We recently told you about Moto Electra‘s bold attempt to drive an electric motorcycle across the United States in just 3 days – and on June 6th the team accomplished this world record-breaking feat! Battling temperatures over 100 degrees, punishing rain and bike repairs, the racing team hit their goal while showing the world the potential of electric motors.

Read the rest of Moto Electra Sets World Record by Crossing the US on an Electric Motorcycle in 3 Days

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Post tags: battery technology, coast-to-coast drive, coast-to-coast motorcycle drive, coast-to-coast motorcycle record, cross country drive, electric bike, electric motorcycle, electric motorcycle coast-to-coast, electric transportation, electric vehicle, Moto Electra, Moto Electra Racing, Thad Wolff, world record drive

If you’ve ever dreamed of levitating out of traffic when cycling to work, your dreams may soon come true. Three Czech companies have joined forces to develop a helicopter/bicycle hybrid, complete with giant propellers above the front and rear wheels. Although the bike isn’t quite ready to carry a human on board, it has already been tested by remote control and it can fly for five minutes straight.

Read the rest of Flying Helicopter Hover Bike Takes Off in Prague

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Post tags: Czech flying bike, eco design, flying bike, green design, green transportation, helicopter bike, sustainable design

Researchers at the DoE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a lithium sulfur battery that is not only cheaper and safer than lithium ion batteries, but it can store four times as much energy as its li-ion counterparts. Used in small electronics and electric vehicles, lithium ion batteries are a standard for energy storage, but lithium sulfur batteries—which are already used in some solar aircraft—have the potential to succeed as an alternative with much higher energy density – and ORNL’s all-solid Li-S batteries are testing as safer and more durable than current Li-ion’s.

Read the rest of All-Solid Lithium Sulfur Battery Stores Four Times as Much Energy as Lithium Ion Batteries

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Post tags: battery life, battery power, DOE, energy storage, lithium ion, lithium sulfur, oak ridge national laboratory, ornl

Scientists at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wurttemburg (ZSW) have developed one of the most efficient lithium-ion batteries yet. The super li-on batteries herald a bright future for energy storage systems, and in an electric vehicle they’re expected to retain 85% of their capacity after being charged every day for “about 27.4 years.”

Read the rest of German Scientists Create Lithium Ion Battery that Can Charge an Electric Car for 27 Years

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Post tags: 10000 complete charging and discharging cycles, batteries for electric vehicles, batteries for solar power storage systems, battery capacity, battery power density, center for solar energy and hydrogen research baden-wurttemburg, efficient lithium-ion batteries, german federal ministry of economics and technology, german federal ministry of education and research, large pouch cells, large prismatic cells, short charging times for electric vehicles, superior acceleration for electric vehicles, wind and solar power storage, zsw, zsw laboratory for battery technology

Since public urination seems to be a widespread problem at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, two organizations have banded together to turn that pee into power. The Electric Pee project, by AfroReggae and JWT Brazil, will place urinals around the city for festival goers to use. As the pee flows into the receptacles, it is converted into energy that is then stored in a battery, which powers AfroReggae’s Carnival truck.

Read the rest of AfroReggae Uses Pee to Power its Sound System at Carnival

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Post tags: afroreggae, eco design, electro urinal, green design, JWT Brazil, Pee Power, Rio de Janeiro Carnival, sustainable design

When riding a stationary bicycle, it easy to feel as though you aren’t getting anywhere or doing much of anything other than managing a quick workout. The cardio is great, but what if you could capture the energy generated by all that pedaling? Instructables member KlockworkKevin has created an ingenious bike-powered generator hidden inside his patio furniture. When not in use, it is a colorful porch appointment that can be easily transformed into a power-making machine. As an added bonus to being unassuming and out-of-the-way, the generator is quieter than the previous models he built using noisy cordless drills.

Read the rest of Patio Furniture Transforms into DIY Bike-Powered Generator

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Post tags: "wind turbine", battery, bicycle, bike, deep cycle marine battery, e-waste, generator, instructables, instructables green design contest, inverter, klockworkkevin, patio furniture, solar panels, voltage regulator

Scientists in Japan recently used a promising new 3D printing material to create objects so small that they are the size as a single bacteria. The researchers were able print shapes that are measured in mere micrometers, including the world’s tiniest rabbit. While the demonstration may be playful, the application certainly isn’t – this new technology may someday be used to print cells and micro-electrodes for medical purposes.

