Recent advances in 3D printing technology have resulted in plenty of breakthroughs in the fields of medical science and prosthesis, but 3D printing is also contributing to the art world in new and unexpected ways. Sculptor Marco Mahler recently collaborated with mathematician Henry Segerman to produce a collection of the world’s first fully 3D-printed mobiles, and they’re pretty impressive. As Mahler explains on his website, the mobiles come out of the 3D printer completely assembled, and their balance points were calculated to 1/1000th of a millimeter. All of the mobiles are now available for sale through Mahler’s and Segerman’s shop at Shapeways.

+ Mobiles by Marco Mahler and Henry Segerman

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Post tags: 3D printing, 3d-printed sculpture, by Marco Mahler, D-printed mobile, digital fabrication, eco-friendly art, green art, Henry Segerman

The United States Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto in a seed patenting case against an Indiana farmer that some had hoped would break the company’s monopoly on modern agriculture. Monsanto sued Vernon Bowman after he purchased their Roundup Ready Soybeans from a grain elevator to plant a late second crop, The Guardian reports. Bowman argued that the patent was exhausted since he bought the seeds from a third party, but the corporate giant said he had agreed not to save any of the harvest for replanting when he entered into a contract to purchase their seeds. Justice Elena Kagan agreed that patent exhaustion did not apply in this case and the court ordered Bowman to pay $84,456.

Read the rest of Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

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Post tags: Environment, farming, genetically modified organisms, GMO, Indiana farmer, Indiana Farmer loses to Monsanto, Monsanto, News, patent exhaustion, roundup ready, Supreme Court agriculture case, US seed patenting

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

Today’s wind turbines are big and heavy, which makes them costly to build and maintain – especially when they are installed offshore. To make turbines more efficient, the European Union just launched SUPRAPOWER, a four-year project led by Tecnalia in Spain that includes nine other industry and science partners across Europe. The initiative is researching superconductor technology to develop a next-gen wind turbine that could cut manufacturing costs by 30%.

Read the rest of SUPRAPOWER: European Union Developing Next-Gen Superconductor Wind Turbines

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Post tags: cost of wind turbine manufacturing, Cryogenic Engineering Division, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, offshore wind turbine scalability, reducing wind turbine manufacturing cost by 30%, superconductor scale generator for wind power, SUPRAPOWER, Tecnalia, Tecnalia Technological Corporation, wind turbines

Greek architect Anestis Papaemanouil won the Duo-Gard Charging Station Design Contest with his solar-powered, nature-inspired “TWITT” concept. Duo-Gard challenged designers to create a one-car charging station and canopy that is both sustainable and flexible in its installation and usage. Papaemanouil’s winning design will be built and installed in Philadelphia for Greenbuild 2013, the annual conference of the US Green Building Council.


Read the rest of TWITT: Duo-Gard Unveils Nature-Inspired, Solar-Powered Winner of Its EV Charging Station Contest

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Anestis Papaemanouil TWITT, charging station design, daylighting systems, Design Competition, Duo-Gard, Duo-Gard Charging Station Design Contest, green design, Greenbuild 2013, photovoltaic panels, Solar Power, William Cultrara Franklin Grid

Last week, NASA unveiled a $17.7 billion spending plan for 2014 that included proposals to capture a small asteroid and position it near the moon so that astronauts could explore it by 2025. In order to pull off this audacious mission the administration is considering developing a Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) satellite, which allows for greater flexibility than traditional crewed spacecraft.

Read the rest of NASA Could Use a Solar-Powered Satellite to Capture an Asteroid

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Post tags: asteroid, ion thruster, mars 2030, nasa, Satellite, SEP, Solar Electric Propulsion, solar propulsion, space exploration, spacecraft

Edison2 just unveiled the latest version of its Very Light Car (VLC) at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. An earlier version of the vehicle won the $5 million Automotive X Prize back in 2010, and the new Very Light Car 4.0 incorporates safety innovations developed for long-distance racing cars and uses batteries and motors similar to those in standard EV’s. The new vehicle weighs less than 1,100 pounds, and the makers expect that their final production version will weigh under 1,400 pounds while still meeting federal safety requirements.

