Sustainability Science

World War I was shaped by the new vehicles developed during the four years of conflict. A century after the start of the war, we’re looking back at the most remarkable vehicles—the planes, cars, tanks, ships, and zeppelins—it helped bring about. Aviation and the automobile were in their infancy when World War I started in…

Planning to throw away some old things? Not so fast! Upcycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful. Take an old tire for example. Tie a rope to it and hang it from a tree and now you have a swing! Upcycling is often seen in art […]

A guide to understanding digital & physical product design for startups

A pair of designers have developed a new portable outlet that absorbs solar energy and converts it to electricity for everyday use. This nifty device can be attached to a window or wall that gets a lot of sunlight and, after eight hours of charging, holds up to 10 hours of electricity. This can then be used to charge your phone or any number of electricity-hungry gadgets.
It is even possible to leave the solar plug on the wall and use it as an outlet to keep your laptop or anything else.

This proposal for a new kind of suburbia is inspired by the tree, featuring self-sufficient "symbiotic" homes that generate their own power and are integrated with the land.

Biggest projectAt any rate, all those other commissions threw him behind schedule for his biggest project to date - he promised to have eight urinals ready for the annual Pacific Orchid Exposition, which opens Thursday at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The other afternoon, Sorensen grabbed a handful of wet porcelain clay and began enlarging one of the orchid petals on a half-finished urinal that, when completed, will resemble a giant pink cattleya orchid. Every so often, a urinal cracks in the process and Sorensen must toss several months' work into the trash bin and start over. The hate mail he got after word of that project leaked suggested that not everyone shares his vision of free expression. Sorensen spent his early years designing costumes and video games, and admits to being personally responsible for giving the world a video game depicting a Barbie doll doing gymnastics. [...] I thought I would try something new. High-end European nurseries seem to be his No. 1 customers although millionaires with senses of humor are a close second. The Chronicle selected the orchid that looked like a high school prom corsage. The silver handle on the fixture responded instantly to the touch, like the steering wheel on a European touring sedan. No splashAn unexpected bonus, Sorensen said, is that the natural design of the orchid prevents any splashing. A prospective customer or a newsman may have a reason to test a urinal but the room is foremost an artist's studio, not a lavatory.