If humans are going to keep living in the style to which we’re accustomed, we need to find alternatives for fossil fuels. Partly that’s because we need to reduce pollution — and partly because those fossil fuels are going to run out. But alternative forms of energy may look a lot weirder than you think.
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Citizens of notoriously smoggy Zhengzhou could breathe a little easier – for a few minutes, at least – thanks to a local travel company’s promotional gimmick. Staffers brought 20 big blue bags of fresh air collected 120 miles (300 km) away at Laojun Mountain to the east-central Chinese city and distributed it to grateful mask-wearing residents.
Of the many schemes to make the government more efficient, this is probably the only one that involves typography. A middle schooler in Pittsburgh has calculated that by simply switching the typeface used in government documents from Times New Roman to Garamond, it would save taxpayers $400 million in ink.
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The last time Earth’s oceans were this acidic, a six mile-wide sulphur-rich space rock had just smashed into the Yucatan Peninsula, unleashing a deluge of acid rain that exterminated all sea life in the the top 400 meters of the water column. Now, some 65 million years after the Cretaceous extinction, human activity is threatening to similarly decimate the ocean’s ecosystem—this time, from the bottom up.
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In the future, the glass that coats our skyscrapers could also serve as the power plant that keeps the lights on. This is not news
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Travelers going to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xian, Chengdu and Harbin for less than one week can now buy a Smog Insurance to be compensated in case the smog is so thick that it would ruin their trip. The metric for air pollution would be the local Pollution Index and if it goes above a certain level, then customers would be entitled to compensation. (more…)
Trip To China: Smog Insurance Now Available original content from Ubergizmo. 
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For the last half century, space junk has been circling the earth in very destructive patterns. Now an Australian team of scientists addresses the problem head on armed with high- tech, infra-red lasers that will zap the debris out into space. Read on for more information.
The award-winning and very affordable Moose Road residence by Mork-Ulnes Architects is designed to avoid interfering with the nearby trees. It’s even built on stilts so as not to disrupt the roots. As these photos of the interior make clear, it’s perfect for the Spartan family.
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Hope you’ve enjoyed civilized life, folks. Because a new study sponsored by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center says the world’s industrial societies are poised to collapse under the weight of their own unsustainable appetites for resources. There goes the weekend . . . and everything after it for the rest of our lives.
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The Passive House movement is a wonderful thing. What could be wrong with a voluntary standard that encourages people to make their houses as energy efficient as possible? Well, it’s complicated.
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