Read the rest of Scientists Create World’s Tiniest Bunny Using New 3D Shaping Material

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Post tags: 3D printing, 3d printing material, 3d printing resin, 3d science, biomedical 3d printing, biomedical printing, carbonized 3d printing, charred 3d printing, CMET Inc., curing brain disease, Shoji Maruo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama National University

Laptop technology has come a long way in the past decade or so, but sales of mobile phones and tablets are leaving PCs in the dust. Part of that has to do with battery life; because they use more powerful hardware, laptops simply can’t compete with longer-lasting tablet batteries. But Intel is preparing to release a new generation of Core processors, known as Haswell, that will help to bridge the gap, giving laptops 50 percent more battery life. That will enable travelers to watch up to three HD movies on a laptop before the battery conks out.

Read the rest of Intel’s New Haswell Chips Will Boost Laptop Battery Life by 50 Percent

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Post tags: battery life, computer batteries, Core processor, haswell chip, intel, Intel processor, laptop batteries, laptops, mobile technology, PC batteries, PCS, tablets

Star Wars fans of the world rejoice, because the dream of owning your own personal lightsaber just got one step closer to reality. This 300mW hand-held blue laser can burn through cardboard, wood or a ping-pong ball without flinching. And while the laser may lack that distinctive lightsaber hum, it certainly has that characteristic glow and enough power to ignite anything flammable placed in its path.

Read the rest of This Homemade Lightsaber Can Burn Through Wood

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Post tags: 300mw laser, 450nm laser, Drake Anthony, handheld blue laser, handheld laser, Homemade laser pointer, Homemade Lightsaber, laser lightsaber, laser pointer, star wars, styropyro, YouTube laser video

The once-promising electric car company Better Place has filed for bankruptcy. The company sought to put in place a large and innovative electric vehicle network with interchangable batteries, which could be switched out and replaced in about the same amount of time it takes to fill up a tank of gas. But that concept never truly came to fruition, partly because it never attracted enough buyers to become a commercial success. On Sunday, the company announced plans to liquidate.

Read the rest of Israeli Electric Car Company Better Place Files for Bankruptcy

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Post tags: bankruptcy, better place, Better Place bankruptcy, Better Place cars, electric car, electric vehicle, ev charging network, ev charging stations, EVs, Israel, Renault, shai agassi

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 takes forever. Eesha Khare of Saratoga, California has invented a device that could wipe away battery bothers with a supercapacitor that can charge your phone in 20 seconds. Her research won her a $50,000 prize in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Read the rest of Eighteen-Year-Old Invents Device That Can Charge Your Cell Phone in 20 Seconds

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Post tags: Arizona, battery, California, cell phone, charger, eesha khare, intel international science and engineering fair, led light, phoenix, saratoga, supercapacitor, tesla, young scientist award

Today is National Bike to Work Day, and all across America, people are ditching their cars and trucks for a cleaner, healthier journey via bicycle. Our friends at Voltaic Systems joined in the fun to support NYC’s Bike to Work Day, and it’s no surprise that they added their own solar-powered flair to the day’s festivities. Company staffers decked out a commuter bicycle and with a custom-built bike trailer carrying 60+ Watts of portable solar panels, 180 Watt hours of charging capacity, and lots of connectors to charge up smartphones, tablets and even a MacBook, in an effort to show New Yorkers how much fun can be had when human and solar power are combined.

Read the rest of Voltaic Celebrates Bike to Work Day with Portable Solar-Charging Trailer You Can Rent!

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Post tags: bike commuting, bike to work day, bike trailer, solar charger, solar panels, Solar Power, voltaic systems

The first sure sign of a robot uprising will be when robots gain self-awareness and begin acting autonomously – and if this self-assembling robot is any indication, we’re well on our way to the robopocalypse. Researchers at Harvard and MIT teamed up to produce a 3D-printed inchworm robot that is able to aseemble itself. Using shape memory polymers that automatically fold into desired shapes, the remarkable bot transforms itself from a completely flat, two-dimensional object into a walking inchworm-shaped robot with almost no help from human hands.

