Solazyme's Algae Fuel

The United States is on the hunt for a way to lower their dependency on foreign oil. Now they appear to be closer than ever by using genetically modified algae as a new source for domestically produced fuels. The company, Solazyme, has managed to condense the naturally occurring algae-to-oil process down to just three days. They place their bioengineered algae into massive tanks and feed them with sugar cane, switch grass, and other plants. The algae's energy is transformed into a versatile oil that can be refined and used as jet fuel, diesel, cooking oil, and more.

Just how much attention is Solazyme getting for this? Well in September the US Navy ordered more than 150,000 gallons of jet fuel for testing purposes. Furthermore, they received a $21.8 million grant from the US Department of Energy to build a new refinery. The US military hopes to run 50 percent of its fleet on a mixture of renewable fuels and nuclear power by 2020. The US Navy has already tested the fuel on part of its fleet and have released promising results. They plan to test their entire non-nuclear fleet by the end of 2012. Below you can view some of the companies recent news coverage on MSNBC:

SlingShot Water Purifier

Today more than 1 billion people face the daily crisis trying of trying to find clean drinking water. Environmentalists predict that water as a commodity will become very valuable and increasingly expensive in years to come. In fact, some believe that in 30 years a gallon of clean water will cost more than a gallon of oil. Considering that only 3% of the world's water is fresh water, this idea might not be so far fetched.

Shown above, famous inventor Dean Kaman's goal was to create a small portable machine that could be placed anywhere and at point-of-use create clean, reliable drinking water from any source. His device, named SlingShot, can make distilled drinking water from anything wet, whether it be ocean water, sludge, or sewage. Liquid goes into the SlingShot where it is boiled until it becomes steam. Once the steam is re-condensed the result is pure distilled water. If the liquid coming in contains metals or other inorganic toxins, they will not vaporize.

Until now nobody has been able to create this effect in a portable machine, because of the energy intensive distillation process. The secret of the SlingShot is that it uses a closed loop of energy. Once the first batch of water is vaporized and re-condensed, all the energy is preserved in a sealed heat exchange system. In other words, the SlingShot runs on less energy than a toaster oven and has been designed to make 1000L of water per day, which is enough for a village of 100 people.

During the summer of 2006, a pair of SlingShot devices worked successfully in a village in Honduras. Although initial devices cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Kamen hopes that increased economies of scale will allow production machines to be made available for $2000 each.

Power Walking

With skyrocketing urban populations, inventors of PowerLeap see it as an opportunity to harness human kinetic energy to generate electricity. PowerLeap is a flooring system designed to generate electricity from human foot traffic. They envision future city sidewalks covered with smart panels that capture piezoelectricity (power generated from applied mechanical pressure). By stepping on the panel, energy is channeled into a battery where it can be stored and later used to power nearby electrical gadgets.

By placing these panels in high-traffic areas, energy can be generated and used locally to power things nearby. Imagine a busy intersection where panels on the corners of the street could power the traffic lights above. It could be especially useful and efficient if placed at transportation centers like airports, railways stations, or bus terminals. According to their website, PowerLeap is not yet available to be purchased. They are in the process of finalizing the product and are currently raising capital to fund their growth initiative.

Healthy Cars

With growing global awareness of the negative effects from our reliance on automobiles, Nissan has decided to focus on the health of its drivers. New models of certain vehicles will feature air conditioners that pump breathable vitamin C. The air conditioners in the cars will moisturize the skin as well as come equipped with air purifiers developed by Sharp. They also plan on installing "easy chairs" that use Nasa technology to enable better blood circulation and reduce the chances of back pain during lengthy drives. "We want drivers to feel that they are healthier staying in the car instead of on the outside," a Nissan engineer said at a test drive event outside Tokyo.

Just because they're concerned with the well being of their drivers on the car's interior, doesn't mean they've forgotten about the importance of the safety from the outside. New anti-collision technology, similar to radar systems used by ships and planes, will monitor the distance between itself and the vehicle in front. The system will warn the driver to decelerate with a beeping sound, and will actually slow the vehicle down by automatically raising the accelerator pedal and softly braking. In test scenarios they could prevent collisions at forward speeds of up to 60km/h.

