Jumo Combines Social Networking with Social Do-Gooding

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:00:00 -0500

Jumo. Jumo is a social do-gooding website that helps connect people with projects working on the issues most near and dear to their heart, making online activism even easier. Jumo manages to take some of the best elements of social networking, which connects us to the things we care about most, to some the best elements of non-profits and NGOs, which includes participation to whatever level you feel comfortable with. It's sort of like a hybrid between Facebook and Kiva or Kickstarter, though takes us beyond being a]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

TED Talk: Bali's Green School Boasts World's Larges Bamboo Building

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:00:00 -0500

An Inconvenient Truth "ruined his life," retired jewelry designer John Hardy decided that he would devote the rest of his days to doing everything he could to improve the prospects of his childrens' future. He started with an incredibly impressive project -- building a green school in Bali that, among giving children a one-of-a-kind ecologically centered education, boasts world's largest freestanding bamboo building. It's a school that has continued to impress us since its opening in 2008. The Green School teaches kids in open-air classrooms, where they're constantly in contact with nature. They tend to the surrounding gardens, learning hands-on how]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

5 Freaky Robots Show Us the Future is Now (Videos)

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:30:00 -0500

Dean of Invention Fridays at 10 pm o]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Smart Solutions for Flooding Lean on Low-Tech Ideas

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:05:00 -0500

When it comes to finding solutions for flooding in towns during rainy seasons, the answers can be as simple as making use of the strategies Mother Nature has already employed. Urban landscapes strip away elements of natural flood control, such as deep top soil and trees with their wide-spread root systems. But the town of Pickering in North Yorshire has finally acknowledged how important these pieces of the puzzle are when trying to deal with annual flooding. The town is planting more trees and increasing soil absorption as a cheaper, more practical, and more sustainable solution to concrete and steel structures for protecting towns against floodwater. Here, BBC explains the strategy: Read the full story on Planet Green

Bat Brain Research Highlights Human Selective Hearing Skills

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:12:00 -0500

Georgetown University, Queenan has found that]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Social Networking Offers High-Tech Answers for Ending Street Harassment

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:20:00 -0500

Harassmap is creating a new level of safety for the women in Cairo, Egypt. A major problem for women there (as in countless urban areas) is street harassment -- being called at, yelled or whistled at, or even touched or threatened. But Harassmap takes advantage of constant access to social media sites via cell phone to give women a way to monitor and avoid the worst areas. Harassmap allows users to Twitter or Facebook an instance of street harassment. The report and its location is added to a map, which then shows problem hotspots. Women can check the map to avoid the areas, or if they experience something so unpleasant as street harassment, can add to it to help other women out. The data on the map is shared with not only women, ]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Novel Idea for Collecting Whale Snot via R/C Helicopter Wins Ig Nobel Prize

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:25:00 -0500

MAKE fills us in that the recent award of the 2010 (Ig) Nobel Prize for Engineering to Dr. Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse and co-workers for figuring out a brilliant idea for collecting tissue samples from whales without harming or even annoying]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Nanotech Does the Coolest Stuff You'll Never See

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:48:00 -0500

Nanotechnology is creating things at a molecular scale, and everything from microscopic robots to more efficient energy storage have come out of the new science. Check out a few of the inventions that have caught our interest:

Innovations Using Nanotechnology

Nanotech Breakthrough Could Offer More Efficient Energy Storage Scientists from the University of Texas as Austin have announced that they have made a nanotech breakthrough using Graphene, a one atom thick carbon material, which they say could lead to new energy storage solutions.]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Smart Phones That Shift Shape To Send Alerts to Users

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:20:00 -0500

Shwetak Patel of the University of Washington has come up with the SqueezeBlock, a squishable cell phone that uses minuscule motors in the casing to mimic the functionality of a spring, with the amount of squishability determined by the phone's "status." So, for example, a phone with a full battery might feel rigid, but gain squishiness as it drains]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Oxfam and Nokia Make Disaster Relief As Simple As Pressing "Send"

