Greenest Buildings of 2013

Read the rest of American Institute of Architects Releases Top Ten Plus List of Greenest Buildings of 2013 Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: 355 11th street , a new norris house , Aidlin Darling Design , american institute of architects committee on the environment , Brooks + Scarpa , charles david keeling apartments , clock shadow building , community impact of green buildings , continuum architects + planners , EHDD , federal center south building 1202 , full goods warehouse , KieranTimberlake , KMD Architects , lake flato architects , Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects , marin country day school learning resource center and courtyard , merritt crossing senior apartments , pearl brewery , robert c. french , ross barney architects , san francisco public utilities commission headquarters , swenson civil engineering building , the matarozzi/pelsinger multiuse building , top ten plus list of greenest buildings of 2013 , tricia south , yin yan house , zgf architects        

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American Institute of Architects Releases Top Ten Plus List of Greenest Buildings of 2013

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