by: Designboom - Weblog, 2012-03-27 15:00:00 UTC old floor boards and patterned soil are combined together to create a collection of fruit bowls which challenges the use of external materials for interior treatments. read more
The inherent frugality of a hybrid car might make you think of a no-frills driving experience. But luxury automakers have learned the win-win nature of an electric-assisted powertrain.
Infiniti, Porsche, and BMW devised their own takes on the hybrid car, fitting these fuel-efficient systems into full-size sedans and SUVs. Lincoln borrowed a hybrid system from sister brand Ford for its own mid-size sedan, the MKZ. And Lexus even transferred the Prius hybrid powertrain into a luxury hatchback.
BMW ActiveHybrid 7
With its 7-series hybrid, BMW did not bother to downsize the engine, instead adding an electric drive system. The result? About 50 extra horsepower yet still achieving fuel economy in the low 20s, an impressive figure for such a big and powerful car. Read the full review.
Infiniti M35h
When Infiniti turned its flagship sedan into a luxury hybrid, it angled for ... [Read more]
Can you fit all your belongings in one photograph? Gothemburg-based photographer Sannah Kvist created a collection of photographs entitled “All I Own” where Swedish students were pictured with sculptures made from all their possessions. The result makes us question what we really need for living, if we are buying too much crap, and if it’s true that less stuff leads us to more freedom.
European regions are gearing up for the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June by drawing up a list of “key ingredients” in a bid to make sustainable urban development a focal point of the Brazil discussions.
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2012-03-26 22:45:02 UTC
Thermoelectric materials work by converting differences in temperature into electric voltage. If two parts of such a material experience significantly different temperatures, electrons within it will flow from the warmer part to the cooler, creating an electrical current in the process. Using these materials, electricity could be generated by the temperature differences on the inside and outside of jackets, within car engines, or even between the human body and the air around it ... just to list a few examples. An international team of scientists have now discovered that an existing material, which behaves like a liquid but isn't one, displays particularly impressive thermoelectric properties...
Continue Reading Liquid-like compound could lead to better thermoelectric devices
by: TreeHugger Design, 2012-03-26 19:12:45 UTC
Using laser-cut, sustainably-harvested and certified wood, these affordable birdhouses are designed for simple assembly.
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2012-03-23 05:31:29 UTC
Old inkjet printers are an important tool for bioprinting. Recently, researchers from Clemson University discovered that inkjet bioprinting disrupts the membranes of the cells being printed, leaving them open to having proteins inserted ... and opening up new avenues of research in the field...
Continue Reading Inkjet bioprinting opens cells to new possibilities
Geometry fans will be excited: A triangle is about to do battle with a square. Yves Behar has designed the new PayPal Here device, a triangular, swipe-accepting dongle that plugs into your iPhone. It's stiff competition for the Square, the incumbent credit-card-swiping phone plug-in that doesn't have PayPal's monstrous infrastructure behind it.
While the device looks a bit strange—that part on the front that moves, presumably to uncover the swipe channel, looks like it's going to fall off, no?—the demo of how it works seems pretty smooth:
As a merchant I probably would not want you to put your disgusting fingers all over my smartphone, but this does seem a much more elegant way to perform a transaction than having to sign a slip of paper. Bic and the companies that make receipt paper and receipt printers ought to start looking into alternate forms of revenue.
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-31 05:41:43 UTC
With Mosstile you can make a maintenance free vertical garden in your home. No need to water, give fertilizer, pruning. They don't even need natural ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-31 05:40:32 UTC
With Mosstile you can make a maintenance free vertical garden in your home. No need to water, give fertilizer, pruning. They don't even need natural ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-28 18:27:14 UTC
The activity of repairing is a form of re-appropriating control on our material world, allowing us to understand how things function and acting as ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-28 07:45:27 UTC
While everyone seems to be on the green bandwagon in one way or another, there is
a subset of the environmentally friendly who are setting the landscape ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-27 16:06:38 UTC
Traditional composites are very expensive and hard to recycle. Landfilling of a glass fibre polyester sailing boat after the use phase is impossible ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-27 07:44:40 UTC
Cork stems from the bark of a cork oak. The main producer is Portugal, where cork oak forests play an important role in local eco-system. It is a natural ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-26 06:27:06 UTC
Mile High Club is a water-resistant, handmade exclusive women’s parka with pockets, gathered waist with adjustable pull strings, and zippered hood. ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-22 22:11:30 UTC
A thermoplastic material made exclusively from renewable resources is based on lignin, a natural polymer which is formed by photosynthesis and makes ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-22 22:10:46 UTC
A thermoplastic material made exclusively from renewable resources is based on lignin, a natural polymer which is formed by photosynthesis and makes ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-22 07:55:02 UTC
The following info is from Reudler:
Bo Reudler launches Haute Bamboo series during Fuori Salone Milan. For that Haute Bamboo series Dutch designer ...
Three Years ago I said "Solar Hot Water First. Then Photovoltaics." I may have been wrong.
Using laser-cut, sustainably-harvested and certified wood, these affordable birdhouses are designed for simple assembly.
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