LED glass doors

[core 77]

Here is a really cool look at what LED's can do. A little patients and dedication can create really cool stuff. This glass pane is etched and then fitted with LED's. The overall look is really cool, and it spices up a boring simple door.

Hybrix

Here is a material that racecars should be using, and soon. This material is a lightweight alternative delivering the strength of steel. Inspired from bird bones, the steel has a cardboard like structure, with the light middle and solid faces, the steel can be manipulated and shaped like normal steel. Overall, a great innovation for building materials and the potential uses for this material are endless.

[business week]
Hybrix
Inspired by lightweight bird bones, manufacturers are considering applications for a new, mostly hollow steel sheet

By Andrew H Dent

Inspired by the lightweight hollow structures of the bones of birds, this stainless steel sheet is both light and stiff. Originally developed by Volvo Technology in Sweden, the material is now finding applications in consumer products and aerospace and marine construction. Looking very much like a standard sheet of 1 mm- to 2 mm-thick stainless steel, it actually comprises two ultrathin outer layers of stainless steel that are spaced by a forest of microscopic stainless steel filaments secured to both outer sheets. The resulting composite is less than half the weight of standard stainless steel (the middle section is approximately 95% air) yet can be formed into compound curves and may be cut and shaped like the regular material. It also deadens vibration and sound significantly more than regular stainless steel. Additionally, integrated components such as sensors, heating/cooling elements, or fragile cables that need protection may be built into the structure. And it's recyclable, which is an unusual property in such lightweight composite structures. Originally developed for the automotive industry, products seeking improved performance or cost savings because of their lighter weight (light but rugged luggage, aerospace interior paneling, or consumer-electronics cases, for example) have all been prototyped from this cutting-edge material. Such innovation makes a strong case for biomimicry-mechanical structures mimicking biological structures.

Hydrology

Something that a lot of fashion lovers have been waiting for, a solution for leather and suede and them not getting ruined by wet things. If only jerry Seinfeld had this when he had his suede jacket, he might still have it today. The solution for rain comes from a very thin coating on the leather or suede and it allows for waterproofing, so much so that you can wash your leather jacket in the washing machine and then dry it in the drier.

[business week]
Stainless steel shows fingerprints, plastic surfaces scratch, natural fabrics tend to wrinkle, and windows tend to show dust and soiling. Yet one of the major current trends in materials is in the area of coatings and surface treatments to solve these problems (they're not quite there yet with stainless steel). Such coatings are superthin, often to the point of invisibility and are meant to be durable.

One of the latest technological breakthroughs is called Hydrology, a treatment that allows you to throw your favorite leather jacket into the washing machine and the tumble dryer. The treatment occurs during the tanning process and is suitable for both leather and suede; it is absorbed into the hide, giving it more durability than a surface coating. This means that the leather maintains its breathability, color-fastness, and reassuring aroma while offering stain resistance. In addition, unlike surface coatings, this process does not affect the surface texture or the "hand" of the hide.

DuPont, the developer of Hydrology, has certified a number of tanners to use the process for apparel and accessory leathers and works closely with them to ensure that the effect is maximized for specific leather and suede types. The process will be used for applications such as footwear, apparel, fashion accessories, and furniture, with other applications in the pipeline.

Cell Phone Transformers

Transforming and animated products are not as far away from the movie and tv show's as we may think. This phone can get up and move around. It also has several emoticons that let you see your phones "mood". This innovative outlook on phones is exciting and hilarious.

Banana Rama

Here is a delicious solution to storing bananas. This holder is innovative and simple, and it looks great too.
[delight.com]
While we love bananas, we don’t love how bruised and brown they get so quickly after they are bought at the store. The moment you bring them home it is a race against time to eat them while they are tender, not mushy and canary, not brown. Thank Umbra for an ingenious little solution to this age-old problem. Turns out if you keep the bananas at room temperature and keep them from touching other fruit, they won’t spoil as fast or cause other fruit spoil in return.

