Men: Pee And Wash In The Same Fixture! Lenny Bruce would have had such fun with this, but this just makes so much sense, a sink built on top of a urinal! And designer Yeongwoo Kim has made it look good, too. The theoretical sequence is that you use the urinal, then wash your hands and the washwater rinses the urinal, saving water. It makes even more sense in multiple units in mens rooms, saving both space and water. The designer writes on his website: To save water, Eco Urinal is designed to use the water that was used for washing hands to flush the urine. This in some ways makes more sense than a waterless toilet and probably saves as much water. More on urinals:No Splash, No Flush Urinals from KohlerWaterless Urinals Introduced for Home UseUrinals Disguised as Trash Cans: Everyday Objects vs Anti-Social BehaviorPee in Style and Save WaterPopup Pissoir Solves Wee Problem
Green Green is a color on the spectrum of visible light, located between blue and yellow. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength of roughly 495–570 nm. In the subtractive color system, used in color printing, it is created by a combination of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; in the RGB color model, used on television and computer screens, it is one of the additive primary colors, along with red and blue, which are mixed in different combinations to create all other colors. The modern English word green comes from the Middle English and Anglo-Saxon word grene, from the same Germanic root as the words "grass" and "grow".[2] It is the color of growing grass and leaves [3][4] and as a result is the color most associated with springtime, growth and nature.[5] By far the largest contributor to green in nature is chlorophyll, the chemical by which plants photosynthesize and convert sunlight into energy. It is the most important color in Islam. Shades and varieties In science
Cheaper, Spray-On Solar Panels Could Appear in Three Years | Business AUSTIN, TX — Researchers at the University of Texas have developed a method to create photovoltaic panels at one-tenth the cost of existing technologies using nanoparticle "inks" to generate electricity from the sun. The group, lead by Brian Korgel in the University's chemical engineering department, predicts that the technology, which would allow solar panels to be painted on rooftops or the sides of buildings, could be market-ready in three to five years. "The sun provides a nearly unlimited energy resource," Korgel said in a statement, "but existing solar energy harvesting technologies are prohibitively expensive and cannot compete with fossil fuels." The technology has been in development for the past two years, with Korgel collaborating with professors Al Bard and Paul Barbara, both of the University of Texas's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Professor Ananth Dodabalapur of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
think-green-2006.jpg (320×400) Closets Cured: Products for Organizing Your Wardrobe Closets. When you read the word, do you think of an open space where you can find every last scarf and sock, or do you imagine a cavernous dungeon where sad clothing and dust bunnies go to die? Home Automation Systems: Is the Future Here Already? Remember Ray Bradbury’s story “The Veldt”? Renter’s Resume: Why You’ll Need One to Land that Dream Apartment Act 1, Scene 1: You’re sitting in the leasing office for the apartment that you applied to rent two weeks earlier. Five Reasons to be Friendly to Your Landlord As a renter, one word will strike more fear into your heart than any other. Moving Tips: Pet Transport Made Easy Moving is stressful, and it’s tempting to treat everything around you like a punching bag. Leading the Kingdom: How to Manage Multiple Pets in Your Apartment Mediating quarrels between pets is time consuming, tiring, and dangerous. Managing Large Dogs in Small Spaces Home Security: 5 Tips for Staying Safe in Your Apartment
One Per Cent: Green Machine: solar street lamp feeds energy to the grid Helen Knight, technology reporter (Image: Adam Mørk/SunMast) The humble street light is joining the ranks of wind turbines and solar power plants in supplying renewable energy to the electricity grid. A street lamp covered in photovoltaic cells, which can generate more energy from sunlight than it consumes to light the street, is being tested in the UK. And the lamp is already supplying electricity to the National Grid. The SunMast, developed by Scotia, based in Aarhus, Denmark, generates electricity from sunlight during the day, which it supplies to the grid. If the trial in South Mimms in the UK is successful, the lamps could reduce the emissions produced by streetlights by 120 per cent, the company claims. The photovoltaic solar cells, which are designed to generate electricity even on cloudy days, are fitted down the length of the mast, to increase their surface area.
