10 AM | 11 Sep

Printable Solar Panels Coming Soon

[From this article at the abc] “Australian solar power scientists are one step closer to making available a cheaper and faster way to print solar cells onto plastic.

CSIRO’s senior research scientist Dr Fiona Scholes said the technology was almost at the commercialisation stage and could be used to power laptops to rooftops.

“iPad covers, laptop bags, skins of iPhone – not just for casing electronics but to collect some energy as well and power those electronics,” Dr Scholes said.

The Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium behind the project comprises scientists from the CSIRO and the Melbourne and Monash universities who have been working on printing solar cells since 2007.”

11 AM | 03 Jul

“Monsanto Buys Up Heirloom Seed Suppliers…” [#geekgirl]

[Image Credit: permaculture.co.uk]

[Image Credit: permaculture.co.uk]

[From an article at permaculture.co.uk] “The NM Tree and Garden Center located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico has discovered that Monsanto is buying heirloom seed companies. They are also buying the trademarks to a number of heirloom seeds. This means that you may think you are supporting an heirloom seed company but in reality the company is owned by Monsanto. The seeds themselves are still non-GMO and heirloom and they can be saved at the end of the harvest and resown next season, but you are still giving money to Monsanto.”

05 PM | 08 Aug

Drinking Water out of Air [#geekgirl]

“I’ve never cared much for billboards. Not in the city, not out of the city — not anywhere, really. It’s like the saying in that old Five Man Electrical Band song. So when the creative director of an ad agency in Peru sent me a picture of what he claimed was the first billboard that produces potable water from air, my initial reaction was: gotta be a hoax, or at best, a gimmick.

Except it’s neither: The billboard pictured here is real, it’s located in Lima, Peru, and it produces around 100 liters of water a day (about 26 gallons) from nothing more than humidity, a basic filtration system and a little gravitational ingenuity.”