Morgana Matus | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Morgana Matus

Morgana joins Inhabitat after graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies from Pitzer College and completing a Fulbright Hays Award in Norway in the field Environmental Ethics. Having trained at the San Francisco Clown Conservatory, she is excited to use her experience as performer and scientist to engage audiences and share her enthusiasm for the natural world. She currently resides in beautiful San Luis Obispo, California where she performs, writes, and makes terrible puns without any provocation.

Morgana Matus

Eighteen-Year-Old Invents Device That Can Charge Your Cell Phone in 20 Seconds

Eighteen-Year-Old Invents Device That Can Charge Your Cell Phone in 20 Seconds

It's hard enough being tied to your cell phone without having to worry about getting the "Low Battery Icon of Death" right in the middle of an important task - and charging up via wall outlets

Romanian Teen Designs Autonomous Car System that Would Cost Just $4,000

Romanian Teen Designs Autonomous Car System that Would Cost Just $4,000

Many great minds at companies like Google and Tesla have been laboring towards creating a self-driving car system. Millions of dollars have gone into the research, resulting in expensive

Australian Researchers Propose Turning Millions of Tons of Pig Waste into Alternative Energy for China

Australian Researchers Propose Turning Millions of Tons of Pig Waste into Alternative Energy for China

Photo via Shutterstock Where there are million of animals, there are millions of tons of waste. In a clever solution to a major waste disposal problem, Australian researchers have found a way

Ventus: The Computer Game that Uses Crowd-Sourced Info to Map Global CO2 Emissions

Ventus: The Computer Game that Uses Crowd-Sourced Info to Map Global CO2 Emissions

While not everyone can become a full-time climate activist, it is still possible to contribute to the battle against global warming. Researchers from Arizona State University have created an

16-Year-Old Student Uses Fruit Flies to Investigate Benefits of Organic Produce

16-Year-Old Student Uses Fruit Flies to Investigate Benefits of Organic Produce

Anyone who has ever taken a course in biology or left produce out on the counter for a little too long will recognize the noble fruit fly. Easy to breed, feed and observe, they are the subject

Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier Appears to Be Bleeding with a Five-Story Crimson Waterfall

Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier Appears to Be Bleeding with a Five-Story Crimson Waterfall

There are some phenomena in nature that inspire tears of joy, some that spark a sense of awe, and then there are those that send chills up your spine. The Taylor Glacier in Antarctica, which was

The Sugar Lab 3D Prints Sweet Geometric Sculptures From Sugar

The Sugar Lab 3D Prints Sweet Geometric Sculptures From Sugar

Founded by husband and wife team in Silver Lake, California, the Sugar Lab began as a novel way to produce a birthday cake for a friend that did not have to be baked in an oven. With a

Visiondivision’s Stunning Concept for Miami’s Bayfront Park Looks a Lot Like the Rising Sun!

Visiondivision’s Stunning Concept for Miami’s Bayfront Park Looks a Lot Like the Rising Sun!

Originally, the land where Bayfront Park sits was home to the Everglades. Dredged to create a port and real estate opportunities, the area is now home to host of human landmarks. Bringing a

America’s First Climate Refugees are Native Alaskan Communities

America’s First Climate Refugees are Native Alaskan Communities

Alaska Glacier photo from Shutterstock For many years, climate change has displaced millions in the developing world - and now America is seeing its first climate refugees. Over 180 native

Study Finds Conservatives Less Likely to Buy Light Bulbs Labeled as Good for the Environment

Study Finds Conservatives Less Likely to Buy Light Bulbs Labeled as Good for the Environment

New research suggests that people with right wing views are less likely to buy light bulbs that are labeled as "pro-environment" due to the politicized nature of the carbon debate in the United

Researchers Use an Inkjet Printer to Create Electrically Conductive Paper

Researchers Use an Inkjet Printer to Create Electrically Conductive Paper

So far we've showcased paper artwork, robots and USB drives here on Inhabitat - and now researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam-Golm have utilized sheets of

Beautiful Wood Records Created Using a Laser Cutter

Beautiful Wood Records Created Using a Laser Cutter

Forget vinyl - engineer Amanda Ghassaei has developed a technique for cutting records into wood! Using a Epilog 120 Watt Legend EXT laser cutter, she was able to create digital waveform files

Amtrak Unveils New High-Efficiency Electric Trains for Northeast Corridor

Amtrak Unveils New High-Efficiency Electric Trains for Northeast Corridor

After three decades of hard work, Amtrak trains in the Northeast Corridor and Pennsylvania get to retire. They will be replaced by 70 high-efficiency electric Amtrak Cities Sprinters (ACS-64)

