Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve seen cars that run on human power, solar power, biofuels, and more, but a new concept unveiled by Volvo at the Los Angeles Auto Show reveals a car that runs on nothing more than thin air.

Dubbed the Air Motion Concept, the car is powered entirely by compressed air, which is stored in a tank. And for a car that runs on air, it shouldn’t be surprising that the vehicle is very light. The Air Motion Concept features a carbon fiber body and weighs less than 1,000 pounds. It also runs on a pneumatic motor that is much simpler than a traditional combustion engine.

As for how you refill a gas tank full of air, Volvo predicts that we’ll one day have wind powered stations where you can top up your car’s fuel.

The Air Motion Concept is just one of many entrants in the LA Auto Show’s design challenge, which also features unique designs like a Mercedes that’s literally grown from a seed and a Smart car knit together by robots.

Via Wired

National Unfriend Day and World Toilet Day both in the same week? I think I finally understand what it’s like for our friends in England with Christmas and Boxing Day so close to one another.

Unlike the decidedly jokey National Unfriend Day, however, today’s World Day has a serious bent. The event, led by the World Toilet Organization (WTO) and 16 “toilet organizations” was first commemorated in 2001. The event was developed to shed some the 1.8 million people a year who die due to a lack of sanitation. That’s more than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

World Toilet Day’s organizers are asking people around the world to take part in a “big squat” for one minute. “This purposeful title is presented in a direct, but humorous way to lighten the discomfort many cultures have with discussing the topic openly,” says the organization. “People around the world are asked to squat in public for one minute in support of World Toilet Day, driving home the point ‘where would you go?’ and how people without toilets are forced to go in public places.”

The WTO is asking participants to inform local media representative about their squatting plans and to upload a shot of them in action to the World Toilet Day site.

A hybrid owned by rock legend Neil Young is being blamed for a San Francisco warehouse fire. The November 9th fire, which wiped out paintings, instruments, and vintage cars owned by the singer, is being blamed on a battery powered 1959 Lincoln Continental. The LincVolt served as the inspiration for last year’s Fork in the Road.

Young places the blame for the blame squarely on human error, not on the battery-powered vehicle. “The car was plugged in to charge and left unattended,” Young told the press. “The wall charging system was not completely tested and had never been left unattended. A mistake was made. It was not the fault of the car.”

While firefighters were able to safe most of the goods stored in the space, the damage from the fire totaled around $1 million.

According to The Guardian, Young plans to build a similar vehicle with parts from a 1958 model that he received as a gift from him wife on his 65th birthday. “Barn’s burnt down,” Young cited a quote from Mizuta Masahide, a Japanese poet. “Now I can see the moon.”

His mission of exposing the dangers of fossil fuels remains unchanged.

OK, so you’re probably asking, why would an umbrella need power? Because in the case of this umbrella, it provides both shade and light.

The aptly named Day Shade Night Light serves as a regular patio umbrella during the day, but during that time it also absorbs the sun’s rays via some flexible solar panels. Then, once night time hits, a series of flexible light emitting diodes provides light so that you can still hang around on the patio in the dark. The lights are controlled with a switch and the intensity of light can be adjusted depending on your preference.

Via Treehugger

Nearly one billion people live without access to clean drinking water. But if one South Africa research team’s work pans out, this may be a concern of the past.

Researchers are conducting a final round of tests on a new nanotech-based filter that can make nearly any water source safe for humans to drink. And best of all, these filters cost only pennies to produce, bringing access to clean drinking water to the poorest of the poor.

The teabag-like filters are filled with active carbon granules made from nanofibers treated with biocide, which will kill waterborne bacteria, rather than just filtering it out.  Each filter can clean up to a liter of the most polluted water and make it drinkable.

The filters were designed by Eugen Cloete, the chair of Stellenbosch University’s Water Institute. Originally, the filters were designed for use on large-scale projects. However, researchers have since shifted their attention to the creation of smaller, easy-to-use filters that could be used in conjunction with something as simple as a plastic bottle. Small, portable filters are a far more efficient (and affordable) method of providing clean drinking water to rural and undeveloped areas than large-scale infrastructure projects.

The filter is currently undergoing testing by the South African Bureau of Standards. If all goes well, Cloete and his team hope to start production by the end of the year in conjunction with the UN and various NGOs who have shown interest in the project.