Vaccine Patch

A vaccine patch has recently been developed by researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. They hope that this patch will replace the more conventional needle approach. Each patch contains 100 microneedles that are only 0.65mm in length. Depending on the situation, these needles would be packed with a specific vaccine. After penetrating the initial layer of skin, the needles dissolve on contact.

To test the efficacy of the patch, researchers took three groups of mice. One group was given an influenza vaccine via needle, another group via patch, and a control group was given the vaccine-less patch. After three months results suggest that the patch produced a more effective immune response in mice. The groups finding were published in Nature Medicine.

If further efficacy trials are successful, this could have major implications on modern medicine. It would represent the end of an age in which medical training is a requirement to deliver vaccines. Administering vaccinations would become a simple do-it-yourself procedure.

Fish Tank + Plant

Sheng-Zhe Feng and Ling-Yuan Chou are responsible for this innovative design concept: The Circulating Fish Tank and Plant Pot. You place your normal houseplant in the pot on top and a small fish on the bottom. The water fed to the plant passes through a filtration layer before entering into the fish bowl, ensuring that it is clean. At the same time, the fish excrement gives off healthy nutrients for the plant. Furthermore, this keeps fish waste from contaminating the water, and persistent humidity results in minimal need for watering.

Bike On Ink Cartridges

Recycle, Reuse, Ride! Australia's West MacDonnell National Park just built a staggering 17 km bike path completely out of recycled ink cartridges to connect Alice Springs and Simpsons Gap. This new biking route along with a second viewing platform at Ormiston Gorge are part of the Henderson Governments $8 million tourism stimulus package. The projects were both completed by local contractors at a low cost of $330,000.

Australian newspaper Centralian Advocate added:

Parks and Wildlife Minister Karl Hampton stated, "Every year more than 120,000 people visit the magnificent West MacDonnell National Park, and by investing in our parks we are able to ensure visitors have a unique experience while we protect our environment... In keeping with our government's commitment to sustainable development, the bridge is made from recycled plastic decking or Replas, saving landfill, trees and ensuring a longer life with less maintenance. Alice Springs has a great bike culture and with the upgrades complete, residents can enjoy a short ride after school or work or longer weekend explorations, while tourists can get to know and enjoy the natural environment around the town."

Blackle

Developed by Heap Media Australia, is this easy alternative to Google... what's the difference? Instead of a white background, it's black. Other than that, there are plenty of Google extras that have been omitted.

So what's the big deal? Blackle argues that computer monitors use different amounts of energy dependent on what colors they are showing. In a 2002 study, they determined that an all black screen used less energy than an all white screen. Although this might be insignificant during your own 30 second search, think of the billions of hits that Google receives. Blackle creators estimate that a black Google would save 750 megawatt hours per year. To put that in perspective, 1 megawatt hour is the equivalent of 10,000 hundred-watt light bulbs turned on for 1 hour. On the Blackle Homepage they have a counter showing the number of watt hours saved. As of August 28, 2008 they claim to have saved 793,544.792 watt hours.

That's Better

Don't worry it's not another too good to be true hydro car. This is Volkswagen's 282 mile per gallon (MPG) super fuel efficient car. It was around as a prototype model in 2002 and is known by metric system users as the '1 Liter car' since thats how much gasoline is needed per 100 km. Volkswagen has decided to make a limited number (in the thousands) of these vehicles, and will put them up for sale in 2010.

So just how good is this fuel efficiency? Lets compare it with the top selling cars in the US during January of this year: Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. The Toyota Camry will squeeze out 35 MPG on the highway, while the Accord maxes out at 29 MPG.

So how do they do it? The 1 Liter car weighs only 660 pounds, and is made from a body of carbon composites. Due to its slippery shape, it has a coefficient drag of only 0.16 (the average car is about 0.30). The prototype was powered by a 1-cylinder diesel engine, but the soon to be released model should be equipped with a 2-cylinder, and perhaps a stop-start anti-idling feature.