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:40:00 -0500

using texting to donate money to the Red Cross and other relief organizations gained mainstream awareness. Now, it's easy to use cell phones to make instant donations to causes. Playing off this capability, Oxfam and Nokia have partnered up to create an app that allows anyone with a Nokia cell phone to get updates on when donations are needed, make a quick donation, and follow the fundraising efforts of Oxfam in real time. Users can s]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

TED Talk: Making Gadgets More Like Guts, Skin and Skeletons

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0500

Dominic Muren has come up with a way of thinking about gadgets that not only brings all of these important elements of design together, but makes them unforgettable. He compares them to human body parts in his Skin, Skeleton and Guts framework. WATCH: Dean of Invention - In the world premiere o]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

eLEGS Makes Walking Possible for Paraplegics

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:00:00 -0500
WATCH: Dean of Invention - In the world premiere original series Dean of Invention, Planet Green joins Kamen on his quest to find the next scientific breakthroughs that will improve life for all mankind. CEO Eythor Ben]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Smart Phones and Citizen Scientists Can Help Streamline Disaster Relief

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:32:00 -0500

pocket laboratories for biologists studying plant species to real time pollution detection devices that monitor air quality across a city. But one important use of smart phones that is becoming more common is their use during disasters to keep people organized and savvy about what is going on. During a disaster, it's often the people in the middle of it who have the best information, the best vid]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Vibrating Cameras Turn Hands Into Eyes for Visually Impaired

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:20:00 -0500

A concept device by designer Noam Klopper could turn a blind person's hands into their new eyes. Called the VIA, or Visually Impaired Assistant, it looks a little like a Bluetooth device but is worn on the hands. It uses video motion detection technology along with four video cameras and a voice-operated GPS receiver to detect a person's surroundings. It then uses vibration mechanisms to guide the wearer safely around obstacles. It is a bit like a walking stick or seeing eye dog and mapping system all in one, keeping a person safe and on route to wherever they'd like to go. It might seem too high-tech to be real, but considering just last week we saw a real wheelchair that is controlled by thoughts, the VIA is not all that unlikely. Check out this video of how it works: Read the full story on Planet Green

Brain-Controlled Wheelchair Gives Mobility to Paralyzed People

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:07:00 -0500

How incredible would it be for a person who can't move their arms or legs to be able to literally think their way around a room, avoiding obstacles and getting where they want to go with mind-power. A new wheelchair created by researchers at Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne combines brain messages with artificial intelligence to give hope for independent mobility to paralyzed people. To work the chair, brain signals such as imagining moving your right arm to go right or your left arm to go left, are sent to the chair as commands, and the chair combines the commands with artificial intelligence and data from two webcams installed on its sides to maneuver around things like chairs, tables and other obstacles. Perhaps what is even more amazing, is the user needs only a few hours ... Read the full story on Planet Green

Self-Organizing Traffic Lights Could Help End Road Congestion

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0500

AlphaGalileo reports that in the "United States alone, delays linked to backed-up traffic cost nearly $100 billion each year, and waste more than 10 billion litres of fuel, not to mention countless human]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Take Part! 25th Annual International Coastal Clean-Up Day This Weekend

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0500

25th annual International Coastal Clean-Up Day. The grassroots effort has worked miracles for marine litter over the last quarter century -- last year nearly half a million volunteers across 108 countries and 45 US states collected 7.4 million pounds of marine debris. And while that is a whole lot of trash taken off beaches and out of waterways, there is still so much more floating out there. In fact, the 2010 report by Ocean Conservancy, the non-profit that organizes and hosts the annual event, shows shocking statistics about what was collected last year, and what is still out there endangering our water quality and wildlife. According to the Read the full story on Planet Green

Kiva Offers Student Microloans with New Marketplace Program

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:25:00 -0500

Kiva is one of our favorite microlending organizations. And rightfully so -- it was one of the first to provide microloans to entreprenures in areas and situations where they wouldn't otherwise have been able to fund their businesses. Kiva has facilitated the loaning of over $100 million to people in need, and now they're adding a new branch to their services. Kiva has made it possible to loan money to students in developing countries, allowing more people to get an education who might not otherwise be able to finish school. ]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

