Taffykay - Slashdot User

Submission + - How We Harvest Horseshoe Crab Blood to Save Human Lives (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Taffykay on Friday July 25, 2014 @06:22PM

Taffykay writes: Do you give much thought to horseshoe crabs? No, me neither. But it turns out that without them, we could be in a very precarious position. Horseshoe crabs – or to be more precise,
their incredible, baby blue blood – are used to test for bacterial contamination, thus saving countless lives each year during medical procedures. The only trouble is, we have to catch a quarter of a million horseshoe crabs each year to do this, and then we have to drain their blood.

Submission + - New Study Shows Feasibility of 19-Year-Old's Ocean Cleanup Array (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by almda on Wednesday June 11, 2014 @02:41PM

almda writes: One year ago 19-year-old Boyan Slat unveiled an Ocean Cleanup Array that he claimed could clean 7 million tons of plastic from the world's oceans. The design went viral and received it's share of criticism — however a newly released one-year feasibility study shows that the array would indeed work as planned. Slat claims that a single array could remove half the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in just 10 years.

Submission + - Ford is Turning Heinz Tomato Waste into New Lightweight Bioplastic (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by Taffykay on Tuesday June 10, 2014 @10:07AM

Taffykay writes: Ford just announced that they have teamed up with Heinz to turn mostly tomato skins (but also leaves, stems and seeds) into a composite bioplastic for use in their vehicles. Although still in the feasibility stage, the project could reduce food waste and lower the embodied energy footprint of Ford's vehicles, while reducing vehicle weight and improving fuel economy at the same time.

Submission + - Terrafugia Seeks Funding to Launch its Flying Car in 2016 (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by Taffykay on Wednesday June 04, 2014 @01:39PM

Taffykay writes: Slashdot readers are sure to be familiar with Terrafugia's plans to launch a flying car — and a new report shows that it may actually hit the market within the next two years. The company is currently seeking to raise $30 million in funding to bring the vehicle to market in 2016 at a price point of $279,000.

Submission + - Original Unverpackt: Germany's First Zero-Waste Supermarket to Open this Summer

Submitted by Beverley Mitchell on Monday June 02, 2014 @11:33AM

Beverley Mitchell writes: Germany is set to unveil the country’s very first zero-waste supermarket. Berlin’s Original Unverpackt is the brainchild of friends Sara Wolf and Milena Glimbovski. Frustrated by the overpackaging and wastefulness they saw in the retail food industry, the young women decided to take action and launched a crowdfunding campaign in early May that has succeeded beyond all expectations. They now have the funds to open their first outlet this summer, with a second to follow soon after.

Comment The future (Score 1) 2

by Taffykay on Wednesday May 28, 2014 @12:23PM (#47109841) Attached to: Beverley Mitchell Google Builds a Self-driving Car from Scratch

I can't get over the idea of a car with no steering wheel!

Submission + - Beverley Mitchell Google Builds a Self-driving Car from Scratch 2

Submitted by Beverley Mitchell on Wednesday May 28, 2014 @12:17PM

Beverley Mitchell writes: Google has made a major breakthrough in its self-driving car project. The tech giant has now started building its own prototype vehicles from scratch, rather than retro-fitting existing commercial models such as the Toyota Prius. This has enabled some interesting design modifications such as, well, no steering wheel — for a start!

Submission + - New Water Buses Proposed to Help Ease Mass Transit Pressure in Sweden

Submitted by Beverley Mitchell on Friday May 23, 2014 @01:02PM

Beverley Mitchell writes: Researchers at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology have come up with an innovative addition to the city's public transit system. Called Waterway 365, their project follows the principle that “across is always closer than around.” They propose integrating water buses into the existing public transport service, and their bike-friendly system design involves a water bus unlike any other you have seen before.

Comment Drinkable sunscreen? (Score 1) 2

by Taffykay on Wednesday May 21, 2014 @01:05PM (#47057609) Attached to: Can Drinkable Sunscreen Protect Your Skin from the Inside Out?

Yikes, you couldn't pay me money to drink this stuff!

Submission + - Can Drinkable Sunscreen Protect Your Skin from the Inside Out? 2

Submitted by Beverley Mitchell on Wednesday May 21, 2014 @12:51PM

Beverley Mitchell writes: Colorado company Osmosis Skincare claims to have invented a drinkable form of UV protection. They say ingesting 2 mls of Harmonized H2O UV Neutralizer an hour before sun exposure provides up to 3 hours of protection. In a YouTube video, company owner Dr. Ben Johnson claims: “I’ve been working for years on formulas where we are imprinting radio frequency waves on the molecules of water. And, you know, physics will tell you, ‘We’re not sure if you can do that or not.’ We have come up with a system that does that.” The ingested water is then said to vibrate up to your skin to deflect UVA and UVB waves. With skin cancer risks well documented, it appears that the Food and Drug Administration and the British Skin Foundation wish to err on the side of caution and do not endorse the product.

Submission + - Fujitsu is Growing Radiation-free Lettuce in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Taffykay on Monday May 19, 2014 @11:26AM

Taffykay writes: Tech giant Fujitsu has opened an organic lettuce farm in Japan's Fukushima prefecture. Blending agriculture, technology, and medicine in a former microchip factory, the company has developed a new variety of organic lettuce that is not only lower in potassium and nitrates than standard varieties, but is also radiation-free.

Submission + - Baltimore's Solar-Powered Water Wheel Devours 50,000 Pounds of Harbor Trash (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by gogreenbaltimore on Monday May 19, 2014 @10:03AM

gogreenbaltimore writes: Baltimore city just launched the amazing Water Wheel, a solar-powered trash collector that can devour up to 50,000 pounds of trash a day! Topped by a sail fabric canopy, the Water Wheel operates entirely off grid, is powered by 30 solar panels and the water current, and looks really cool to boot. All collected trash is sent to a waste-to-energy plant. By cleaning up debris swept into the Inner Harbor by stormwater runoff, the Water Wheel could help make Baltimore's Inner Harbor swimmable by 2020.

Submission + - World's First Algae Canopy Produces the Oxygen Equivalent of 4 Woodland Hectares (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Taffykay on Tuesday April 15, 2014 @11:54AM

Taffykay writes: The world's first urban algae canopy controls the flow of energy, water and CO2 based on weather patterns, visitor's movements, and other environmental variables. Once completed in time for the 2015 Milan Expo, this groundbreaking bio-digital project from ecoLogic Studio will produce the oxygen equivalent of four hectares of woodland, along with nearly 330 pounds of biomass per day.

Submission + - Solar Impulse 2 to Attempt First Round-the-World Solar-Powered Flight (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Taffykay on Wednesday April 09, 2014 @09:20AM

Taffykay writes: Swiss innovators André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard just announced the debut of the new and improved Solar Impulse 2 aircraft. In roughly one year, this new and improved solar airplane will attempt what no plane has done before: a journey of five consecutive days and nights from one continent to the next without using a drop of fuel.

Submission + - Students Create Machine That Uses Pee to Make Furniture (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Elliot Chang on Wednesday April 02, 2014 @12:28PM

Elliot Chang writes: Who knew urine could be so useful? Edinburgh College of Art student Peter Trimble has built a machine that makes furniture out of sand, pee and bacteria. Called the Dupe, the device is being used to cast low stools that are surprising sturdy, and can be broken up and used as a fertilizer at the end of their lifecycles.

Slashdot Top Deals