CS.no

Its about time Facebook goes green, thinks Greenpeace

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:01:24 +0000

“The whole world’s on Facebook!” yeah you’ve probably heard of that one before. Well, Greenpeace get the jitters every time someone says that aloud. And no, it isn’t because they hate socializing. They just hate the use of coal that ends up in the form of pollution, effecting our environment to a significant amount, all thanks to Facebook’s data centers, coal guzzlers. The organization has been pressuring Facebook to reduce their dependence on coal, and the website sure has paid some heed to this, with its energy efficient new data center. Today, an increasing amount of new users are logging on to Facebook everyday, and its no wonder the need for larger data centers has increased too, which means more coal use. 500,000 people currently support the cause “Unfriend Coal” on Facebook itself, hoping the social networking giant will look to cleaner forms of energy to power up data centers.

Hopefully all the persuasion does have an impact on the social networking site we all love chatting, posting and updating our status messages on, and Facebook goes greener with some energy efficient data centers.

[Cnet]

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Hybrid street lighting that uses the wind and the sun to power up is clean

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:01:24 +0000

Street lighting in the future will be a lot more advanced and a whole lot greener than the lamps we have today. And we’re certain of that, looking at what turned up at the ‘International Lighting & Display Exhibition (L&D Korea 2010) in EXCO, Daegu. Yuyang DNU pulled the veil of this system of hybrid LED streetlamps composed of an LED streetlamp (56W). The system can make use of solar energy as well as the wind to power up and lighten up your path. Also, it controls its lighting hours, meaning that no energy is wasted in the form of useless lighting. Depending on the weather, this one automatically selects its best power source and alternates accordingly.

Also, these hybrid street lamps are easier to install. They pack storage batteries that can keep them going for a good 3 days too. Street lamps connected to the grid will soon find its place in a museum, with developments like these.

[Aving]

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SkyFuel’s SkyTrough solar concentrator is the most efficient of all

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:01:24 +0000

Efficiency issues are one of the reasons the world shies away from the use of solar energy today. With a solar concentrator like this though, efficiency is hardly a problem to worry about. The SkyTrough solar concentrator by SkyFuel, a U.S. based company, drinks up as much solar juice as possible, and is the most efficient solar concentrator around. The concentrator flaunts a thermal efficiency of 350˚C (662 ˚F), 73% more than the concentrators we have around today. The SkyTrough’s performance was closely monitored, just to make sure the claim was true, at the Optical Efficiency Test Loop in Golden, Colorado, and fulfilled all its efficiency expectations. The concentrator uses a patented reflector film jointly developed by SkyFuel and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). A parabolic trough solar concentrator, this one makes steam for electricity generation using solar energy with a thermal-to-electricity loss of only 27%

We just hope this breakthrough in technology pushes forward the use of renewable energy today.

[Inhabitat]

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The slide out solar powered external refrigerator by Nicholas Hubert is energy efficient

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:01:24 +0000

In China, most people barely spare a second glance to their refrigerators in the colder winter months, and chose to store food on their balconies, a space and energy saving technique. This inspired designer Nicholas Hubert to create the External Refrigerator for Electrolux. Now, unlike the boxy one you’ve got plugged into the grid in your kitchen, this refrigerator keeps its act clean, using solar energy to power up when the sun shines. The refrigerator is equipped with solar panels in its side that help absorb solar juice. The refrigerator mounts on an exterior wall of a home, and slides out towards the window every time you need something from it. In the months of cold, the refrigerator keeps up with the ambient temperature outside to cool food.

An amazing concept indeed, to save up on all that space in your kitchen, and cut you electricity bill, this refrigerator sure has a green heart.

Via - [Designlaunches]

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The eco-friendly Palace 66 features one of the world’s largest fields of operable solar louvers

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:01:24 +0000

They come in all shapes and sizes, some huge, some tiny, and play home to just about everything. We’re talking about buildings. Not all of them stay green though, most turn to the bad ways of carbon emissions. From the ones that do stay clean, a few receive some pretty cool LEED certifications, like the Palace 66 building which expects a certification of the like. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF, this retail project covers 1.2m sq ft and resides in Shenyang’s commercial center in the Shenhe District of Zhongjie Lu. So why would this modern and well designed building with all its glazed roofs and beautiful exterior deserve an LEED? Well, for one, its powered by the sun, using a photovoltaic system to soak in the energy and generate power. Also, the building’s hooked on to some pretty high-performance heat pumps with low emissions. The building also packs a grey water recycling system and will use 20% less electricity and 40% less water by the end of the year.

