NASA’s Mars Rover might have captured headlines, but a new bot deployed in Greenland might be doing even more important work. NASA’s newest scientific rover, a robot known as GROVER, is on its way to Greenland for over a month of testing on the ice-covered country’s highest elevations. GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, is powered by the sun and will help scientists better understand changes in the quickly-shrinking ice sheet.

Read the rest of NASA Sends ‘Grover’ Solar-Powered Rover Right Over Greenland’s Shrinking Arctic Ice Sheet

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Post tags: Arctic, arctic ice, Climate Change, global warming, greenland, Grover Eco Rover, nasa, robots, Rover, scientific research

Visiting a city or live in a place that doesn’t have a bike share program yet? Don’t fret – Liquid is a new peer-to-peer bike rental marketplace that makes it easy to borrow a bike from individuals or bike rental shops. Like other peer-to-peer networks, Liquid isn’t just a place to conduct bike rental transactions – it’s also a great way to meet people that share your passion for cycling.

Read the rest of Liquid’s Peer-to-Peer Bike Share Program Makes Renting a Bike Easy

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Post tags: bike rentals, liquid, liquid marketplace, listing your bike for rent, meeting people who love bicycles, peer to peer bike rental, reviews on liquid, spinlister

A Brazilian fast-food chain has introduced a clever solution for customers tired of having to unwrap their hamburger before eating it: edible packaging. As part of a marketing campaign designed to position their burgers as literally irresistible and reduce paper waste headed for the landfill, a restaurant chain called “Bob’s” recently experimented with a burger wrapping made from edible paper. According to PSFK, the campaign was so successful that not a single customer threw away the wrappings, which meant a lot less trash to haul out to the dumpster.

Read the rest of Brazilian Fast-Food Chain Cuts Waste By Serving Up Burgers Wrapped In Edible Paper

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Post tags: Biodegradable, Brazil, edible packaging, fast food, packaging, paper waste

In an effort to forever vanquish the cracked, scratched smartphone screen, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has filed for—and received—what may be the world’s first patent for a smartphone airbag system. As mobile phones morphed from glorified walkie-talkies to pocket-sized super computers, they became more delicate—and expensive. The need to keep our smartphones protected has inspired an entire industry of covers and cases designed to protect their electronics guts from untimely meetings with the ground. If Bezos and Amazon VP Greg Heart (also named on the patent) bring this product to market, future smartphone owners may never know the pain of watching their devices shatter into pieces.

Read the rest of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Patents A Crash-Proof Airbag For Your Smartphone

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Post tags: airbag, Amazon, Jeff Bezos, patent, phone accessories, smartphone

Potted plants are a great way to bring the healing qualities of nature indoors while also generating clean air. Keeping them alive and healthy once they’re inside is another story. Belgium-based sculptor Stephen Verstraete built an adorable rolling robot that taxis your shrubbery to all the sunny spots in your home–without being asked! Dubbed the Plant Host Drone, this glorified Roomba follows the sun across the sky, ensuring that your plants soak up all the sun they need to stay green and healthy.

Read the rest of Autonomous Sunlight-Hunting Drone Keeps Your House Plants From Wilting

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Post tags: drone, house plants, Indoor Plants, Plant Host Drone, robot, roomba, Stephen Verstraete, sunlight

Read the rest of CiclaLabs’ Pedal-Powered Mobile Entertainment System On Show at the European Solar Decathlon

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Post tags: amplifiers, Art, Ciclalabs, dynamos, Film, madrid, music, photovoltaics, projectors, Solar Decathlon, sustainable design, theatre

A team of industrial design students at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey, has developed an ingenious design for a bipartite, or two-compartment, waterless dishwasher that is wall-mounted and doubles as a kitchen cabinet. Called dualWash, the dishwasher uses supercritical carbon dioxide for cleaning rather than water.

Read the rest of DualWash: Waterless Dishwasher Doubles as a Kitchen Cabinet!

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Post tags: Altun, b/s/h/, bipartite, bosch, cabinet, dishwasher, dualwash, green design, green kitchen, green products, METU, Profilo, Sancar, simsek, sustainable design, tuna, turkey

City streets are a rough place for cyclists – they’re strewn with bits of glass, metal, and potholes, so popping a flat is virtually inevitable. Fortunately, designer Pat Ramey has created a brilliant Bike Pump Keychain that fits in the palm of your hand and can have you riding again in a jiffy – simply attach the adapter to an air compressor found at any gas station and fill ‘er up. The best part is that you’ll never have to lug around a cumbersome pump – a patch kit and the $12 keychain adapter are all you need.