Read the rest of Edison2′s New Very Light Car 4.0 Weighs Less than 1,100 Pounds

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Post tags: automotive x-prize, Battery powered vehicle, Edison2 VLC, Edison2 X Prize, electric powered VLC, electric vehicles, energy efficient cars, green car design, green transportation, low-mass vehicles, plug-in car design, recyclable car parts, Very Light Vehicle

Researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have discovered a way to turn ordinary skin cells into protective brain cells – a breakthrough that could have a resounding impact on people who suffer from multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and similar diseases. Myelinating cells protect neurons as electric pulses travel from the brain to the rest of the body. In people who suffer from myelinating disorders, these sheaths are destroyed and are very difficult to repair. Now researchers have successfully converted the skin cells of mice into oligodendrocytes, a cell that myelinates neurons, and they hope the same technique might eventually be replicated in humans.

Read the rest of Breakthrough Converts Normal Skin Cells into Protective Brain Cells

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Post tags: Case Western Reserve School of medicine, cellular reprogramming, cerebral palsy, Health, mice brain, multiple sclerosis, myelinating cells, nature biotechnology, oligodendrocytes, OPCs, science, skin cells converted into brain cells, stem cell

A team of scientists at Oxford University has used a custom 3D printer to successfully create synthetic tissue that mimics properties of living tissue. Unlike projects underway by Organovo, the Oxford University team did not culture cells from existing, living tissue and expand upon them, but instead utilized water and oil to create a network of ‘programmable’ droplets that, held within lipid film, can replicate some behaviors of living tissue.

Read the rest of Oxford University 3D-Prints Synthetic Tissue From Oil and Water

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Post tags: 3D printers, 3D printing, 3d printing biology, 3d printing health, 3d printing science, artificial tissue, bioengineering, living tissue, medicine design, organovo, oxford university, synthetic tissue

In a breakthrough that could be a game-changer for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered a way to extract large amounts of hydrogen from any plant. Current methods of producing hydrogen are expensive and they generate greenhouse gases. If this new method of hydrogen extraction proves to be as successful as initial findings suggest, the process could be commercialized and widely adopted within three years.

Read the rest of Researchers Find Way to Extract Hydrogen from Any Plant in Potential Breakthrough for Fuel Cells

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Post tags: clean tech, fuel cell, fuel cell car, fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen, hydrogen extraction, hydrogen fuel cell, renewable energy, virginia tech, Y.H. Percival Zhang

When you think of bacteria, the last word that might come to mind is “clean.” However, researchers at the University of East Anglia have made a breakthrough in battery technology that will allow microbes to generate clean electricity. Their work was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and it shows that the surface of the organisms can produce an electric current when touching a mineral surface. When lying directly on a mineral or metal surface, the bacteria can be “tethered” to electrodes, bringing the scientists one step closer to developing a battery powered by living creatures.

Read the rest of Researchers Harness Bacteria to Make Clean ‘Bio-Batteries’

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Post tags: "Carbon Cycle", "clean energy", bacteria, bio battery, CO2, dr tom clarke, Electricity, electrodes, Iron, Metal, microbe, mineral, pacific northwest national laboratory, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, proteins, shewanella oneidensis, university of east anglia

Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have devised a new kind of invisibility cloak that can hide 3D objects from micro waves. Comprised of an ultralight layer called a metascreen, the cloak hides objects from all different directions and points of view – and unlike previous designs, this one isn’t at all bulky. The findings have been documented in the New Journal of Physics.

Read the rest of New Ultra Thin Invisibility Cloak Hides 3D Objects from Microwaves

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Post tags: Environment, inventions, invisibility cloak, Light, mantle cloaking, metascreen, News, physics, science, Technology, University of Texas at Austin

A team of researchers at MIT have developed a more efficient photovoltaic solar cell using particles known as quantum dots. The benefit of using quantum dots is that they can be produced cheaply, and the solar cells can be manufactured at room temperature, unlike silicon and other PV materials, which require high-temperature processing. Using a new technique, the scientists embedded the quantum dots in a ‘forest of nanowires,’ which will help the team to achieve higher efficiency ratios.

Read the rest of MIT Scientists Create a More Efficient Solar Cell by Using Quantum Dots and Nanowires

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Post tags: "solar energy", massachusetts institute of technology, MIT, nanowires, photovoltaic, qauntum dot solar cell, quantum dots, Solar Cell, solar efficiency, solar panel, Solar Power

UK company Invicta Group has become the first company in the world to make food-safe products from 100% recycled plastic bottles, containers, tubs and lids. Their new rPETable patented process focuses on products made using a breakthrough plastic injection moulding technology. This new approach to recycling plastic ensures that no toxic additives remain in the packaging material. Among the first major brands to test the new technology are Coca-Cola, Guinness and Reckitt Benckiser.

