Hasta La Gadget!

This week an incredible crop of sun-powered prefabricated houses popped up in Washington DC for the 2011 Solar Decathlon, and Inhabitat was on the scene to bring you exclusive coverage of this year’s stunning homes! We took a look at all 19 of this year’s ultra-efficient projects, we rounded up seven stellar teams set to take the competition by storm, and we’ll continue to keep you posted as the results roll in, so stay tuned. We also highlighted several inspiring projects from MIT’s $1,000 house challenge, we saw a massive solar LED installation light up the night in Croatia, and we spotted plans for a futuristic floating island paradise at sea.

Green transportation got things rolling this week as Chicago launched a lush green subway car filled with plants, and Edison unveiled an electric version of their X-Prize winning Very Light Car. Two-wheeled transportation took off as well as an all-electric Tron Lightcycle hit the streets for the first time and researchers developed a nylon bike that is as strong as steel using satellite technology. We also took a spin in the 2012 Honda Insight Hybrid and we showcased plans for a Lockheed Stratoliner hydrogen jet that can travel anywhere on earth without refueling.

As September winds down schools across the county are now in session, but if you’re still scrambling to pick up a few last-minute supplies don’t miss our roundup of 14 green gadgets for back to school and ten solar-powered designs to charge your life. We also saw eco-fashion go high-tech as researchers developed a smart t-shirt that can monitor hospital patients’ vital signs, designers created a motion-sensing interactive window display and a Star Wars fan made a remarkably realistic stormtrooper helmet entirely from Adidas sneakers. Finally, we shined a light on a Swedish daycare center’s plans to track kids with GPS tracking devices.

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Solar Decathlon, hydrogen jet and a solar LED installation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watching two people play Tetris against each other is only slightly more entertaining than watching your stoner friends duke it in marathon Tekken sessions (read: not entertaining at all). But, we guarantee the video after the break is more interesting than it sounds. A trio of MIT students recreated the classic falling block game with six-foot tall arrays of LEDs (no cutesy Russia-inspired graphics here) and passed control duties off to a pair of Dance Dance Revolution mats. Look, just check out the video below and, if you’re the ambitious type, you can get the code to create your own Tetris installation at the more source link.

[Thanks, Russell]

Continue reading Tetris played on 6-foot LED matrix, controlled by DDR mat

Tetris played on 6-foot LED matrix, controlled by DDR mat originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Sep 2011 01:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in 1999, MIT professor David Miller showed Star Wars to his students on the very first day of class. After showing the scene where Luke jousts with a floating droid, the professor told the class that he wanted them to build those droids. Lo and behold, they did, and thanks to the Department of […]

The MIT Media Lab has been working on a folding, stackable electric vehicle for quite a few years now, but it seems those have at least been fairly productive years, as the so-called CityCar has now finally progressed to something resembling a finished prototype. The only problem for those eager to hop into one is that it’s a half-sized prototype, which makes accommodating a driver just a tad difficult. It does do a fairly good job of folding itself up though, and MIT expects a full-size version to go into production in 2013. Interestingly, MIT doesn’t necessarily see people actually owning the vehicles themselves, but it would like to see them be made available throughout cities — letting you rent one for a short trip across town, for instance, and not have to worry about returning it. Head on past the break to see it on video courtesy of The Next Web.

Continue reading MIT’s folding CityCar takes a spin on video, still no room for humans

MIT’s folding CityCar takes a spin on video, still no room for humans originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nothing burns fuel (or patience) faster than stop and go traffic, something MIT researchers are hoping to minimize with SignalGuru. The smartphone-based system commands you to slow down or speed up based on whether the light is green, yellow or red to help avoid gas-guzzling activities like idling and accelerating — reducing fuel consumption by 20 percent. Unlike Audi’s Travolution system that relies on WiFi and 3G to communicate with traffic lights, this latest development uses your smartphone’s camera to detect signal status and create a Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory (GLOSA), which will predict and learn traffic light patterns. So far it’s only been tested on the iPhone in Massachusetts and Singapore, but researchers hope to expand and commercialize the system, eventually including voice prompts and features like GPS navigation with add-ons such as parking space availability and local gas prices. Anti-road rage technology not included.

SignalGuru uses a smartphone camera to help you manage traffic lights, save fuel originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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