Eco Magnet: A high-tech bug zapper that can fight malaria and clean the air
by: The Design blog, 2011-07-27 12:11:15 UTC
Asmita Prasad:

We are not aware of the threat that malaria poses to the world until we come across the statistics. With nearly 3.3 billion people at risk of being infected, malaria is one of the most potent killers in today’s world. Being sensitive to this issue, California-based designer Paul M. Wood has come up with a unique device, named the Eco-Magnet, to battle the malaria menace.

The Eco-Magnet is created as a tool that can be installed in public places, like parks and recreation departments, by government agencies. The device works on multiple levels; it attracts and kills mosquitoes that can infect humans. In this way, it also helps in cleaning toxins from the air.

Unlike other bug zappers in the market, the Eco Magnet uses sunlight to convert water into carbon dioxide inside the main chamber of the device which is laced with ocetinol to give it the guise of human scent. This attracts the mosquitoes to the chamber and lures them inside where they are trapped and ultimately dehydrated to death. The dead mosquitoes are collected in a bin stored in the lower half of the device inside a removable bag that can be disposed by park employees biannually.

Each titanium dioxide coated dome also helps remove toxins from air and has a life span of 15 years, making it an economically viable installation for government agencies. The designer has not mentioned what the device would cost a private agency or person to purchase, install and maintain; but whatever its cost, it is not more than protecting lives of people from deadly malaria.

Via: Paul M Wood

jean-baptiste fastrez: variations on an electric kettle
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2011-07-25 11:55:00 UTC

the diversity of the kettle shapes is a response to the mass production. the result is hybrid objects which meet somewhere between mass production and one-off, industry and handicrafts, technical aesthetics and organic forms.

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viktor kolbig: interactive light objects
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2011-07-26 21:11:00 UTC

the colour of 'air light' is controlled by hand gestures; 'seide' varies in brightness depending on how far a user pushes a finger into its fabric surface; and 'water light' responds to the stirring of a finger in a cup of water.

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Lamp Teaches a Lesson
by: Yanko Design, 2011-07-27 07:01:10 UTC

This lamp, the second part of the Completing Absence series by designer Petra Schmidt, is more concerned with shedding light on the issue of energy consumption than trying to be a quintessential lighting element. To activate the light, the user simply pulls the slightly lighter end. The self-regulating lamp will shut off when the heavier luminated end reaches the lowermost position, keeping the user aware of time and inspiring behavioral change in overall energy consumption.

Designer: Petra Schmidt

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Toilet 2.0: A lavatory with a difference
by: The Design blog, 2011-07-27 05:52:40 UTC
Pragya Bhargavi:

No matter how much we ignore, toilets do play a very important part in our lives. The amazing role of a toilet must be appreciated and not concealed. Today, we cover our toilets in beautiful bathrooms, but the basic function of these toilets remain the same. You will be surprised to know that a considerable period of our lifetime is spent in the toilets. Also, the toilets are the most water-consuming activities. Therefore, if you are considering to remodel your toilets, please have a look at the new Toilet 2.0 by David Hakkens.

Toilet 2.0 is an innovative lavatory that is not attached to the bathroom floor. It has a stylish new design to suit the decor of your restroom. Its shallow and wide bowl offers an easy maintenance and a modern look. It is made of a material called Corian that has been created by DuPont. Corian makes the Toilet 2.0 lighter, stronger and thinner as compared to the traditional porcelain toilets.

The designer has paid special attention to the cleanliness of the toilet. Toilet 2.0 features a special flushing technology. It has eight special cleaning points that release high-pressure water, which makes cleaning easy and complete. Thus, Toilet 2.0 does not require a traditional brush for cleaning. The high-pressure flush is enough to keep it perfectly neat. Not only this, Toilet 2.0 also sports an in-built air freshener that always keeps your toilet smelling good. Now, you don’t have to worry about keeping an air freshener in your bathroom and you can enjoy a neat and fresh toilet every time.

The designer has also taken care to avoid wastage of water and, therefore, he has also designed a flushing system that can clean the inner pipes of the toilet by using the grey water from the wash basins and dishwashers. We really have to appreciate the new design of Toilet 2.0, which pays such special attention to the sanitation that is the most important thing for a toilet.