+ This is a BIke Pump

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Post tags: Air Pump Adapter, Bicycle Flat Tire, Bike Pump Adapter, Bike Pump Key-chain, Design for Cyclists, Functional Object, industrial design, Key-chain Design, Patrick Ramey, Tire Air Refill

Green House Co. Ltd., a Japanese electronics firm, has developed a new “power-generation LED lamp” called GH-LED10WBW that runs on salty water. Requiring no batteries, the lantern runs for eight hours for each fill of saline solution. The amazing device doesn’t just light the way; it can also be used to power other USB-powered devices.


Read the rest of Green House’s New LED Lantern Runs on Saltwater and Doubles as a USB Device Charger

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Post tags: charger, green house, green lighting, green products, lamp, lantern, saline, salt, saltwater, solution, usb, water issues

What motivates you to give 150 percent at your job? Is it a friendly boss? Tasks that you really care about? Awesome clients? According to new research led by UCLA, employees of companies that adopt green practices are 16 times more productive than their counterparts in not-so-green companies. Researchers say this news refutes claims that international “green” practices and standards inhibit corporate profitability.

Read the rest of Employees Work Harder When The Company Goes Green, New Study Reports

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Post tags: Fair Trade, green business, green businesses, green companies, green jobs, jobs, Organic, productivity, ucla

Urban Green Energy (UGE) today announced their newest alternative to power hungry outdoor lighting: the Sanya Streetlamp [pdf] is a standalone, off-grid street light that uses solar power, wind energy, or a combination of both to generate low-impact light for roads, bike paths, parks, and more. Densely populated cities require thousands of outdoor lights to keep public areas functional and safe. While we’re thankful for their illuminating qualities, these high-intensity discharge lamps cost local governments millions to install, wire, and power for 12 hours a night. We had a chance to chat with Mateo Chaskel, UGE’s VP of Operations about this innovative, off-grid streetlight system – read on for more exclusive details after the jump.

Read the rest of UGE’s New Hybrid Sanya Streetlight Goes Off-Grid For Big Savings

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Post tags: "wind turbine", energy efficient lighting, off-grid, outdoor lighting, Sanya Streetlamp, Solar Power, street light, UGE Lighting Solutions

Bionic Vision Australia, a government-funded research consortium in Carlton, Victoria, announced Thursday that it has successfully implanted and tested an early prototype bionic eye. Dr. Penny Allen, a retinal surgeon, implanted the prototype in the retina of Dianne Ashworth, a volunteer subject who suffers from profound vision loss from an inherited condition called retinitis pigmentosa. After a recovery period, researchers tested the device in a lab at the Bionics Institute in East Melbourne. According to an announcement from Bionic Vision Australia, Ashworth reported, “I didn’t know what to expect, but all of a sudden, I could see a little flash … it was amazing. Every time there was stimulation there was a different shape that appeared in front of my eye.”

Read the rest of Australian Research Group Announces First Implantation of a Bionic Eye

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Post tags: australia, bionic, bionic eye, cleantech, Design for Health, eye, implant, vision

London-based designer Postler Ferguson has come up with an innovative and modern package to help ease the transport of fresh fish from the counter at your supermarket to your kitchen. Ferguson proposes to replace the typical paper fish packaging, which often ends up leaking through your grocery bag, with an airtight, resealable package that can be used to help raise consumer awareness about sustainable seafood.

Read the rest of Modern Fresh Fish Pack Encourages Consumers To Choose More Sustainable Fish

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Post tags: Fresh Fish Pack, grocery shopping, London, mackerel., modern, package, Postler Ferguson, product

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Post tags: 100 Landschaftsarchitektur, Art, canada, decaying books, Design, experimental art, green design, Jardin de la Connaissance, mushrooms, quebec, Rodney LaTourelle, sustainable design, Thilo Folkerts

To perfect new medicines and surgical techniques, scientists need to conduct experiments on real humans. The only problem is, there aren’t too many living people who want to be guinea pigs for untested drugs or procedures. Human cadavers will work, but it’s not the same as a living, breathing person. Now, scientists from Harvard University have partnered with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create a series of see-through computer chips that imitate the function of real human organs. The organs-on-chips will allow researchers to study complex human physiology safely without a human subject.

