Hippyshopper

Presenting the Urine-Powered Battery

Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have developed a prototype battery that runs on urine. One drop of urine applied to a paper soaked in copper chloride solution (sandwiched between copper and magnesium strips) which caused the prototype to function like an AA battery for 90 days. While recharging it might be a bit distasteful, at least it's biodegradable. [GT]

Pee Powered Battery [via Gizmodo]

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Hello Kitty Solar Swing Digital Clock

Instead of a hanging pendulum below the clock, the Hello Kitty Solar Swing Digital Clock has her cute little head bobbing above the cup she's curled up in. It's also solar-powered via a cute little panel that juices up the button cell that keeps her running eternally. $15. [GT]

Hello Kitty Solar Swing Digital Clock [via Gizmodiva]

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Eneloop solar-powered battery charger, hand radiator

Instead of a chemical-process single-use hand warmer which leaves you a packet of goo that you have to throw out, pick up a Sanyo hand warmer plus a Sanyo Eneloop.  The Eneloop is a solar-powered AA battery charger, which is paired with the hand warmer if you like, or you can just sneak the batteries into your Nintendo DS.  Unlike old-school rechargables, it also comes ready to use, no initial charge necessary.   [GT]

Sanyo Eneloop [via Cocolico]

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Sphelar is prettier and more efficient than flat solar cells

Where flat solar cells depend on angle to maximize how much energy they extract from sun, the Sphelar solar cell has an efficiency of nearly 20%, because it places 1mm ball-like solar cells in a flower-like pattern which can extract energy from all directions. It's also thin, flexible and transparent enough that it could be placed on regular window glass, turning those monster skyscrapers self-sufficient. Its production process is also vastly more efficient than flat solar, making it cheaper and reducing silicon waste enormously. [GT]

Sphelar [via Metaefficient]

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Blinky Bug gets a cute little groove on

Handmade from wire, LEDs and bits of electronics, the Blinky Bug is a tiny bit of art designed to respond to wind, vibrations and movement. Each unique bug, which subsists interminably on a very low power trickle, blinks its eyes and waggles about as though it naturally belongs in its own environment. Video interview of the creator, Ken Murphy, after the jump. [GT]

Blinky Bug

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The Maantis light from twenty thousand fathoms

Put the eerie glow of a giant sea monster in your office!  British architect Richard Rogers developed the Maantis lighting system based on the internal structures of incandescent deep-deep sea creatures.  Even when it's turned off, its light-hungry ribs draw in stray light from the very air, causing it to emit a weak glow.  The same properties minimize external light pollution, by channeling its rays precisely where needed.  Also as a convenience and energy saver, it's designed to optionally (but preferably) illuminate only when someone is in the room.  (And need we say it's all lit with LEDs?)  [GT]

Maantis Lighting System [via Treehugger]

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Turning a carrot into a stick (fishing stick that is)

Dr David Hepworth and Dr Eric Whale have developed a new kind of nano-fiber called Curran which is an extract of the (literally) garden-variety carrot combined with high-tech resin.  Their first product is a fly-fishing rod made of Curran, making it biodegradable and recyclable in a way that fiberglass rods typically aren't.  The second product they have planned is a snowboard.  "The potential of Curran is enormous," said Dr Hepworth, "and if we can replace just a small percentage of carbon fibre in products the effects on the environment could be significant and wide ranging."  [GT]

Rods will be a carrot to the fish [via Spluch]

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Sell your old mobile and Help the Aged

Mobiles don't last as long as they used to, I'm sure of it. So the odds are one's died on you recently. What to do?

There are lots of recycling schemes for phones, and getting rid of them ecologically is easier than ever. At Mopay, however, you get to do as Jarvis Cocker once so wisely said and help the aged every time you hand in an elderly phone. Mopay will exchange it for cash, and until the end of March, and they're giving a minimum of 10% of the value of every phone sold to Help the Aged.

[Via Shiny Shiny]

So, do this and you get the following: a warm fuzzy feeling from helping some ageds, a warm fuzzy feeling from protecting the environment, cash. In that order.

RM to give away 100 green PC kits to schools

Last year, a new concept in energy saving computers was launched by education-focused technology firm RM. The Ecoquiet PC uses around two thirds of the energy of a normal PC, and has the added bonus of being quieter than most desktops, since its cooling system doesn't require the same whirring fans.

Schools can enter at RM's site by describing in 300 words or less how they would make use of the prize. Deadline 30th March.

Related posts: Dell goes green | Apple is 'greener than Greenpeace thinks'

RM announced today that it is offering 100 of the Ecoquiet PCs to schools, but these machines will be greener than their predecessors: they'll run entirely on wind power. Each winning school will also get a turbine large enough to power their PC, along with instructions that pupils can follow on how to set them up.

Winning radiators of the future

After parsing a whopping 3,200+ entries, the designboom mediated contest (prizes put up by Bisque Radiators) to find the top radiator design of the future, has a winner!  Leo Salzedo made the Archibald, a radiator shaped like clotheshangers.  This not only saves space in a tiny flat, but lets you put  four collared shirts, five T-shirts, three jackets, five bath towels, four pairs of pants, and two robes somewhere out of your closet.  Not only will your room be warm, your clothes will be toasty when you put them on (and less wrinkled, cutting down on ironing).  The overall contest entries were so stellar the judges expanded the number of prizes to six from three.  [GT]

Radiators of the future [via Popgadget]

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