The case itself features a sizable 1500mAh battery pack that they claim can be charged by the sun in as little as three hours. It also has a mini USB to USB cable that allows you to charge from your PC or hook up other gadgets for a quick shot of sweet solar juice. The case is slated for release in August in both black and white versions for around $54. [Mobile Fun via SolarFeeds via EcoGeek]

According to Ikeda, the material is not very efficient at converting light into energy, but he is confident that it will improve in time. He also noted that the material is about 4 times more elastic than human muscle, and it maintained its strength during a test despite contracting and expanding every 7 seconds for 30 hours. He hopes that one day the technology will come of age to the point that we will all be driving around in light-powered plastic automobiles. Maybe—if by "we" he means our grandchildren and great grandchildren. [Pink Tentacle via DVICE]

Basically the rubber snakes are moored at the right height to bend as a wave rolls past, generating a bulge in the sea water inside. This gets pushed down the tube by the wave to a generator built into the tail end.

A full-scale device would be able to generate enough power for 1,000 homes, and the developers at the University of Southampton think it may be more resilient than other wave-generators due to its lower moving part count, and the fact that it's made mostly of materials that resist salt-water corrosion.

Plus, it looks satisfyingly sci-fi, in a scary surprise for divers kinda way. [New Scientist]

As mentioned, the father and son team plan to set sail this weekend on what will undoubtedly be a 3-4 month trip down the river. In the end, Rhys and his father hope to recycle the boat and raise awareness about conserving the Earth's natural resources. So remember kids, not recycling is bad, but risking your life for no apparent reason is still a-ok. [Metro]

The device still requires about 5% of the diesel fuel needed to power traditional generators, but that means that fewer fuel runs are necessary. And, as as Army biotech scientist Dr. James Valdes pointed out , "Those convoys that carry fuel are also known as targets." It also means that fewer garbage trucks and their drivers are put in harm's way. Not quite Bact to the Future style garbage-fueled fusion power, but it is a step in the right direction.[CNET via Danger Room]

In order to service a heavy load of vehicles down the line, it will be necessary to produce hydrogen at petrochemical plants until it becomes possible to manufacture it from cleaner sources like carbon capture and storage, bio-feedstocks and municipal solid waste. There are numerous hydrogen stations located throughout the world, and it isn't the first of its kind in California, but the fact that it is backed by a major company could be the spark needed to generate real progress. [Ecogeek via CNET]

Apparently, the energy consumption of the device is so low that you could run it every day for eight hours and only pay the equivalent of around five cents extra on your electricity bill for the month. However, this isn't the first time we have come across an air conditioner of this type—Thanko came out with a version last year that is powered via USB. It also appears to be a little cheaper than the Kuchofuku model, but we are not sure how well it stacks up in terms of butt cooling performance and power consumption. [Product Page via Fareastgizmos]

The biggest trick was in working out how to cool the chips from all the extra thermal input created by the focused sunlight. To do this, IBM borrowed ideas from its own research into a liquid metal cooling system developed for semiconductors and used a thin liquid metal gallium-indium compound to bind the chip to a cooling block.

This new high power technique could of course result in smaller solar farms, or higher energy output from existing systems. Best of all, it's potentially a fairly low cost solution, which can only be a good thing for the environment. [Physorg]

Sure, it is Earth-friendly and it could come in handy during a power outage, but the product site is also billing the device as a great upper and lower body workout. And let's face it, there is nothing more satisfying than turning on your MP3 player and knowing that each song was powered by your own sweat and tears. Available for around $141. [Rakuten via TFTS]

Thanks to its lightweight frame and complex gear system, the Naturmobil can can reach speeds of around 50 mph when the horse is really hauling. However, the cruising speed generally tops out at a more leisurely 12 mph. Mirhejazi hopes to parade his invention throughout the world in an attempt to secure financing for a second generation 4 horsepower Naturmobile that he plans to use for tourist transportation. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. [Xpress via Neatorama via DVICE]

[EcoFriend via DailyMail via DVICE]

In fact, the folks at Agroplast claim that their chemicals can be utilized in other products like fertilizers, lotions, and as "a flavor enhancer in cigarettes." Sorry, but I'm going to pass on a ticket to that flavor country. [Agroplast via CNET]

The deceased will be buried in biodegradable coffins between gum trees in a protected koala sanctuary...Relatives and friends will require a satellite navigation device to find graves of loved ones.

The graves, located at Lismore Memorial Park Cemetery in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia, will be unmarked but recorded in coordinates, and spaced at 5 meters to ensure you're kneeling at the decomposing remains of the right person. In case you think it's a ploy by Garmin and Magellan to sell more handheld GPS products, mourners will be able to borrow one (possibly for free) for the visit.

This so-called "eco-burial" practice is not without merit. I've always complained that cemeteries and golf courses were great wastes of space—using this concept, you can combine the two. (Just look out for the mourners on the 9th green.) It's not just the land use, either. Cremation emits foul greenhouse gases; embalming fluid and coffin varnishes and glues can harm the groundwater; said coffins deplete non-sustainable forestry; and granite headstones require CO2-emission-heavy shipments from China (at least for Australians). It's a nasty business all around, in need of some green thinking.

I do anticipate a few issues, though, and anyone who's ever tried geocaching can back me up: It's not super easy, and requires a lot of meandering. Spry youthful survivors of the deceased may have an easy time of it, but 85-year-old widows will certainly not, even if they do know how to read and follow the display on a Magellan Triton or Garmin eTrex.

Jack, our new weekend writer, raises another possibly legitimate concern: "After a heavy rain, I might wake up next to someone's dead uncle." [SMH]

[Project Or via Klemmt via The Design Blog]

The computer was built at the Max Planck Institute for plasma research in Germany, and basically uses an enhanced version of the water-cooling that PC modders love. Apparently it's what helps make this computer quite so "super" in such a small size.
In-chip cooling next, hey? That's pretty neat, and the leak-proofing is going to have to be amazing, but makes perfect sense with the 4,000 times efficiency water cooling offers over air cooling. [IBM press release via Gadget lab]

It seems like a great eco-friendly idea, especially when you consider project leader Dave Worsley's figures: if just one manufacturer made all their steel cladding energy-producing, it would have the same generator capacity as 50 wind farms.

Admittedly it's more "paint your warehouse" than "paint your home", since few of us have steel walls or roofs on our abode, but it's still pretty nifty. The technology in the Swansea Solar Paint project is apparently easily scalable, so it may only be a matter of time until it's being cranked out by the square yard, saving the environment and generating the 1.21 gigawatts of power needed to send you Back to the Fut— ... well, you get the point. [Inhabitat]