Topic Title

Hi,

I heard about one of the (only!) two LEED Platinum buildings in Boston: the Artists For Humanity studio and gallery, at 100 West Second Street in the Fort Point area. It was built for just $95/square foot -- though the solar panels on the roof were underwritten. Does anybody have any firsthand knowledge of this building? They have some small images of some of the drawings, but I'm curious to learn more about it.

http://leedcasestudies.usgbc.org/overview.cfm?ProjectID=736

BTW, the radio show I heard about it is called Radio Boston, and the show was also very informative:

http://www.radioboston.org/shows/2009/02/23/bostons-greenest-houses/

Hello,

Here's a really smart idea that I'm surprised that I have not heard about before:

http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/04/28/in-israel-solar-power-that-wont-need-subsidies/

They cool the PV with water to make it more efficient, and they can also use the heat that is gathered.

[Mark F. Madura]

Convert Honda to Run on Trash
We may not yet have a flux capacitor for time travel, but we do already have the equivalent of "Mr. Fusion", which if cleverly applied, will enable you to run your car on everyday "trash"-- today. This "magical" device is called a gasifier. And what it does is called gasification.

Convert Honda to Run on Trash
We may not yet have a flux capacitor for time travel, but we do already have the equivalent of "Mr. Fusion", which if cleverly applied, will enable you to run your car on everyday "trash"-- today. This "magical" device is called a gasifier. And what it does is called gasification.

Now that gives a new meaning to "take out the trash"

And what it does is called gasification.

I think I've had gasification once or twice.

Hello,

I have installed my own video mirrors on my Scion xA, and it has reduced my frontal area by ~62 sq. in., and I will be doing another coast down test to see how much it may have helped lower my Cd. I did one set of coast down tests and I got ~0.267 (down from 0.31 of the stock car); though this is based on an estimated rolling resistance of 0.011 for my 44PSI Yokohama Avid tires.

Here's my post about the installation on EcoModder:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969-18.html#post106284



Now that I've driven with the video mirrors for a few days now, and I'm close to being used to their location. I drove in the heavy rain yesterday -- and they work much better than optical mirrors! The lower resolution "misses" much of the mist (kicked up from the tires) and their aperture adjustment makes the images on the screens quite bright. Ditto for dusk operation. I have not driven at night except once, and I think I now have the windshield reflection issue solved...(see the picture below for the current set up, that eliminates the reflection)

If I were to design this from scratch, I would say that a slightly less wide angle of view would be plenty (90-100 degrees instead of the ~110 degrees these cameras provide). The wide angle is great and I love being able to see a bit of the side of my car in both screens, but frankly, it takes getting used to. And that leads me to my next improvement:

I would want the lens optics to compensate for the barrel distortion (and maybe overcompensate?) so the cars behind in the adjacent lanes were shown larger and appeared to be closer. I am still looking over my shoulder to confirm that I have room (which is probably wise in any situation!), because they look pretty small when they are ~100' behind me.

Large (semi) trucks behind me show up in all three mirrors! And the way they work in the rain is quite impressive -- the lens get a few drops when the car is parked, which show up as soft-focus distortions on part of the screen, but if you wipe these off, then they stay dry when you are driving. It doesn't matter if your windows get fogged up, either!

I averaged (just) above 50mpg on a tank, for the first time! The passenger side was put on about 1/3 through the tank, and the driver side about 2/3 through -- not too bad, if I say so myself.

Here's some pictures of what the video mirrors look like at dusk and near dark -- it's a little tricky getting an exposure that shows it close to what I can actually see!






These are getting progressively darker top to bottom -- the middle one makes it look darker outside than it actually is, and the cameras really seem to open up their apertures in this light, and they sometimes are slightly overexposed on one or the other, depending on the direction of the sun. The last one is sitting in my driveway, and there is very little ambient light -- you can kinda make out the light thrown by my taillights in the right screen...the light ahead is my porch light.

Hi,

This is fun stuff:

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/10/ttxgp-complete-wrap-up-of-first-day-of-qualifying-w-video/

Footage from the race!

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/12/video-footage-from-ttxgp-zero-emissions-motorcycle-race/#comments

What would you say about using "cooked" chicken feathers to store hydrogen very efficiently? How about using chicken feathers as carbon fiber reinforcement in things like wind turbine blades?

The answer to both questions is -- yes you can!

Science Friday: "Hydrogen Storage in Chicken Feathers?"

Researchers say they've come up with a new material for storing hydrogen fuel -- carbonized chicken feathers. Speaking this week at at the 13th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference in College Park, MD, researchers said that carbonized chicken feathers could absorb as much or perhaps more hydrogen than other materials for hydrogen storage, including carbon nanotubes or metal hydrides, at a much lower cost.

More to come when I can transcribe the broadcast, and/or I'll link to the podcast. Here's another source:

http://www.happynews.com/news/6242009/feather-fibers-fluff-hydrogen-storage-capacity.htm

[Mark F. Madura]

SYNOPSIS

10 MPH is a comical documentary that follows a pair of aspiring filmmakers as they quit their jobs and turn a friend's ludicrous idea into a movie. The impulsive purchase of a two-wheeled Segway scooter sets this story in motion when the two friends decide to travel from Seattle to Boston at 10 MPH in an attempt to change their lives forever... What ensues is a road trip like none other with a haphazard cast of characters you could only find on a zany 100-day trek through America's back roads. Each poignant story the two friends discover along the way inspires a craving inside to go out and do that thing you're supposed to do.

{ more ... }

[Mark F. Madura]

Eco-driving benefits shown at MPG Marathon
A SMART ForTwo CDI city car has won first place in an eco rally by achieving an impressive 96.81 mpg over a 360-mile course across Lincolnshire, the Cotswolds, Shropshire, West Midlands, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

http://www.eta.co.uk/2009/10/06/eco-driving-benefits-shown-mpg-marathon

MFM

Hi Mark,

A fellow from Maynard MA (not me!) got 118mpg on a 104 mile course near Fonda NY, which has a lot of elevation changes.

http://ecomodder.com/blog/20-yearold-modified-honda-crx-hf-scores-118-mpg-fuel-economy-run/

My best mileage this past summer was 53.6mpg, which is 5-6mpg better than last summer.

Neil, did you see that the Mythbusters added golf ball dimples to a car and they gained 11% on their fuel mileage. Got a hammer?

Hi Brian,

I did see that, and there are questions about their scientific thoroughness: single runs, wind conditions, driving style, etc. A wind tunnel test would have been much better.

Oh Gawd. I knew I could run faster when I had acne.
Now I know why.

I just had a mind-blowing glimpse of the world of Origami.

Do you think you know what it is? It is all of that and about a gazillion times more.

It is folded paper. It is geometry. It is math. It is art. It is science. It is structure. It is chaos. It is air bags. It is proteins. It is constraints. It is ... a film on PBS that you need to watch:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/between-the-folds/

Since it is on the air now, you can watch it on TV; or wait until it is available online. (There is a preview video.)