Freedom

Through the power of engineering genius and the resources of the internet, I have devised a simple two step plan for going off the grid that's so brilliant it's impossible to not follow through on. The majority of it can be accomplished from the comfort of your home.

Step One - secure a location
Step Two - get some energy

It could be sweet. C'mon people, who's with me?

The Future Of The US (Biking)

Maze and I had a friend that biked home from Burning Man, back to Wisconsin. He had some kind of Live Journal thing, and I read a few entries about the trials (some) and tribulations (mostly) of biking across the US.

No more of this, according to The U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS). Its project, coordinated with the government and the Adventure Cycling Association, is to create routes all over the states. The picture above is the future of this project.

Global Warming

350 is the number in parts per million that we need to bring our carbon dioxide down to in order to not die a catastrophic death. Its currently been hovering in the 380s and growing at 1-3 ppm per year. Not good, considering that prior to the industrial revolution and coal burning/car driving growth, it was at 270. An observation lab in Hawaii has been tracking it since the 60s. More at 350.org.

Artistic moment # 13825691

I'm loving this Michel de Broin sculpture in the woods in France titled "Superficielle" or "Superficial." From the artists website:

Mirror, glue, cement / Vosges, Alsace, France

Upon invitation to reflect on the notion of transparency, that led me into the forest to envelop the contour of a large stone with fragments of mirror. The large stone, tucked away deep in the woods, became a reflective surface for its surroundings. In this play of splintered radiance, the rock disappears in its reflections.

Visit it directly here (via Pruned)

California Dreams

This is damn near what I dream of when I imagine my future backyard (once I have one that's not owned by a vile Romanian slum lord). This here's "A solar-heated pool set amidst a restored California meadow of local flowers and grasses, with the sky and hills reflected on its water. Landscape design by Bernard Trainor. Photo by Jason Liske." Found it over at Pruned.

Pic of the day 8/24/08

Project complete!

Healthy and Cheap!

Ran across an article on 20 healthy foods under $1 per serving. They have good short explanations of the benefits and per serving costs. Here's my top 10.

1. Bananas
2. Eggs
3. Wild Rice
4. Broccoli
5. Nuts
6. Spinach
7. Beets
8. Whole Grain Pasta
9. Watermelon
10. Kale

They also had some random ones on the list, like pumpkin seeds and coffee.
Thanks to lifehacker

Bio Fuels

My roommate and I have been looking at old Benzos converted to run on veggie oil. Wonder why? See below.
Not sure if you can read those little numbers, but that dark red all over California corresponds to $4.50 a gallon. That's tops in the country.

Nanocleansers

I have to admit, I'm completely fascinated with anything related to nano-technologies. Today's gnarly-nano moment comes courtesy of potassium manganese oxide fibers (wtf?). Scientists at MIT have crafted sheets of this stuff which acts like a paper towel for oil and basically sucks up oil and nothing else (even pulling it from water). It was designed to pick up oil from the oceans and does so remarkably well - it can hold up to 20 times its weight in oil. Oil that can later be extracted and used. Plus, it's apparently affordable to produce and it's recyclable.

Stellacci explained that there are other materials that can absorb oils from water, "but their selectivity is not as high as ours." In other words, conventional materials still absorb some water, making them less efficient at capturing the contaminant.

The new material appears to be completely impervious to water. "Our material can be left in water a month or two, and when you take it out it's still dry," Stellacci said. "But at the same time, if that water contains some hydrophobic contaminants, they will get absorbed."

Made of potassium manganese oxide, the nanowires are stable at high temperatures. As a result, oil within a loaded membrane can be removed by heating above the boiling point of oil. The oil evaporates, and can be condensed back into a liquid. The membrane--and oil--can be used again.

Link to MIT News which has a short video
Link to the post on gizmodo

If you have a nano fetish like me, you may also like the blog behind my first post ever - io9