If that wasn’t enough to make us love this product, it folds up after use so as to be stored in a drawer and take up as little space as possible! So stop letting your bananas get beat up, and be nice to them with the Amazing Banana Split!

Symbio Cordless Phone

This phone is an innovative and beautifully designed phone that utilizes the landline. Based on the classic design shape, this phone takes a new spin on aesthetics and functions. Not only is it a handset, but it also picks up internet radio. And the battery allows for 6 hours of listening time before needing a recharge.

Tech Web Belt

Here is a belt that lets you create the length and allows you to open beer bottles on your belt buckle. The redesign of something as simple as a belt shows true innovation. Thinking of adding something like a bottle opener is simple, yet inventive. Taking note of something that has been used as a bottle opener before and then developing it into a true bottle opener shows true understanding of the user group and utilizes the research they have done. Patagonia is a company that has been up on innovation since their establishment. A great company and a great product.

[uncrate]
Leather isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you're talking about performance. For those looking for something a little better around their waist, Patagonia's Tech Web Belt ($26) will take care of things whether you're kayaking under blue skies or drinking under neon signs. Made of super-strong and quick-drying nylon webbing, the lightweight belt sports an aluminum buckle that doubles as a bottle opener. The Tech Web belt comes in five colors and can be fitted with a pair of scissors and a Bic lighter.

Lollyphile Lollipops

Here is a new take on a classic product. The shape and design have not been changed, but the age group has. Lollypops are not just for kids anymore, especially when you have a flavor like absinth. The new take on lollypops is innovative and exciting. Trying to bring out the kid in everyone.

[uncrate]
Who's in the mood for some pig and alcohol flavored suckers? Lollyphile is a San Fran-based company selling odd lollypop flavors (4/$10), like its first two creations, Absinthe and Maple-bacon. The Absinthe lollypops are made with real absinthe, and the Maple-bacon ones are made with organic, cured bacon and Vermont maple syrup. Seriously.

Trash Talk

This product goes along with Nike's efforts at improving the environment and making sustainable products. It is also a new way at looking at shoe design. Not only is this shoe innovative, but it is good looking. It improves upon current shoe design and material, by reusing what they already have. Not only does this save on waste, but it probably costs Nike virtually nothing in materials. So they are most likely making a good margin on this product.

[core 77]
As part of their "Considered Design" mandate, Nike has come up with a clever way to turn production scraps from their own factories into a complete shoe. The Nike Trash Talk (yep, that's the name) uses Frankenstyle stitching so that even tiny scraps can be incorporated into the uppers; the midsoles are made from scrap foam; and the outsoles are made from "environmentally-preferred rubber."

Nike Innovation

Nike is trying to improve all aspects of their company. They are seriously focusing on environmental design, neutral environments, worker conditions, and social change. These efforts are seen as a corporate responsibility to Nike. As a large company, they have the ability to make a great impact on the world. By putting these goals and efforts into place, they have the chance to earn a lot of respect among other companies and the general population. Nike is being innovative by leading their industry in these efforts. To read about all of Nike's efforts click on the link above.

Aerogel

[MSN] Halimaton Hamdan shows off a sample of aerogel in her laboratory at the Malaysia's Technology University on Jan. 19.

Aerogel is an exciting material that has many uses (including insulation, bomb proofing, sports equipment). The only problem with the material is that it is very expensive to produce. Traditional methods of extracting it are hard and expensive. This breakthrough method of production is perhaps a chance to reduce the cost and increase the availability of this great material. through the use of rice husks, there is enough silica to create aerogel's. This innovative development is exciting and potentially a great thing for a lot of people.

[MSN]
By Vijay Joshi

updated 7:16 p.m. CT, Thurs., Feb. 28, 2008

SKUDAI, Malaysia - A Malaysian scientist says she has discovered a cheap way to turn discarded rice husks into a high-tech material that could reduce electricity bills, protect buildings from bomb blasts and make airplanes and tennis rackets lighter.

