Photo: Google No, I Won’t Make a Knight Rider Joke As time goes on, Google’s IT tentacles have been spreading outside of the digital realm and into the physical world. The latest example of this is Google’s unveiling of its car-driving artificial intelligence project. It is led by Sebastian Thrun, the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory the Google engineer who co-created the Street View mapping service in Google Maps. So far, Google’s self-driving test-cars (mostly modified Prius hybrids equipped with computers, cameras and sensors) have driven 140,000 miles with only 1 accident: … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Today on Planet 100: Polar Bear Does Tai Chi for Climate Delegates (Video)
October 12, 2010 No Comment
Link: Today on Planet 100: Polar Bear Does Tai Chi for Climate Delegates (Video)
Continue reading …Gorgeous LEED Platinum Townhouses Completed in San Francisco Park (Photos)
October 12, 2010 No Comment
Photo Credit All Pictures: Jaymi Heimbuch LivingHomes has built the Belles Townhouses , a seven unit multifamily project designed by Kieran Timberlake , in the Presidio, a decommissioned military base in San Francisco. It’s LEED Platinum, GreenPoint and gorgeous demonstration of how to do green development, from a team I have been watching for years. I first met Stephen Kieran and … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: WN , Creative Commons Aaaaand we’re back. Back to the regularly scheduled programming of offshore drilling, dominant oil companies calling the shots, and the same backwards-looking energy policy we had before BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded , killing 11 men and inflicting upon the Gulf of Mexico the worst environmental disaster the US has ever seen. Yes, the Obama administration has announced today that it is lifting the
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Photo by srboisvert A new report from the National Academy of Engineering states that the US is tops at being too darn loud, and that all the noise is hazardous to our health. It’s not terribly surprising news. In fact, naturally quiet places are an endangered species in the US . But the suggestions made by NAE for trimming noise would also help us cut out carbon emissions. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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photo: UConn Some regular TreeHugger readers (and commenters, you know who you are…) are no doubt exclaiming that they being saying the same thing for years, that hemp makes great biofuel–if only the Feds would get out of the way. Well, researchers from the University of Connecticut are nevertheless demonstrating the potential of industrial hemp as an energy crop , even if under current law it would only benefit other nations…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Paulo Kos (far left) and the Pratt students who worked on the West Elm collaboration. Image credit: Pratt Institute West Elm , purveyor of clean-lined, modern, and often sustainable home goods and furniture, knows how to lock down a creative partnership. From the brand’s “green” holiday collection with celebrated party planner David Stark to its collaborations with organizations like the Lombok Pottery Center in Indonesia and the organization Aid to Artisans, West Elm is all about uniting with the most talented and earth-conscious in design…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo credit: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust It’s not every day we stumble upon a new carnivorous mammal in the wilderness — in fact, it’s been two and a half decades since we’ve discovered a new one. But scientists from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have just broken the dry spell: They’ve identified a new cat-sized species called Durrell’s vontsira in the wetlands of Madagascar. And guess what? It’s already assumed to rank among the most endangered mammals in the world…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …20% of US Electricity From Wind Power by 2030 Would Get Big Boost From Offshore Projects
October 12, 2010 No Comment
photo: Phil Hollman / Creative Commons With Google helping back a 350-mile long power transmission line off the East Coast offshore wind power transmission constraints will hopefully be eased. Which is good news as a new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory says the United States could really get a… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: Andjohan, Flickr , Creative Commons Today, Google announced that it’s getting into the wind power game in a big way — according to the New York Times , the search engine giant is taking 37.5% of the equity for a $5 billion project to create a 350 mile transmission ‘backbone’ for future offshore wind farms on the East Coast. The backbone would span New York City to southern Virginia, and support a capacity of 6,000… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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