This is just sweet.
Open Source Ecology
The ultimate in agricultural nerding. Open Source Ecology is a network of farmers and engineers that has been creating an open source, low-cost, high performance technological platform that allows for the easy, DIY fabrication of the 50 different Industrial Machines that it takes to build a sustainable civilization with modern comforts.
Beyond the personal automobile
Dan Sturges writes in MIT’s Technology Review about how new advances in technology are allowing people to ditch their cars in favor of a more efficient, more connected system:
I think any transition would have to start with the roughly 70 million commuters in the United States. The recipe for making car ownership less necessary for them requires three main ingredients. First, we need express “trunk line” transit services (trains, buses, vans, or carpools) from residential neighborhoods to areas where people work. Next, people will need local, short-distance transportation in the form of a bike, low-cost taxi, shuttle, or small personal vehicle to get to and from the trunk line service. Finally, car-sharing services—like Zipcar or peer-to-peer services like Getaround or RelayRides—need to be available near both work and home so people can have access to a car when they need one.
Bikes Make Life Better
A nice promotional video for People for Bikes.
Check out the behind-the-scenes footage here.
NASA Skytran
Skytran is a bad-ass personal rapid transit system that will hopefully make its ways to cities soon. It consists of two-person pods attached to guideways above streets and roads. The pods can stop every half mile or so for anyone who needs to get off.
Sisters Nicole and Rose Lavelle ride their fresh Alabamboo bikes from Alabama to San Francisco and make a stop in Boulder, Colorado. Video by Evan Swinehart and Matt Corliss.
In one of my favorite talks from the last few years, TreeHugger.com founder Graham Hill identifies the three most effective ways to slash your carbon footprint. Together they make for a great New Year’s resolution for anybody who cares about living in a safe and peaceful world. As an added bonus, they’ll improve your health and save you time and money!
I highly recommend watching the video, but if you don’t have time here are the Cliffs Notes on high impact carbon reduction:
- Cut way down on meat consumption.
- Minimize your air travel.
- Switch to a renewable energy program.
A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica.
Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, El Salvador, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line), a satellite (55sec) and the stars of our galaxy.
FULL SCREEN THIS BITCH!