Aerogel, the lightest solid known to man, was invented in 1931 by an American scientist, but its high cost has limited its use.

Halimaton Hamdan, a University of Cambridge-trained chemistry professor, says her process cuts the cost of producing aerogel by 80 percent, making it so affordable that it could become a commonplace material with widespread use.

Her process is experimental and several years away from commercial use. The Malaysian government is funding a $62.5 million project at Halimaton's university in the southern town of Skudai to try to demonstrate that it can be produced on a large scale. She says 3.5 ounces will cost $60 to make, compared to $300 for conventional methods.

The greatest potential lies in coating walls of homes with aerogel, Halimaton says, which could dramatically reduce the need for heating and air conditioning. Aerogel provides 37 times more effective insulation than traditional fiberglass, according to ICE Circle, a British nonprofit group that promotes new technologies to fight climate change.

"I hope one day this product will be used by a variety of industries and benefit mankind," Halimaton told The Associated Press in her one-story laboratory at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Scientific colleagues say her work is promising.

She "seems to have found a miracle solution" to make aerogel cheaply, said Vincent Blech, a scientist at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo.

Dieter Freude, a physics professor at the University of Leipzig in Germany who is familiar with Halimaton's work, called it "an exciting breakthrough."

Nicknamed "frozen smoke" because of its cloudy appearance, aerogel is made from silica, the basic ingredient in sand, and is 99 percent air by volume. The result is a nearly weightless and translucent material with a white powder that seems to float inside.

What makes aerogel so attractive is the combination of light weight with incredible strength and insulating properties.

Dunlop Sport, the sporting goods company, has developed squash and tennis rackets strengthened with aerogel.

Aerogel can withstand mechanical pressure 2,000 times its own weight, making it suitable for bombproof panels. It makes good soundproofing material. Aerogel also can absorb oil spills and pollutants in the air — NASA fitted a space probe in 1999 with a mitt packed with the substance to catch the dust from a comet's tail.

Halimaton's interest in aerogel was accidental. After returning to Malaysia from the University of Cambridge in 2000, she wanted to do research on silica but had trouble finding the raw material.

One night, she saw a television program about Malaysian farmers in a quandary over how to dispose of rice husks after harvest. Halimaton had found her source: Silica is 20 percent of the total weight of rice husk.

Later that year, she read an article on aerogel that mentioned the high cost of silica — and a scientific challenge was born.

She dubbed her product "Maerogel," short for Malaysian aerogel.

Even then, she had no thought of selling it.

But at a British invention convention last year, she was discovered by ICE Circle founder Renu Mehta, who encouraged Halimaton to try to develop the product commercially. "It should feature prominently in strategies to reduce greenhouse gas carbon emissions," Mehta said.

It took Halimaton seven years to perfect the system. Despite several failures — at times, her staff even broke down in tears — Halimaton persisted.

"I knew it was going to work. It was only a matter of time before I found a way to do it," she said. "As a scientist you lose sleep over a problem. You keep thinking how it can work. And at the spur of the moment, the answer comes to you."

iBot

Bill Clinton and Inventor Kamen having an eye level conversation with the help of the iBot

This invention is probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Having had a lot of contact with disabled people and seeing their struggles, this wheelchair offers nothing ever seen before. Mobility never thought possible out of a wheelchair: the ability to easily climb stairs and curbs, go up to eye level with other people, traverse rough terrain, and of course the regular standard wheelchair. This is a groundbreaking invention by the inventor of the Segway and I look forward to further developments on this mobility device.

more information on this device http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT

Walkstation

I think that obesity and lack of exercise in this country is a huge problem. This machine is geared towards a solution, and I personally am excited at the potential of this concept.