KPF Design Principal James von Klemperer stated, “The retail center is really an ‘anti-box’ – it features open corners, green terraces, and one of the world’s largest fields of operable solar louvers.” Any more reasons for it to well deserve LEED certifications? Hell no!

[WorldArchitectureNews]

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A $23,000 life-size manifestation of lover is the most expensive sex doll

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:35:05 +0000

Well there were shy men who created robots for girlfriends, and then there are grieving lovers who want a replacement for their flesh and blood better-halves who left them alone. This quest to be reunited took a 50-year old business man to Tentazioni sex shop in Treviso, North Italy to create a $23,080 life size doll of his dead lover. Armed with her photos, the 58-kg doll took 18 months in the making and features articulated joints, a titanium skeleton and life-like ‘skin’, matching her blond hair and her physical as well as facial features. The owner of the shop that manufactured this doll has stated that its the most expensive doll they have ever sold.

[Metro]

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Transformer statues made from recycled materials up for sale

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:55:51 +0000

Remember the 32 foot robot that we came across all the way from China, made out of a recycled truck? Or may the 10-foot tall Gundam robot, again, made out of recycled stuff? Well, these robots made from scrap now have a few more jumping on their bandwagon. And that’s not all, you can, for once, own one of these too! Three robots, made from recycled materials, showed up on Robo Steel’s website for sale, two 60-cm Optimus Primes and 2.5-meter version. The statues are made from junkyard stuff like spark plugs, car brake pedals, etc. The bigger version costs €5,500 ($7,000) and weighs around 550 kg, made from cars, boats, motorbikes, and dishwasher parts. Also, a 400 kg, 2.2-meter tall version of Bumblebee costing €5,000 ($6,400) was put up for sale.

Now we’d all love a Transformer at home, probably not alive and turning into cars or anything like the ones in the movie, but these statues sure are a lot better than those, taken that they’re made out of recycled parts, and don’t go blowing away your neighborhood to fragments.

[Carscoop]

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Powered up by kinetic energy, the Kinetic MP3 Player

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:55:51 +0000

Now here’s a great way to listen to those favorite tracks of yours while on the go, using a bit of renewable energy. The Kinetic MP3 Player by British designer Matthew Smith makes sure you have your music playing, using kinetic energy! The energy generated to power this one up is created due to friction, so be it a jog or a brisk walk home from the supermarket, the Kinetic will just keep pumping those beats. The MP3 player uses a built in kinetic energy generator, that converts all that kinetic energy you create with motion, into power. The player boasts a joystick that you can use to browse through the menus and metal pads on its handle grip, that keep your heart rate in check. This comes handy while working out.

So why plug into a socket at all, if a bit of walking or exercising could charge up your MP3 player, when the Kinetic MP3 Player’s green and it keeps you entertained too.

[TheDesignblog]

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A $23,000 life-size clone/mock-up of lover is the most expensive sex doll

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:36:44 +0000

[Metro]

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Louis Vuitton 100 Legendary Trunks pictorial book to be launched soon

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:25:21 +0000

Louis Vuitton sure knows how to keep their collection of trunks in the news! After their trunks, toys exhibition for their vintage and antique collection, the fashion giants are all set to launch a book named Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks. The book aims to showcases history of famed luxury trunks. Apart from the rich images, the book will feature stories of how these masterpieces came into being.

The featured items include trunks made for stars like Douglas Fairbanks, Sharon Stone, designers Jeanne Lanvin, Karl Lagerfeld, Ernest Hemingway, Leopold Stokowski, and Damien Hirst, and many more. What makes this book more desirable is that is has been authored by Pierre Léonforte and Éric Pujalet-Plaà.

[iLvoelv]

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