World's First Medical Device Powered by Body Fluids

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 10:50:00 -0500

medical device that is powered by a rat's breathing. But now it seems that researchers have finally made an important breakthrough in creating a "glucose biofuel cell," or a device that is powered from the glucose and oxygen found in the body's fluids. According to National Geographic, "Researchers created a test version of their glucose b]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Taiwan Transforming Plastics Into Surprising New Products

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:00:00 -0500

most often not back into food-grade containers. So what can be done with them? Well, plenty! Taiwan is using it's mountains of plastic trash to form everything from building bricks for exhibition halls to wigs, from flower pots to blankets for disaster relief efforts. It turns out that if a company figures out the right end-product, they can make a mint off trash. According to PhysOrg, "Last year, nearly 180,000 tonnes of used plastic were collected and turned into raw materials worth 4.5 billion Taiwan dollars ($140 million US), ]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Robotic Skin Could Restore Sense of Touch for Amputees

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:05:00 -0500

Don't miss Dean of Invention, a new series premiering October 22 at 10 pm, where one of the most profilic inventors of our time, Dean Kamen, prowls the world for revolutionary scientific breakthroughs. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have made a breakthrough in creating a touch-sensitive "skin" for robots. The covering, dubbed e-skin, helps robots gauge how much pressure they're putting on something they're grasping. It makes it possible for the same robotic hand to gently grasp something fragile in one instance, and keep a hold of something heavy in the next. Bu]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Your Idle Computer Can Solve Global Water Problems

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:35:00 -0500

uses your idling computer to work on some huge problems, from curing cancer to finding clean energy sources. And now added to that list, is finding solutions for clean water. Rather than relying on a single supercomputer, the World Community Grid takes advantage of millions of idling computers to run computations. The computations are small pieces of a great big puzzle of a problem. In this way, IBM can solve more pieces of the puzzle faster and come up with solutions in a far shorter time span than could otherwise be possible. The company has just added to the list of research items a subject that is near and dear to us at P]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Geeks Without Borders Set on Saving Lives With Technology

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:50:00 -0500

Doctors Without Borders. It's an international medical humanitarian organization that provides medical care to people threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. Usually, they're needed in areas that are suffering from both poverty and armed conflict or natural disaster, or are simply off the grid when it comes to adequate medical care. But what about people whose lives are threatened by a lack of access to technology and the information that technology provides? Geeks Without Borders is hoping to be that solution. The idea behind GWOB is to provide access to information to people in areas where conflict, catastrophy, and other crisis has occured. It will be key to the ]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

The Happy Planet Index Reorganizes How We Measure National Well-Being

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:50:00 -0500

New Economics Foundation (NEF), in London, have created the Happy Planet Index. During this wonderful TED Talk, he unveils how it tracks national well-being against resource use, showing that the happiest places are not necessarily those with the most stuff. ... Read the full story on Planet Green

Microscopes Hacked With Cheap Flashlights Offer Improved Healthcare for Impoverished Areas

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:40:00 -0500

postage stamp-sized paper that can diagnose diseases for pennies, to devi]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Mappiness iPhone App Pinpoints Happy Places

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:45:00 -0500

The "Mappiness" app pings users at various times throughout the day with a quick survey to detail their happiness levels and where they're located. The information is kept anonymous and secure. Lead researcher George MacKerron of the London School of Economics figures this will better illustrate how na]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

First Device to Transmit Sign Language Over Cellular Networks Is Field Tested

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:35:00 -0500

For deaf people, using a telephone can be a cumbersome ordeal that includes special equipment and services that connect callers through translators. Cell phones have become incredibly useful tools for the deaf community, but it's their texting capabilities that are so valuable. Yet students at University of Washington are helping to make cell phones convenient for deaf and hard-of-hearing people to communicate face to face. Making a quick call is soon to be a whole lot easier. University of Washington engineers are developing the first software for mobile devices that allows American Sign Language to be transmitted over U.S. cellular networks. The software is called MobileASL, and could potentially run on any cell phone with video calling capabilities. It brings the advances of video cal... Read the full story on Planet Green