Read the rest of rPETable: UK Company Makes First Ever 100% Recycled Food-Safe Plastic Products

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Post tags: Bisphenol A plastic, food production, food safety, food security, food-safe plastic, health issues, healthy eating, injection moulding technology, Invicta Group recycled plastic, polycarbonate plastics, Recycled Materials, toxic additives, toxic plastic bottles, toxic plastic food containers

It might seem ironic that the oil-rich Middle East also holds nearly half of the world’s renewable energy potential – but yesterday the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, officially inaugurated Shams 1, the largest concentrated solar power plant (CSP) in the world. The plant was designed and developed by Shams Power Company, and it cost $600 million and took three years to build. It’s owned by Masdar, Abengoa Solar and Total.

Read the rest of World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Power Plant Switches On in Abu Dhabi

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Post tags: abengia solar, abu dhabi, abu dhabi's renewable energy target, ceo of masdar, large-scale solar projects, Masdar, middle east renewable power potential, shams 1, Shams Power company, sheikh khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, sultan ahmed al jabber, total, world's largest concentrated solar power plant

Now that the sequester is in full swing, President Obama is proposing new sources of funding to finance his clean energy ambitions. The White House is urging Congress to divert $2 billion from oil and gas leases over the next ten years to pay for research into ‘breakthrough technologies,’ like advanced batteries for electric cars. Following the statements Obama made in last month’s State of the Union address, the goal is to begin to wean the county off of fossil fuels and stimulate the economy by investing in cutting-edge technology.

Read the rest of President Obama Proposes $2 Billion in Funding to Replace Fossil Fuels

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Post tags: "clean energy", advanced vehicles, argonne national laboratory, chicago, Climate Change, congress, energy security trust, eric d isaacs, fossil fuels, funding, leases, legislation, oil and gas revenue, president obama, sequester, state of the union address, stimulus package

A cure for HIV has eluded scientists since the virus was first discovered in the early 1980s, but researchers at Washington University believe that bee venom could provide a successful treatment. The venom that bees carry contains a toxin called melittin that can penetrate the protective envelope surrounding HIV. The team used nanoparticles carrying melittin to successfully destroy HIV without harming nearby cells, which represents a potentially huge breakthrough in the ongoing effort to find a cure.

Read the rest of Study Finds that Nanoparticles Loaded with Bee Venom Can Kill HIV

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Post tags: aids, aids cure, bee sting, bee venom, bees, Hepatitis, hiv, HIV cure, HIV virus, honeybees, Medicine, melittin, nanomaterials, nanoparticles

We’ve heard about lab grown meat and even 3D-printed steaks, but now one company is seeking to launch the leading plant-based egg substitute.  Beyond Eggs, made by Hampton Creek Foods, may not look like real eggs, but once hydrated, they are reported to taste remarkably like them. The grey powdery substitute is made from plant products like sunflower lecithin, canola, peas and natural gums from tree sap- providing a healthy, cruelty-free alternative to eggs.


Read the rest of Plant-Based Beyond Eggs Taste Like the Real Thing Without Environmental or Ethical Impact

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Post tags: Beyond Eggs, cruelty free eggs, eco design, egg substitute, green design, Hampton Creek Foods, Josh Tetrick, plant based eggs, sustainable design, vegetarian eggs

While silicon has long been the standard for commercial solar cells, new research from the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Spain has shown that graphene could prove far more efficient when it comes to transforming light into energy. The study found that unlike silicon, which generates only one current-driving electron for each photon it absorbs, graphene can produce multiple electrons. Though the application of graphene in solar cells is only theoretical, the potential outlined in the study is remarkable; solar cells made with graphene could offer 60% solar cell efficiency – double the widely-regarded maximum efficiency of silicon cells.

Read the rest of Graphene-Based Solar Cells Could Yield 60% Efficiency

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Post tags: carbon solar cells, Frank Koppens, graphene, Institute of Photonic Sciences, photovoltaic panels, renewable energy, silicon solar, Solar cells, solar efficiency, solar materials, solar panels

Dr. Baile Zhang, an assistant physics professor at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has created a small, box-like “invisibility cloak” that uses optic crystals to bend light. The invention was unveiled on Monday at the TED 2013 conference in Long Beach, California – hit the jump to see a video of the device in action!

Read the rest of Dr. Baile Zhang Unveils Light-Bending ‘Invisibility Cloak’ at TED 2013

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Post tags: calcite, California, cloaking device, disappear, dr baile zhang, invisibility cloak, laser oil, long beach, Nanyang Technological University, post-it note, professor, Singapore, ted 2013