[business week]

Walking While You Work
An exercise machine that allows workers to multitask may be the silliest (or smartest?) invention since the executive toy

by Andrew Blum

Walkstation

Designed by Steelcase and Dr. James Levine $3,500-$4,500

The press conference announcing Steelcase's new Walkstation was moving, and I mean that in more ways than one. Dr. James Levine—the inventor of the treadmill/desk hybrid—described it as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to help obese people. "Life is about movement, and being dynamic, and meeting people one on one, and going for walks and chatting," he said, his voice pitching with emotion. "I truly believe this will help millions and millions of people. This isn't the solution to obesity in America, but it is part of the solution." While talking, he strolled slowly in place upon his creation, a red safety clip attached to the flap of his suit jacket and a single bead of sweat streaking his forehead.

Obesity is clearly a serious health problem, and replacing the task chair with a treadmill can't hurt. Dr. Levine, a nutrition and metabolism researcher at the Mayo Clinic, even has the science to prove it. In what Steelcase boasts is "the most detailed and data-rich study of obesity ever," he extolled the benefits of "non-exercise activity thermogenesis," or "N.E.A.T.," the term for energy expended (which is to say, calories burned) during everyday activities, like walking. Thus the Walkstation seems a logical, kill-two-birds-with-one-stone piece of office design. But if design is an expression of culture, then the Walkstation reveals a sad truth about American ideals of work, exercise, and technology. The U.S. has not only the world's highest incidence of obesity but also one of its longest workweeks, and the two are plainly linked.

On a recent morning, I brought my laptop to Steelcase's Manhattan showroom to spend a couple of quiet hours working on the Walkstation. Steelcase is selling the product through its Details subsidiary, which makes height-adjustable desks and flexible monitor arms. The treadmill itself was borrowed from TRUE Fitness and chosen because of its quiet mechanism, low height, and suitability to extended slow-speed operation. (With a maximum speed of two miles per hour, it's aimed at keeping your heart rate steady.) Considering its mongrel origins, the look and feel of the Walkstation is polished if uninspired.

With the press of a button on the control panel that's tucked into a slide-out keyboard tray, the adjustable work surface whirred like a dentist's chair to a comfortable height. Another press revved up the treadmill to a leisurely one mile an hour. Then I fired up my email. (I thought better of trying to chew gum at the same time.) My wrists rested comfortably on the gray urethane pad that lines the front edge of the desk, and I bellied up to an arc-shaped indentation in the table. The treadmill's surface is slightly narrower than most machines', but the arc and the firm wrist pad help prevent the need for side railings.

For the first few minutes of walking, I was distracted. The blinking cursor on the bobbing screen was making me a bit seasick, and the two dozen Steelcase Leap task chairs scattered around the showroom seemed to be mocking me. I really wanted to sit in one. By six minutes in (.09 miles traveled, 16 calories burned), each step still required a glimmer of attention, but the noise of the treadmill had disappeared behind the hum of the building's ventilation system. After 17 minutes (and a quarter mile) my legs were finally doing fine on their own, and my typing—after a bumpy start—was back to its usual struggles. I drifted off to work—walking, walking, walking.

Steelcase isn't suggesting that the Walkstation replace a conventional desk. Instead, the company is proposing it for use in conference rooms, where people could walk as they PowerPoint, or as a shared "hot desk." Its price of $3,500 to $4,500 is in line with an adjustable Steelcase workstation and accompanying task chair. Because it will restore hours of sleep to those who make early-morning gym visits, my hunch is that the Walkstation will sell well and, like a lot of exercise equipment, be used less well. It seems an irresistible purchase for corporate health-and-wellness programs.

When my water bottle ran out, I came to. I had gotten a few things done, and, because I was successfully moving one foot in front of the other, I felt productive even when staring off into space. I can't say I was a complete convert, but it worked as advertised: The desk felt comfortably positioned, the monitor held steady, and typing while walking proved a reasonable proposition. The downside was feeling like a rat in a cage—with a safety clip for a chain. On long days of work, when my back aches from sitting and my shoulder hurts from mousing, I suppose I'll see the appeal of a brisk hour on this contraption. But I'd rather go for a walk in the park. For the moment, I had walked 1.1 miles and burned 150 calories. It was time for lunch.

Provided by I.D. Magazine—The International Design Magazine