Although the features of the Toilet 2.0 are very attractive, we will not be able to find this in the market anytime soon. For now, it is only in a design a form.

Via: Gizmodo

Human-Powered Drill Strikes Water in Tanzania, Offers Hope for Cheaper Wells (Video)
by: TreeHugger Design, 2011-07-26 15:35:00 UTC
image via YouTube video screengrab When it comes to drilling new wells for water, the cost can be prohibitive as heavy machinery needs to be brought in to do the digging. However, a team of students from Brigham Young University came up with a human-powered solution that can dig wells in villages inexpensively. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Design Is The Key To Keeping Cool Without Air Conditioning
by: TreeHugger Design, 2011-07-26 15:27:05 UTC
image credit Vince Michael Cameron Tonkinwise has noted "The window air conditioner allows architects to be lazy. We don't have to think about making a building work, because you can just buy a box." In fact most modern homes are uninhabitable without AC; nobody even bothers to think about cross ventilation and window placement, they just turn down the thermostat. Vince Michael of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Read the full story on TreeHugger

Frii bike concept made from injection-molded recycled plastic
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2011-07-26 21:05:41 UTC

If Israeli industrial design student Dror Peleg had been around in the late 1950s, I feel sure that his Frii plastic bike concept would have found its way into Mosanto's House of the Future. Over 50 years later, that vision of a world of plastic has also given rise to some serious disposal issues and grave environmental concerns. Frii proposes to be part of the solution, not the problem. Made from recycled plastic, the city cycling concept would be manufactured locally for local use. Components would be injection molded into modular shapes that snap together to form a strong, lightweight and very colorful single-speed bike for quick trips through the city streets... Continue Reading Frii bike concept made from injection-molded recycled plastic

Section: Urban Transport

Tags: Bike, Eco-friendly, Plastic, Recycled

Related Articles:

• The Innervision recyclable bicycle concept
• Bike-pack: the bicycle that folds into a backpack
• HP advances recycling techniques for ink cartridge manufacture
• Svepa city bike
• Plastiki: sailing the seven seas on a boat made from 12,500 plastic bottles
• New technique recycles 100 percent of household plastic

Learning Tool for Deaf Children
by: Yanko Design, 2011-07-26 15:32:25 UTC

The VV-Talker is a device designed for deaf children to help them overcome their problem in speaking effectively. If you can’t hear the sounds you make, it’s difficult to know if you’re pronouncing it correctly. The device has a screen attached to a wand. Sounds are associated with vibrations. As the child speaks, the device provides feedback on accuracy and teaches the child to speak with the correct “vocal vibrations” to achieve the correct modulation. Brills!

Designers: Cui Chen, Wang Qi, Shi Kaiyuan, Geng Kun, Huang Jianbo, Wang Zhi, Qiu Shuang & Chen Zhen

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Handy Meter Measures Water Straight From the Faucet
by: Gadget Lab, 2011-07-25 13:54:27 UTC

One sure sign that the news-desert of August is almost upon us is that concept designs outnumber real new products. With this in mind, take a look the the Handy Meter, a digital measure for your faucet that looks more useful than some of the real gadgets you can buy in your local department store.

The device, designed by Jeon Hwan Soo, slips onto the end of the faucet and measures the flow of water. The total amount delivered is displayed on an LED readout. The idea is that you can measure water into a recipe straight from the tap instead of going via a measuring jug.

Or can you? The “instructions” for this widget only show it counting the cubic centimeters as they flow through. Thus, unless you are letting the water drip drip slowly into the waiting receptacle, you might want to measure into another container anyway, just in case you go too far.

To be truly useful, you should be able to set the volume first, and have the flow cut when it is reached. Otherwise its quicker just to use a graduated jug.

The Handy Meter isn’t confined to the kitchen sink, though. You can also put it over the opening of a bottle for accurate dosing. True accuracy would require liquid of the same density as water, though.

Like I said, this isn’t a real product, but I’d probably buy one just so I could eyeball things like water for boiling pasta. It’s certainly better than junk like the Egg Cracker.

See Also:

• Strawberry Slicer: Most Useless Kitchen Gadget Yet?
• Today's Useless Kitchen Gadget: The Egg Cracker
• Kitchen Physics
• Kitchen Kit Lets One-Handed Cooks Slice and Dice
• The Only Five Kitchen Tools You Really Need