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, 2012-03-20 12:22:50 UTC
In the last years, Benetti Stone Philosophy has carefully looked at our planet’s requests and needs, giving concrete answers: complete filtering and ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-19 19:42:14 UTC
DISFATTO boasts an original idea of comfort, it has a modifiable shape that naturally adapts itself to our needs, changes its aspect over time and ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-18 14:27:01 UTC
Muji was started in 1980 in a Japan which was full of prosperity, booming markets for luxury goods, expensive cars etcetera. On the other hand at that ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-18 14:25:59 UTC
Muji was started in 1980 in a Japan which was full of prosperity, booming markets for luxury goods, expensive cars etcetera. On the other hand at that ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-17 20:54:16 UTC
The styrofoam that is usually used in packaging is basically solidified oil -- not so good for the environment. Ecocradle, by contrast, takes hardly ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-16 18:40:35 UTC
h1. Winning the EISA green tv award
The EISA judging panel noted: “In its quest for energy efficiency, the Philips 42PFL6805 reaches an all time ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-16 05:58:40 UTC
Less than 10% of plastic trash is recycled -- compared to almost 90% of metals -- because of the massively complicated problem of finding and sorting ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-16 05:58:11 UTC
Less than 10% of plastic trash is recycled -- compared to almost 90% of metals -- because of the massively complicated problem of finding and sorting ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-16 05:57:23 UTC
Since a year or so Laundry driers are available more energy-efficient. Of course the most energy efficient is to dry the laundry outside on the line ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-03-15 06:27:48 UTC
Taking a shower is in the western world not done once a week anymore like our grandparents did, in most cases it is at least once a day now. And 6 ...
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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