With all our problems down here on Earth most people don’t think about space junk very often, but there is more of it to think about than most people realize. An estimate 50,000 pieces exist that are large enough to do significant damage on collision with an operational space craft or satellite. Over 90% of the stuff we currently have in space is useless trash – with less than 10% being operational/useful.
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Awesome: Solar Powered Bicycle Boat Design
Imagine a boat that coasts along almost silently and works completely on free energy. OK, well, almost free: when it is cloudy out you may have to pedal a bit to get it going. Still, you get to toss out the pricey gas costs associated with most water cruisers and relax in the sun when the weather is nice and pedal your way to shore when it isn’t.
Gasoline That Grows on Trees – Literally
Well, not gasoline per say but something strangely close. With minimal filtering and no refining these amazing trees produce fuel for up to 70 years and and at a rate of 1 barrel per 4 trees per year. After extraction, the fuel must be used within a few months but can be put almost directly to work in a diesel engine. However, even if the fuel is left for too long it changes into another form of oil that fetches a fairly high market price as a medicinal substance.
Brilliant Green Architectural Design Concept? Skyscraper Retrofits for Power and Food
Clearly we can’t very well tear down all of the world’s old skyscrapers for not being environmentally friendly – that kind of approach would itself be (ironic and) wasteful. At the same time, many of these buildings are projected to last for decades (or centuries) more. So what is the solution for making them green now? One rather clever proposal involves adding an auxiliary environmental layer to the existing structures that could house gardening and natural wind power production spaces.
10 Creative Ways to Recycle Ordinary Objects
Creatively artistic recycling doesn’t have to be limited to helping the environment: it can also be a challenge and opportunity to ingenious designers who work with materials most people would consider waste to create amazing things. Some of the following designs serve multiple purposes: illustrating the material possibilities of what most would consider trash while also maximizing the aesthetic potential of what would otherwise be considered waste objects. Clothes become rugs, airline trolleys become furniture, cardboard becomes bridges and sewage turns into building blocks!
Is Extinction a Major Present-Day Problem?
Extinction is nothing new … mass extinctions are part of the life cycle of the planet. Still, if we are indeed in the 6th great mass extinction then perhaps we should be worried that at least one such mass extinction took the planet 30 million years to recover from! Some …
Is Global Warming Fact or Fiction?
Is global warming a myth or a fact? Or is the entire term misleading and should climate change by the phrase of choice instead? The site 42Explore provides a great introduction to the issue of global warming, both an ‘easy’ and a ‘hard’ version, as well as numerous reputable resources …
7 Clever-but-Questionable Eco-Power Innovations
It is all too easy to get excited about the next big sustainable technology for saving energy or producing non-polluting power – and forget the flaws in many of these ideas. Some of the best projects show smart out-of-the-box thinking but lack feasibility or, in some cases, might do more harm than good. While these ideas may not work at least scientists, politicians and other innovators are beginning to explore alternatives.
