Brainicane

Brainicane

[breyn-i-keyn] Brainstorming on a Higher Level

Brainicane RSS Feed
 
 
 
 

Archive for August 30th, 2008

Getting to the Bottom of the World’s Biggest Mass Poisoning Case

Image from vm2827
Every year, over 70 million Indians and Bangladeshi are exposed to arsenic when they consume rice, the region’s primary food staple, and water. Often portrayed as the world’s worst case of mass poisoning, this chronic exposure has been linked to increasing cancer rates and is believed to impact 6 out of every 100 […]

Scientists Develop Potent Acids to Take Down Destructive Fluorocarbons

While their brethren, the dreaded chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), may be on the wane, fluorocarbons — a class of equally dangerous industrial gases — are still wreaking havoc. As the name implies, the main distinguishing characteristic between CFCs and fluorocarbons is that the latter lacks chlorine; that is, unfortunately, one of the few meaningful differences, as both […]

Buffalo: Where the Urban Dream is Going Cheap

From tiny apartment to big front porch
Buffalo has everything going for it; green hydropower, water, railways, canals, a temperate climate; it should be a hot spot. Instead it has a smaller population than it did in 1907 and acres of empty houses. Adam Sternbergh writes in New York magazine about how New Yorkers are taking […]

Quote of the Day: Michael Braungart on Population

Michael Braungart is co-author with William McDonough of Cradle to Cradle. He writes a very strange article in Abitare that includes a few gems, including this one about the population problem.
“But I can tell you, sustainability is boring. It is just the minimum. Like when you were asked: ”How is your relationship with your girlfriend?” […]

Survey: Will You Buy a North American Car If They Get It Right?

Mike tells us that Ford is retooling it’s plants to produce small cars instead of trucks. In WWII it switched from cars to planes pretty fast, so if they put their mind to it they can do remarkable things. But I suspect that many of our readers gave up on North American cars long ago […]

Bike-Sharing Program at DNC Helps Convention Goers Get Around Carbon-Free

Guest blogger Jesse McDougall delivers the eco-scoop, straight from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
The Democratic National Convention Goes Green
One of the very best aspects of the frenzy going on in Denver this week during the Democratic National Convention is the focus on green living. There are a good number of organizations out here […]

Toyota iQ: The Smallest Four-Passenger Car in the World

Toyota iQ: Coming to Japan and Europe
The Toyota iQ, which was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, will go on sale in Japan in October and in Europe a few months later. Lets have a closer look.
Big Space in Small Package
Unlike the Smart Car which can only seat two people, the Toyota iQ has 4 […]

Rumor: Mazda Preparing Volt Rival Using Rotary Engine

Competition for the Volt
British car site Autocar claims that some “senior sources” at Mazda revealed that the company is working on a rival to GM’s Volt. The series hybrid would use a gas engine to generate electricity to charge batteries, but it would always be electric motors turning the wheels (unlike the

Mexico to Phase Out Dirty "Vochos," or VW Beetles

The ubiquitous green and white Volkswagen bugs that serve as cheap taxis for millions of Mexico City residents while damaging their lungs by spewing ultra fine particulate matter and other pollutants will be phased out by 2012, according to the Spanish news agency Efe. The cars, known fondly as “vochos,” proliferated in Mexico decades after […]

Strawbale Cabin by Studio Makkink & Bey

A lovely looking straw bale cabin in the Dutch countryside by Jurgen Bey and Rianne Makkink, built as part of an exhibition of 13 art projects. Can’t tell you much about it as the designer gets the incomprehensible website design of the month award at ::Jurgenbey.nl More pictures at Designboom…