Gizmodo: captain planet

Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient

Jason Chen — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:30:00 EST

Congressman Eric Massa of NY tried to drive a fuel cell car from NY to DC to make an environmental point and to show how great fuel cell cars are. He failed at both.

Representative Massa made the 300 mile NY to DC trip in a car that has a maximum range of 200 miles. How? By enlisting the help of two SUVs to tow two fuel cell cars while not in use.

Massa drove one fuel cell car while a hybrid SUV [Chevy Tahoe] towing an additional SUV followed along. Once he got half way, he switched to new fuel cell car [which I assume was towed to the half way point sometime earlier so that it would be waiting for the environmentally-conscious congressman]. The empty fuel cell was then towed back by the first SUV. As he continued on his journey, the second SUV followed. Once Massa arrived in DC, the second SUV then towed the second fuel cell car back to NY.

So basically, one SUV traveled 400 miles and one SUV traveled 600 miles for a total of 1000 miles on a 300 mile trip. That's not even counting the mileage on the fuel cell car. Nice work there Captain Planet. [Famous DC via Boing Boing]

Your Smelly Ass Feet Are Killing the Planet

matt buchanan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:15:00 EDT

Your feet? They smell like a baboon's butthole. Especially at the gym. So, the brilliant dudes at places like Nike and Adidas have started lining their socks with nano-bits of silver to fight microbials and the intense funk radiating from your tootsies. It works (woohoo), but every time you wash them, some of the particles inevitably come loose from the sock and flush down the drain, ultimately winding up in local waterways. Where they poison fishies. To death. Not cool. In conclusion, have less stinky feet, thanks. [American Chemical Society via io9]

Afternoon News: Harry Potter Is Too Close for Comfort, DirecTV Breaking Promises?, Best Buy's Profits Soar and More

Benny Goldman — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:00:00 EST

• Daniel Radcliffe, a/k/a Harry Potter, just bought an apartment in Manhattan. Coincidentally, it's only four blocks from our NYC headquarters. Luckily we have our own Dark Lord Balthazaar to protect us from his spells. [Gridskipper]
• Less than two weeks remain for DirecTV to add 15 more HD channels in order to reach their promise of 100 by the end of 2007. Hope you like the sound of Drying Paint HD, Growing Grass HD and Water Boiling HD, DirecTV customers. [Broadband Reports] [Thanks, Erin!!]
• Toshiba is joining IBM, AMD, Samsung, and others to work on 32nm chip technology. Now the alliance is just an wind, fire and heart away from summoning Captain Planet. [Reuters]
• XM Satellite Radio has settled its lawsuit with Universal Music Group over the time-shifting recording capabilities of XM's Inno player. Surprisingly, the terms still allow for the creation of more time-shifting devices. [Digital Trends]
• Best Buy's profits spiked 52% this quarter, due to fewer promotions on flat-panel TVs. Thanks a lot, Best Buy. [Market Watch]