Read the rest of MIT and Harvard’s 3D-Printed Inchworm Robot Can Assemble Itself

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Post tags: 3D printing, 3d-printed inchworm robot, 3D-printed robot, harvard, ICRA 2013, inchworm robot, MIT, robots, self-assembling robot, Self-folding robot

Read the rest of 13 Things We Learned from Some of the World’s Smartest People at Fortune Brainstorm Green 2013

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Post tags: adam lashinsky, andy ruben, andy serwer, aron cramer, Bea Perez, Beyond Meat, brian dumaine, brightfarms, Clarence Otis, Coca Cola, coca cola Chief Sustainability Officer, Cynthia Warner, dan akerson, Darden Restaurants, dean kamen, ebay, Fortune, Fortune Brainstorm Green, fortune green, Fortune Magazine, General Mills, geoff colvin, GM, hannah jones, harrison ford conservation international, Harrison Ford harrison ford green, ikea, iPod inventor, jib ellison, Joe Taylor, John Donahoe, Ken Powell, leigh gallagher, linda greer, marc gunther, natalie allen, nest, Nike, NRG, panasonic north america, Patagonia, Peter Seligmann, pk clean, priyanka bakaya, Procter & Gamble, rick ridgeway, Robert McDonald, Rosalind Brewer, Sam's Club, Sapphire Energy, Steve Howard, surepure, teresa law, Tony Fadell, will sarni, Will.i.am, Yerdle

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Post tags: "sustainable energy", alternative energy, Andre Borschberg, bertrand piccard, California, fuel-free airplane, green transportation, HB-SIA, moffett air filed, mountain view, NASA Ames Research Center, photovoltaic panels, renewable energy, solar impulse, solar impulse across america, Solar Power, solar powered airplane, sun-powered plane, world's first solar plane

Designed by architect Michael Strain and his team, Levitation is a concept bike designed to power your smart phone that also acts as a mobile hot-spot with unlimited Wi-Fi access. It has an on-board generator, high-capacity batteries which can store energy produced while cycling, and a “drain plug” system that allows the user to plug that energy back into the grid.

Read the rest of High-Tech Levitation Bike Generates Electricity and Acts as a Mobile Hot-Spot

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Post tags: bicycle design, bicycle phone charger, bicycle power, cycling, digital fabrication, eco-friendly Hi-Macs, energy generating bike, green materials, green transportation, Hi-Macs material, high tech bike, Levitation Bike, magnetic levitation bike, Rapid Prototyping, zero carbon transportation

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Post tags: eco technology, energy-efficient homes, green home, green technology, green your home, healthy homes, home solar panels, LED bulbs, solar panels, ways to cut your energy bill, ways to green you home, ways to reduce energy use

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

The term “upcycle” – used to describe the process of turning something old and used into a new and useful item – has rapidly grown in popularity over recent years. The term was popularized by Cradle to Cradle pioneers Michael Braungart and William McDonough, and in their new book The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability — Designing for Abundance they take the concept beyond the simple reuse of materials and propose a world in which everything we do improves the environment. The much-anticipated follow-up to their breakthrough book Cradle to Cradle, The Upcycle will hit the shelves on April 16th, and we got a chance to check the book out ahead of its release – read on for a first look!

Read the rest of BOOK REVIEW: William McDonough and Michael Braungart expand on Cradle to Cradle With The Upcycle

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Post tags: book review, cradle-to-cradle, green design, mcdonough, upcycle, upcycling

Solar Flight has just unveiled the world’s fastest two-seater solar-powered plane at the AERO Global Show for General Aviation in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The Sunseeker Duo continues the company’s exploration of solar-powered flight which started with their first Sunseeker I model designed back in 1990. The new fuel-free plane features solar cells 50 percent more powerful than those used by the previous models; this allows the plane to climb for up to 25 minutes running solely on batteries. After leaving Germany, the team led by Eric and Irena Raymond will transport the Sunseeker Duo to Italy for further test flights.

Read the rest of Sunseeker Duo: World’s Fastest Solar-Powered Two-Seater Plane Unveiled at AERO Friedrichshafen

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Post tags: AERO Global Show for General Aviation, energy efficient airplane, fuel-free airplane, green transportation, photovoltaics, solar aircraft, Solar cells, solar flight, Solar Flight Inc, Solar Power, solar powered plane, Sunseeker Duo, sunseeker plane