Man-made technology is great, but Mother Nature is the greatest inventor of them all — and scientists are discovering new ways to take advantage of the tools found in nature. Take, for example, a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University who developed a solar cell using the photosynthetic protein found in spinach. In New York, Scape Studio has proposed to use the oyster’s natural cleaning ability to help clean up the contaminated waters of the Gowanus Canal. The firm has received funding to create Oyster-tecture, an oyster park at the mouth of the canal where millions of mollusks will “eat” toxins. Meanwhile, the US Forest Service has been deriving cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp extract to create a material that’s stronger than Kevlar and carbon fiber.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: fluorescent bulb moon, fuel-efficient supersonic jet and a toxin-eating oyster park originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Despite clearly outsourcing their graphics to a 2nd grade art class, Z-World Detroit is a real concept developed by entrepreneur Mark Siwak, who’s tired of watching the city crumble to pieces and wants to do something about it. The idea is to turn 200-acres of the city’s abandoned warehouses and neighborhoods into a theme park that provides a “run-and-hide and find supplies” overnight zombie apocalypse experience to visitors. Granted that doesn’t really sound like a city-saving idea, but whatever, as long as they let me bring my own ninja sword and get high in the parking lot beforehand.
Hit the jump for several more crayon pictures and an informative video about the project (skip to 2:50 for an explanation of the “game”).
The White House hasn’t wasted any time replacing the vacancy left by Aneesh Chopra, who recently stepped down as our nation’s first appointed Chief Technology Officer. Following in his well-accomplished footsteps is Todd Park, a federal employee who’s no stranger to the position at hand given his former role as CTO of the US Department of Health and Services. Park is credited with the launch of HealthCare.gov and is now tasked with “applying the newest technology and latest advances to make the Federal government work better for the American people.” While we’re sure those tasks don’t include setting up Sasha and Malia’s personal Pinterest accounts, he certainly has a long road ahead, dragging ‘ol Pennsylvania Avenue kicking and screaming into our digital age.
White House appoints Todd Park as new Chief Technology Officer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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All those long, long drives to Florida in the family station wagon seemed worth it at the time, but now that we’ve found out that those lucky South Koreans have another crazy theme-park, we might just change our minds. Located near Seoul, Live Park uses 3D video, holograms and augmented reality, interacting with RFID wrist bands and Kinect sensors to stitch together a continuous immersive story. You (and your avatar!) have 65 attractions, over seven themed zones, and the world’s biggest interactive 360 degree stereoscopic theater to wave, jump and shout your way through. Two years and $ 13 million in the making, Live Park’s creator d’strict is now looking to license the concept out internationally, with locations in China and Singapore already earmarked. We’re not sure we could handle that long of a family drive just yet, but with a Hollywood entertainment “powerhouse” reportedly nibbling, maybe we won’t have to.
Continue reading South Korea’s Live Park uses RFID and Kinect to bring your Holodeck fantasies one step nearer
South Korea’s Live Park uses RFID and Kinect to bring your Holodeck fantasies one step nearer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Trueview AR.FlyingAce FREE ON APPSTORE itunes.apple.com Augmented reality game for iPhone & iPad. Parrot AR.Drone dogfight in Central Park. Become a Fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com Info, Apps, Video Games and more on: www.ardrone.com
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Because sometimes people actually follow through with the ideas they come up with when they’re high out of their f***ing minds, Etsy seller EBPearce is selling these beetles dressed up as characters from Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one in a velociraptor costume. No bueno! Oooh oooh — what did one beetle dressed like a Jurassic Park character say to the other beetle dressed like a Jurassic Park character? “F*** this is so demeaning.” Jesus, what else IS there to say?
Hit the jump for three more beetles really wishing they were born dung-rollers instead.
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We liked Logitech’s Alert Video Security System when we took it for a week-long spin last year, which at that point allowed remote access to live HD camera footage, and video stored on your PC. But a new partnership with Dropbox adds cloud storage to the equation, letting you boot video directly to the web to supplement the PC- and microSD-based options already in place. Packages are available today, and come with 2GB of storage for free, 50GB for $ 10 per month or 100GB for $ 20 per month — Logitech isn’t exactly giving away the service, but when you consider that a bare-bones Alert system costs $ 300, those virtual add-ons sound a bit more reasonable. Jump past the break for the full rundown from Logitech, and get ready to beef up those passwords — having your email account hacked is one thing, but you certainly don’t want anyone watching you at home, in real-time or the past.
Continue reading Logitech Alert Video Security System gets Dropbox support, lets you park 100GB of footage in the cloud
Logitech Alert Video Security System gets Dropbox support, lets you park 100GB of footage in the cloud originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Nov 2011 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Become a Fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com AR.FlyingAce FREE ON APPSTORE itunes.apple.com Augmented reality game for iPhone & iPad. Parrot AR.Drone dogfight in Central Park. Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com Info, Apps, Video Games and more on: www.ardrone.com Video Rating: 4 / 5
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