Read the rest of See-Through Microchip Organs Help Scientists Test New Drugs

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Post tags: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, drugs, harvard, human body, microchip, scientific research

The team of developers at Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, know that urban landscapes are full of potential for innovation. But initiatives aimed at change and progress can often find themselves entangled in a great deal of bureaucratic red tape. Renovating an old playground or installing a community garden takes a great deal of time, money, and organization, and the amount of human and financial input demanded can cause inspired ideas to struggle. To help guide activists and help get projects off of the ground, designers Bryan Boyer and Dan Hill have created Brickstarter, a prototype website that pitches projects, helps raise funds, and connects neighborhood citizens with local government.

Read the rest of Brickstarter Makes It Easy to Say ‘Yes In My Backyard’ for Funding Community Projects

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Post tags: backyard projects, brickstarter, bryan boyer, bureaucracy, community, community activism, community garden, community project, dan hill, democracy, finnish innovation fund, green neighborhood, kickstarter, neighborhood, nimby, sitra, yimby

If you are a scientist, designer, filmmaker, or any kind of environmentally-conscious creative person who is tired of zipped-up and dull sustainability science, then Earth 2 Hub might be the solution you’ve been looking for. A groundbreaking digital media platform conceived by some of the brightest, most forward-thinking people on the planet, Earth 2 Hub encourages the discussion and implementation of cutting-edge scientific and technological innovation by engaging with the global community through social media, cloud technologies, and smart technology. No idea is too far-reaching as long as it is grounded in the highest standards. The time to envision bold solutions to our environmental woes is now, and Earth 2 Hub is leading the way with thousands of fans around the world. Hit the jump to for a peek at the Earth 2.0 Initialization video to get a better sense of what these folks are working to achieve.

Read the rest of Groundbreaking Earth 2 Hub Platform Reboots Approaches to Sustainability (VIDEO)

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Post tags: apps, Art, clean tech, Design, digital media, Earth 2 Hub, Earth 2.0, eco design, Film, future cities, green design, innovation, London, media platform, rio 20, social media, Sustainable 2050 Conference, sustainable design, Technology, UK, WWW

Remember those retro toys that you could use to make 3D relief patterns with a tray of metal pins? OOO My Design has taken that concept and applied it to kids’ furniture design with its striking new Pin Press. The wall of red pins is an interactive shelf that makes cleaning up a fun activity for kids. The clever design recently won the Josep Ros furniture design competition, but sadly you can’t go out and buy it yet, because it’s still just a concept.

MORE >

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Post tags: "green furniture", Design, Josep Ros, kids, OOO My Design, parenting, pin art, pin press, pinscreen, Vanesa Moreno

A self-healing raincoat? It sounds like something out of a comic book, a group of Scandinavian researchers working for the EU project Safe@Sea have been developing a new type of textile coating that automatically seals tears on the surface of waterproof workwear. The goal is to create a new generation of “intelligent” clothing for professional fishermen. Working with the plastic material polyurethane, scientists have added micro-capsules containing a liquid sealant to the coating of the fabric. When the coating tears, the capsules burst and release the sealant, which hardens when it comes in contact with water and air.

READ MORE >

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Post tags: eco textiles, eco-fashion, fishermen, intelligent clothing, rainwear, Safe at Sea, Safe@Sea, Technology

When BP’s Deepwater Horizon well started gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, it soon became clear that neither BP nor the US government were equipped to deal with such a disaster. Next time (sadly, there almost certainly will be a next time), that hopefully won’t be the case – a company from Illinois won the top prize at the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge last week for producing a revolutionary machine that skims oil out of water four times faster than the previous industry standard. Team Elastec/American Marine took home a $1 million prize for the oil skimmer, which uses a series of grooved plastic discs with a scraper at the top to separate oil from water.

Read the rest of Groundbreaking Elastec Oil Skimmer Awarded $1 Million in Oil Cleanup X Challenge

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Post tags: BP, Elastec/American Marine, oil spill, renewable energy, Wendy Schmidt, X Challenge