Some Earthy Figures and Facts About Solar Energy You Have to Know - Phoebe-Elle's blog Want more facts about solar energy? The best thing about it is that there are no rising and annoying importation costs of gas, oil or coal, which are by the way, increasing almost half the time. For more earthy figures and facts about solar energy, here they are: * In 2004, the solar cells' global production magnified by 60%. Nevertheless, these cells' materials are made of silicon which has been short in supply since then and has impeded production. * By the end of 2005, the installed solar panels' total worldwide peak power was about 5,300 MW. * The energy production of a 1 kilowatt solar energy unit is more or less equivalent to the 300 pounds of carbon dioxide being discharged into the earth's atmosphere and also equivalent to the burning of 170 pounds of coal. * In the current years, production costs of photovoltaic cells has considerably reduced by 3-5% per annum whilst government subsidies have grown. The facts about solar energy, nevertheless, are not only about technology per se.
Arcosanti Coordinates: Arcosanti is an experimental town and molten bronze bell casting community that has been developed by the Italian-American architect, Paolo Soleri, who began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, 70 mi (110 km) north of Phoenix, at an elevation of 3,732 feet (1,130 meters). Using a concept he called arcology, he started the town to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth. Overview[edit] The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. An Arcosanti apse Construction broke ground at the site in 1970, and has continued at a varying pace through the present. Many features are particular to the design and construction of Arcosanti. Visitors' center and residence The Arcosanti site has a camp area built for the original construction crew. Some Arcosanti funding comes from selling the metal and ceramic bells made and cast from bronze on site. Workshops[edit]
DIY Skylights From Used Water Bottles Replace 50-Watt Bulbs Image via YouTube video An ingenious invention by an engineer in Brazil has made an enormous difference in his town. Simply placing a bottle of water in a hole in the ceiling can light up a room with the same brightness as a 50-watt light bulb! >> WATCH SLIDESHOW: 13 Really Cool Lighting Ideas (Slideshow) I think the part that made it most convincing was the bucket comparison -- when they took the buckets off the bottles to show what a difference they make in lighting the room, my jaw dropped open. While it's obvious that these only work for certain types of structures, and only provide extra light when the sun is out, it shows that you don't have to construct a complex skylight in your roof to get some daylight into your home. And to hear that the bottles are lasting years without needing any maintenance at all is exciting. What a great bottle-reuse-zero-electricity idea! UPDATE: The project is being called Liter of Light.
Scientists Develop Affordable Solar Panels That Work In The Dark It's about damn time, don't you think? Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced Wednesday that they have been able to confirm a new high-efficiency solar cell design that utilizes nearly the entire solar spectrum. Translation: They figured out a way to make solar panels generate electricity in the dark. CleanTechnica says , In earlier trials, the researchers used different alloys that achieved full spectrum responses but involved very high production costs. The Lawrence Berkeley breakthrough represents just one path to increasing the efficiency and lowering the cost of solar cells. In the meantime, you could just turn any metal surface into solar panels with photovoltaic spray paint . [Photo: Norby /Flickr]
Turn Steel Into Solar Panels With Photovoltaic Spray Paint No, it's not a joke or a crazy awesome futuristic concept . It's real. Tata Steel Europe (formerly Corus) and Swansea University in Wales, UK are collaborating to develop a spray-on technology that would transform steel sheets into solar panels. Earth and Industry says , The technology has significant applications since it is highly efficient even in diffused sunlight. If extended, the technology can find its way to the automobile industry where photo-sensitive dyes can be applied to cars to generate electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen for fuel cells. Imagine the applications of such a product. The power options could be limitless. And if you think the spray-on solar technology is years away from reality, think again. The technology gains significance because the process of 'printing' these dyes on the steel sheets has already been mastered by Tata's European subsidiary Corus which is working on a new plant for the production of these steel sheets. [Photo: Jaredmoo /Flickr]