Study Finds US Urban Trees Provide $50 Billion in Economic Value

Study Finds US Urban Trees Provide $50 Billion in Economic Value

Central Park photo from Shutterstock Have you hugged a tree lately? If not, you might want to show your appreciation with a good squeeze. According to a recent state-by-state US Forest

Glowing Plant Project Creates Bioluminescent Plants for Natural Lighting

Glowing Plant Project Creates Bioluminescent Plants for Natural Lighting

Why use a light bulb to illuminate your home when you could just fill it with glowing plants? That's the question asked by Antony Evans, the head of a team of bio-engineers in San Francisco,

Sonia Rentsch Creates Harmless Weapons from Organic Materials

Sonia Rentsch Creates Harmless Weapons from Organic Materials

Rentsch enjoys creating "deceptively clever scenes from the simplest of objects." Using plant matter, she reconstructs weapons of metal and plastic, softening their bodies and pulling the

Britain’s Green Investment Bank Loans $1 Billion in First Months of Business

Britain’s Green Investment Bank Loans $1 Billion in First Months of Business

Photo via Shutterstock In order to help reduce carbon emissions by 2020, the UK government recently opened the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in Edinburgh, making it the first bank in the world

Earl: The World’s First Solar-Powered Backcountry Survival Tablet

Earl: The World’s First Solar-Powered Backcountry Survival Tablet

Out in the wilderness, there are few places to charge electronic devices. Those who are looking to slim down their packs and consolidate their GPS, maps, books, and radios into one rugged

Brown University Joins Growing Movement to Divest from Fossil Fuels

Brown University Joins Growing Movement to Divest from Fossil Fuels

As a college student, you would hope to attend an institution that values enlightened ideals and sound investments. However, at many universities across the country, portions of large endowments

State Department Steps in to Block Access to 3D-Printed Liberator Gun Blueprints

State Department Steps in to Block Access to 3D-Printed Liberator Gun Blueprints

It has only been a couple of days since the Liberator 3D-printed gun was successfully fired in Texas by Defense Distributed. But after the gun was downloaded over 100,000 times in just two days,

Scientists Discover Methods of Harvesting Electricity from Plants

Scientists Discover Methods of Harvesting Electricity from Plants

Photo via Shutterstock When it comes to capturing solar energy, plants are first in their class. Able to function at nearly 100 percent quantum efficiency, they can produce an equal number of

Blueprints for 3D-Printed Liberator Gun Have Been Downloaded 100,000 Times in Just Two Days

Blueprints for 3D-Printed Liberator Gun Have Been Downloaded 100,000 Times in Just Two Days

There are those who will only let their firearms be taken away from their cold, dead 3D printers. Defense Distributed, a group of IT professionals, students, and engineers located in the US and

Study Projects Over Half of World’s Population Could Rely on Food Imports by 2050

Study Projects Over Half of World’s Population Could Rely on Food Imports by 2050

Photo via Shutterstock With tomatoes from Chile, salmon from Norway, chocolate from Africa, and coffee from Indonesia, a trip to the local grocery store can seem like a journey around the

Giant LEGO Kraken Attacks Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer

Giant LEGO Kraken Attacks Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer

When you flirt with the Dark Side, bad things can happen; lava burns you, offspring return to kill you, and giant space cephalopods attack your ships. In a massive tentacled disturbance in the

Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Talks With Google to Develop Self-Driving Cars

Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Talks With Google to Develop Self-Driving Cars

Tesla Motors has long worked towards producing the car of the future, and the Model S may well be the perfect electric vehicle for the middle class. If getting 265 miles per charge wasn't

Cheaper EV Charging System Can Charge Electric Cars 4 Times Faster

Cheaper EV Charging System Can Charge Electric Cars 4 Times Faster

Charging time and cost are two of the biggest obstacles facing electric vehicle battery technology today. Fortunately, researchers at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden just

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

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

There are few cyclists who don't have at least a small addiction to speed - whether it's cruising down a steep hill or whizzing past traffic. If you really have the itch to fly down the road,

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

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 an

UGE Rolls Out Solar and Wind-Powered LED Streetlights in PingQuan, China

UGE Rolls Out Solar and Wind-Powered LED Streetlights in PingQuan, China

Urban Green Energy Inc has installed 120 solar and wind-powered streetlights in PingQuan, situated in the Hebei province of China. Instead of opting for costly traditional lights that would have

Chemicals from Personal Care Products Are Polluting Chicago’s Air

Chemicals from Personal Care Products Are Polluting Chicago’s Air

Photo via Shutterstock When the gales blow across the Windy City, residents may have more to worry about than mussed hair. According to a new study led by Keri Hornbuckle from the University

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