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Submission + - Man Dresses Pet Turtle as a Hamburger in Attempt to Bypass Airport Security

Submitted by oritonic1
oritonic1 writes: Smugglers delve into all kinds of strange techniques to transport animals illegally, but few are as downright bizarre as the efforts of a Chinese man identified as Li who wanted to travel with his beloved turtle. Replacing a KFC patty with his pet, Li was stopped by airport security screeners when they noticed "odd protrusions" emerging from a burger in the man's luggage .

Submission + - Israeli Company Developing World's First Everlasting Solar Battery (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers at Sol Chip are working on an ambitious project to create the world’s first everlasting solar battery. It is hoped that the battery will be able to recharge even in low-light environments to power just about any mobile electronic device.

Submission + - Plants Talk to Each Other Through Messengers in the Soil (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Taffykay
Taffykay writes: Chinese researchers discovered in 2010 that a tomato plant infected with leaf blight alerts other plants, which then activate genes to ward off the disease. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen expanded that original study with broad bean plants, and discovered that the plants communicate with one other through a fungus messenger in the soil.

Submission + - Concrete-Recycling Robot Can Erase Entire Buildings (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Building demolition is a messy business, which is why Omer Haciomeroglu designed ERO — a concrete-recycling robot that can erase entire buildings. The robot can efficiently disassemble concrete structures without any waste, dust or additional separation. After deconstructing a structure with high-pressure water and sucking and separating the aggregate, cement and water, the ERO robot recycles these materials. Clean aggregate is packed and labeled to be sent to concrete precast stations for reuse, while rebar is cleaned and cut, ready to be reused.

Submission + - Aerovelo's Human-Powered Helicopter Wins Elusive $250,000 Sikorsky Prize

Submitted by oritonic1
oritonic1 writes: Since 1980, several teams have tried (and failed) to build a human-powered helicopter that could win the elusive $250,000 Sikorsky prize. But a Canadian start-up, Aerovelo, has finally taken the crown with Atlas, a human-powered craft that managed to stay at least 10 feet in the air, for 60 seconds, within a 30'x30' area.

Submission + - China Says Serious Polluters Will Get the Death Penalty (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by formaggio
formaggio writes: According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese government is now allowing courts to punish those who commit environment crimes with the death penalty. The new judicial interpretation comes in the wake of several serious environmental problems that have hit the country over the last few months, including dangerous levels of air pollution, a river full of dead pigs, and other development projects that have imperiled public health.

Submission + - SkinVision Smartphone App Can Detect Skin Cancer (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: SkinVision is a new smartphone app that enables users to take pictures of moles appearing on their skin to check if they are at risk of developing skin cancer.

Submission + - The Wheel of the Future Has Arrived - And It's Shapes Like a Cube (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by formaggio
formaggio writes: You’d think that a cube-shaped wheel would be completely counterproductive, but Patrick’s angular SharkWheel (discovered by accident) has proved to be smoother and faster than a conventional skateboard wheel. The magic appears to be in the materials and the helix-shape which makes it possible for the wheel to take on virtually any terrain at speeds that would not be seen with a traditional wheel.

Submission + - The Lepsis is a Terrarium for Growing Edible Insects at Home (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A recent UN report suggested that people should be eating more insects, because they're much less harmful to the environment that traditional meat. In response, designer Mansour Ourasanah has created the Lepsis, a small insect breeder that could be used to grow and harvest grasshoppers in urban homes.

Submission + - 400-Year-Old Arctic Plants Frozen by Glaciers Come Back from the Dead (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A crop of 400-year-old plants that were wiped out by glaciers have come back to life. While on a recent expedition, University of Alberta researchers discovered something that had a “greenish tint.” It turned out to be ancient bryophytes sprouting new growth after 400 years of dormancy.

Submission + - China Announces Plans to Export Greenhouse Gases to Terraform Mars (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As an extension of China’s $16 billion plan to combat air pollution in its cities, today the CNSA announced an ambitious plan to export the nation’s emissions to Mars. The unprecedented plan would greatly reduce emissions on Earth while warming the climate on Mars.
Power

Submission + - Apple Files Patent for Wind Turbine That Can Produce Power Without Wind (appleinsider.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Critics of wind power all like to point out the same problem with turbine technology: “What happens when the wind doesn’t blow”? Apple, usually a maker of products that consume energy, recently filed for a patent that may answer that question once and for all. The tech giant’s latest patent details a wind turbine that generates electricity from heat energy rather than rotational energy created by the rotation of the unit’s blades. According to the patent, this could allow wind energy to be stored in a “low-heat capacity fluid” which could then be tapped on an as-needed basis, i.e. whenever the wind dies down.

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