openUReyes - Alternative News Blog

SCIENCEDAILY
The design of efficient systems for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, driven by sunlight is among the most important challenges facing science today, underpinning the long term potential of hydrogen as a clean, sustainable fuel. But man-made systems that exist today are very inefficient and often require additional use of sacrificial chemical agents. In this context, it is important to establish new mechanisms by which water splitting can take place.

R. Miloh Alexander and Seth Schoen are hunched over an old pay phone whose innards are being grafted onto the guts of a Walmart telephone and a voice-over-IP modem.

Right now, the Frankensteinish hybrid looks like a pile of tangled wires. Somewhere in the mess, an alligator clip has popped loose. Schoen frowns.

"We really need to solder these down," he says.

The two are working on a recent Monday evening at Noisebridge, a collectively operated hacker space in San Francisco. Across the table, Noisebridge member Molly Boynoff is typing on a sticker-covered MacBook, learning to program in Python. Next to her, Noisebridge co-founder Mitch Altman is showing two newcomers how to solder resistors and LEDs onto a circuit board.

In many parts of the world, lack of access to clean, potable water is a major issue. Water may be found nearby, but only in a brackish or polluted state. Areas close to the ocean may see miles of water, but not a drop to drink. UNICEF estimates that every day 5000 children die as a result of diarrhea caused by drinking unsafe water. The Watercone could change all of that.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

Tired of pumping expensive gasoline into your car? Well one Japanese company reveals an eco-friendly car that runs on water, using the company's generating system, which converts water into electrical power - possibly the world's first.

Lately I've been spending a great deal of time working on ways to generate my own electricity. It isn't a necessity for me yet, but someday being electrically self-sufficient could really come in handy. My interest started a while back when I stumbled upon a how-to article on building wind generators......
FULL ARTICLE HERE

An Irish company has launched what could be the most efficient solar hot water panel ever produced. Surface Power in County Mayo says it plans to create 20 new jobs over the next 12 months with the launch and international distribution of its new product.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

THE KOANGA INSTITUTE
has been involved with the collecting, saving and distribution of many of New Zealand's Heritage vegetable and flower seeds, and fruit trees for over twenty years.
Our purpose is to inspire, encourage and support those who wish to live
lightly on this earth by practising sustainable living.
FURTHER READING

AN ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly road that positively welcomes heavy traffic may sound odd, but by placing piezoelectric crystals under the asphalt that convert vibration into electricity, Israeli engineers hope to harvest energy from passing vehicles.

FULL ARTICLE HERE