Until we can produce a completely new method, we might as well improve on the one that's around now. It might not be available to the masses yet, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Re: Hydro High Hopes

"Too good to be true" is what everybody was thinking, well they might have been right. It all seemed so simple... The Reuters-released video showed water being poured into an energy system, and the car was shown driving. Why has there been no media attention? Then conspiracy theories arise: "The oil-guzzling governments are suppressing this technology, they don't care about the environment". Not so fast. After further research, leaves were overturned, and the truth was revealed.

It is actually quite simple to make a car appear as if it runs on water. How? Through the use of metal hydrides, which react with water to produce hydrogen, in turn powering the vehicle. But with time these hydrides start to deplete and eventually need to be replaced. So in a way the hydrides are the fuel, not the water. More energy goes into producing such hydrides than they can produce themselves.

Apologies for falling into the trap of presenting misleading information. Perhaps a more suitable title for the vehicle would have been 'Hydride Car'.

Hydro High Hopes

Japanese company Genepax Co Ltd have unveiled their H2O-powered vehicle. This new concept car is equipped with their newly developed Water Energy System (WES) which can keep it moving for up to an hour at 80 kmph on just 1L of water from any source, including rainwater and even tea!

The WES extracts hydrogen from the water as it is running, and an on-board generator releases electrons to power the car. Genepax hopes to start mass production with a major car manufacturer. This soon-to-be patented WES should be making quite the splash worldwide, but the lack of media attention is shocking.

According to their low quality English website they are "preparing an English presentation and demonstration for foreign press which will be held in Tokyo soon". Until then, check out the video below to see the car in action.

Lone Island

The Isle of Eigg is a beautiful small island locate off the coast of Scotland. Through a mix of ingenuity and strong-willed residents, it has become the first entirely self-sufficient island, relying on a £1.6m system that draws power from a mix of local wind, solar and hydroelectric energy sources.

The system was built to supply more than 95% of their annual energy needs and has an emergency backup source of battery storage an two diesel generators. Engineers finished the project on February 1st, and it links a total of 45 households, 6 community buildings and 20 businesses over a 6-mile high voltage network. Even though the system only supports around 80 people, it still sends out an important message to the world.

Breakthrough In Cancer Research?

The human heart is not only a pump, delivering blood and oxygen to the body, but is also the source of many peptide hormones. The results from a recent study by Dr. David Vesely, professor at the University of South Florida, suggest that these hormones can be used to eliminate cancer in mice.

His research began on cardiac hormones by determining their role in treating congestive heart failure. But, after his wife's death from breast cancer in 2002, he decided to place the hormones into cancer cell cultures. Using prostate, breast, ovarian, and colon cancer cells, Vesely found that the hormones kill up to 97% of all the cancers in cell cultures within 24 hours.

With such impressive results, he took the natural step from a petri dish to an animal model: the mouse. He injected some mice with breast cancer cells and others with pancreatic cancer cells, then waited for the tumors to develop. After one month of hormonal treatment, cancer was eliminated from 80% of the mice injected with human pancreatic cancer and 66% of the mice injected with breast cancer.

None of the mice suffered any side effect. None of the mice died of cancer; all died of old age. The mice received no other form of treatment, such as surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. After the mice died, researchers found that the cancer had not spread.

"If the hormones act the same way in humans, cancer could become a chronic condition treatable with these hormones," Vesely said. A private biotechnology company is currently raising funding to commence human trials. Vesely will present his research at a symposium April 9 at the Experimental Biology 2008 conference in San Diego.

Out Of The Gray Area?

After a 13-month restoration program, an estimated 1500 gray wolves now roam Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. As a result, the Northern Rocky Mountain wolves have officially been removed from the Endangered Species List.

To the general public, this is great news. Ranchers don't feel the same way.

The three states plan on allowing hunters to target the animals as early as this fall. Certain environmental groups, such as Earthjustice, intend to sue over the delisting, claiming that it's too soon to cease federal protection. "The enduring hostility to wolves still exists," said attorney Doug Honnold, who is assembling the lawsuit. "We're going to have hundreds of wolves killed under state management. It's a sad day for our wolves."