Worldreader to Boost Literacy in Ghana With Kindle e-Readers

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:00:00 -0500

One Laptop Per Child, an inexpensive, energy efficient, highly durable laptop for children that can be used in impoverished areas to teach kids not only things like math and language, but also computer skills. But technology is seeping into other areas of education, and that includes using e-readers as text book libraries. Not only is the idea of bringing Kindles into classrooms growing in the states, but also in developing nations. Worldreader, a non-profit co-founded by ex-Amazon.com VP David Risher, is hoping to boost literacy rates by handin]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

iuMAP Tracks and Maps Global Social Good Projects

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:00:00 -0500

World Changing writes that Ayllu is an organization that collects data from BOP ("bottom of the pyramid" or the 2.5 billion people who live on less than $2.50 per day) social enterprises worldwide, analyzes it, and distributes it via iuMAP. They're hoping iuMAP will be the wor]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Body Heat for Powering Medical Devices Helps Off-Grid Hospitals

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:10:00 -0500

harvesting kinetic energy from a person's breath to their heartbeat. But what about body heat...and what about medical devices beyond pacemakers and other implants? Scientists are experimenting with using body heat to power medical tools for hospitals with unsteady power supplies. Providing adequate health care means having access to tools like x-ray machines, yet for hospitals in rural areas or disaster zones, access to power also limits access to these important devices. One of the most reliable sources of energy then becomes sunlig]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Surfing Icon Rob Machado: Advocate for Oceans, Water Wells... and School Gardens? (Interview)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:00:00 -0500

Rob Machado has earned a god-like status among surfers for his skill in the water. But Machado's expertise and passion goes beyond the board. The passion he feels for riding waves extends to the waves themselves, and he is an advocate for ocean issues and environmentalism in general. From working to provide clean water for everyone on the planet to encouraging kids to become stewards of the earth, Machado is an inspiration. He took a few minutes to talk with us about his projects, including digging wells and greening up his hometown elementary school. PG: During Blue August, we're zoning in on issues like Read the full story on Planet Green

TED Talk: Wiring Up the Oceans with Sensor Arrays to Study Mysteries of the Deep

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:30:00 -0500
Deep-sea volcanoes are incredibly rich, thriving ecosystems -- but ecosystems we know very little about. Part of that is because they're really hard to get to. But what if we could simply set up a system of high definition cameras and sensors to constantly monitor the areas and send us a steady stream of information? That's the goal of oceanographer John Delaney, who is heading up a team working on creating an underwater network of tools that can open up a wealth of information about how these important areas of the ocean function. The project is part of NSF's Ocean Observatories Initiative, and starting this year, robotic sensor arrays will be installed along the Juan de Fuca Ridge and other areas throughout the water column. The information gathered by the sensors will be sent along el... Read the full story on Planet Green

Malaysia Closes World-Famous Diving Sites to Save Coral Reefs

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:00:00 -0500
WATCH VIDEO: The Great Barrier Reef, Australia - The largest coral reef on the planet and so]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Designers: Be A Biographer of Women and Children Escaping Sex Trafficking

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:00:00 -0500
The Blind Project, a collective of volunteers that empower survivors of the sex trade industry in Southeast Asia, has created Be A Biographer, a project that allows you to take part in giving new lives to women and children who are escaping enslavement in sex trafficking. Learning new skills like those found in the textile industry has been a great way for survivors to start a new life. For example, the Hello Rewind project in New York trains survivors to sew laptop covers from old t-shirts, providing them with an income and marketable skills. The Blind Project is doing something similar, and at the same t]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

MIT Researchers Create Fibers That Can Hear and Produce Sound

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:00:00 -0500
MIT reports that Yoel Fink, an associate professor of materials science and principal investigator at MIT's Research Lab of Electronics, and his collaborators have hit a new milestone on]]>... Read the full story on Planet Green

Recent Posts By Planet Green's Jaymi Heimbuch