If you’ve ever done any long-term traveling (be it for business or for pleasure), you know firsthand just how annoying and inconvenient it can be to wash your clothes in a foreign place. If you can’t find a laundromat nearby, your only option is to wash your garments by hand in a sink or bathtub, which is both time consuming […]
Portable Washing Machine
Halogen Lightbulbs To Be Banned Soon
Europe is saying goodbye to halogen lightbulbs this fall. Starting on September 1, the bulbs will be banned across all European Union countries, in an effort to get consumers to switch to LED. Stores are allowed to sell their remaining stocks, and the EU will grant an exception for oven lights, according to The Guardian. But otherwise, halogen bulbs will […]
Get Your Kid An Organic Stuffed Animal Today
Stuffed animals are often a child’s first toy. They’re soft, comforting, and safe — something a parent can feel good about placing in their kid’s crib. But the materials that make up plush toys can pose problems. Depending on how and where they’re made, they might contain pesticides, harsh dyes, or ingredients that will irritate asthma. That’s why some toy […]
Goat Grazing Services
It’s hard to keep your backyard tidy and healthy without impacting the earth. Just consider the tools. Lawn mowers burn on fossil fuels, adding new carbon emissions to the atmosphere every time you push them across the grass. Then there are pesticides, which can wind up harming much more than the mites and weeds wreaking havoc on your land. That’s […]
Asteroid Mining Is Here
Mining resources from asteroids may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but — at least if you believe some very smart people — it’s well on its way to becoming science fact. What will be mined? Why would anyone want to do this? And who are the main players in this (literal) space? Read on for a beginner’s guide […]
Sustainable Flatpack Home Pops Up In Less Than A Month
Homes that come in easy-to-assemble flat-packed components are gaining in popularity, and a new one to pop up in São Paulo, Brazil is undoubtedly one of the more impressive we’ve seen. As the first SysHaus from the local startup of the same name, the dwelling took less than a month to construct and was designed with sustainability in mind, right […]
Making Keys Smart
We’ve been seeing quite a few “smart” door locks lately, that allow users to lock and unlock their door using a smartphone. Perhaps you don’t want to replace your existing locks, though? Well, Locky offers some smart-lock features, but it’s used to augment an existing old-school key. Locky is basically an electronic fob, which is capable of clamping onto the […]
Thailand Is Bringing A Forest Indoors To Her Airport
Duangrit Bunnag Architect Limited (DBALP) has unveiled an eye-catching design for a new airport terminal in Bangkok that features intricate wooden detailing and an indoor forest. The new building is reportedly expected to be operational in 2025. Details are still rather thin on the ground at this early stage, but assuming all goes well, the Suvarnabhumi International Passenger Terminal II […]
Roll Up Tablet?
In ancient times, people read from rolled-up papyrus scrolls. Today, many of us read from flat tablets. Scientists at Canada’s Queen’s University have now combined aspects of the two, in the potentially-quite-handy MagicScroll. The prototype device was developed by a team led by Dr. Roel Vertegaal (who has previously brought us a flexible smartphone, among other things), from Queen’s Human […]
Gas Sensing Drones
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) floating through the air can lead to a long list of health problems for humans, in both the long and short term. Knowing where they are and in what concentrations would therefore be an invaluable capability, and one that a team of Rice University scientists is making great headway on with their autonomous gas-sensing drones. Volatile […]