An ecologist and an engineer at Michigan State University are working together to create robot fish that can better monitor various factors in aquatic environments.
Combining the brilliance of nature with some top-notch engineering, these two scientists are on to something and getting the funding for it.
The researchers are breaking ground with this and looking to raise water monitoring to another level.
Many commuters have GPS installed in their cars, or have purchased portable devices to try to get them where they’re going. A recent study by NAVTEQ, a data provider for navigation systems has demonstrated that using a GPS device can not only save drivers time spent in traffic, it can also reduce emissions from vehicles by up to 21%.
If you picture a grain farmer out tending a field, you might imagine someone sitting on the metal seat of a tractor like the one in the picture above, moving slowly across a field - perhaps the farmer has a straw hat. That image seems attractive as long as you are not the farmer. Fortunately, this isn’t the real situation in the developed world or we wouldn’t get anyone in our rapidly aging population to do full-time farming on the multiple thousand-acre farms that are typical of a modern, Midwestern family farm.
Today, a progressive farmer will typically be working in an enclosed, air-conditioned cab with surround sound, a cell phone, and an internet connection for tracking commodity futures or catching up on email. Increasingly, the tractor is driving itself by computer and GPS except for occasional intervention. I’ve carried on a number of protracted interviews with farmers who were in just this setting. I know one farmer that ran much of his state senate campaign from a tractor or combine. These new, sophisticated, farm vehicles are not just about keeping the farmer comfortable and multi-tasking. They are important tools for making farming more sustainable.
For years, the consumer electronics industry has taken a bad rap with the green community - and deservedly so. Cheap electronics components eat up considerable natural resources, need cheap labor to produce, and until recently, have been designed to be “throw-aways” when the latest and greatest widget comes along.
Nothing is ever black and white, or all bad without traces of good. The world is full of grey areas, and electronics also create positive change.
When driving to an new destination the other day, I noticed that I used much less gas because of my GPS than I normally would. In the old days before Google maps and GPS technology, I used to get lost at least once, call on my cell phone or stop at the gas station to get directions, and generally take more time and fuel than necessary.
Some will say this is just spatial ineptness - but I am willing to bet that others have had this problem too!
Eighth-grader David S. Dixon–along with his dad David G. Dixon–has built a street-legal quadricycle powered by a solar-charged electric motor. The bike not only carries his dog and three friends, but it has also has an iPod dock and GPS. Ya, it’s that cool!
Coined as the Solar Human Hybrid (SOHH), the vehicle was launched as part of David Jr.’s middle school project for the Novato Charter School.
Geithner has produced a “cash for trash” scheme to buy “toxic” securities from mortgage bankers who are bulldozing foreclosures.
If Honda wishes to bring back the CB750, look no further than Igor Chak’s Hydrogen concept.
The bike — which ran in production from 1969 to 2003 — was an unprecedented piece of machinery. It was the first to offer a front disc brake and an straight-4 engine with an overhead camshaft all on one affordable, production bike.
GPS enabled phones such as the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry have made getting around so much easier, and in the case of geocaching, more fun. But what if you’re a green minded individual, in a city you’ve never been to before, or even in your own town, and want to know what businesses have got what you want?
What do you get when you’re in a town where bike riders rack up 8 times the US national average for bike commuting? An opportunity. Ads On Bikes is a Portland, Oregon based company that may have hit on a phenomenal way to make companies, bikers, and the environment all happy.
With a population nearly as much as that of Australia, and having more automobiles on its roads than all the other three India metropolitan cities put together adding approx. 1,500 new cars to the road each day, the traffic situation in the city of Delhi is shockingly scary. The situation is fortunately been taken note of by the administration and a push to promote public transport in the city has been there since a long time now.
The city has seen the launch of a state-of-the-art Metro Rail which is now the pride of Delhi and carries lakhs of commuters daily. The city also saw the launch of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system which, owing to several reasons, did not go down well with the public (and/or the media). Now, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the Delhi Integrated Modal Transport System (DIMTS) have launched a GPS enabled Public Information System (PIS) to not only enable the commuters waiting at the bus stand to find out the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the bus they are waiting for, but also check the status of buses online!
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