By Lucille Chi •
October 28, 2008

Buckypaper is a material composed of carbon nanotubes. It is 10 times lighter and over 500 times stronger than steel and the “buckytubes” that make it up are 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. It is predicted by futurists that this material will storm the auto and aviation industries.
One of the best ways to make transportation vehicles more energy efficient is to reduce their weight, so the commercialization of buckypaper promises lighter, super efficient and much stronger vehicles.
San Francisco/New York-based Wikia Inc. this week announced the launch of Wikia Green, its newest Wiki-based community focused on the environment, sustainable living, green science and green activism.
“As the whole notion of ‘going green’ has exploded, so too has the volume of related information floating around out there on the Internet,” said Jimmy Wales, co-founder and chairman of Wikia. “It has come to a point where, for the average person looking for tips on how to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, it can be somewhat difficult to know where to start and Wikia Green is looking to be just that place.”
By Max Gladwell •
May 12, 2008

Editor’s note: We’re pleased to welcome Max Gladwell, of MaxGladwell.com, as a regular guest writer on sustainablog. Max Gladwell covers the nexus of social media and green living. We feel that these two trends and technological developments hold tremendous promise for improving quality of life for everyone on the planet.
If you’re reading this blog, then you’re on board with social media. There’s a good chance you belong to social networks like Facebook or MySpace. It’s likely that you Digg stories and even possible that you Twitter. These technologies and services, together with a growing number of others, make up the social web. It’s much like the regular web, but more interactive. More…social. It invites and even demands active participation from everyone. It has a global reach with viral capacity, and yet it’s bringing local communities closer together. It enables people to connect, organize, and make a difference as never before. Indeed, social media is a powerful force, one that the world’s CEOs are starting to acknowledge and take seriously.
Many entrepreneurs, activists, and marketers are leveraging the social web for positive change. In the process and by its very nature, they are giving each of us the tools to change the world and make it a better place. There are thousands of examples, which is precisely why Max Gladwell exists. Here are 10 worth exploring.