IBM Uses Micro-Forecasting for Ultra Efficiency, Thinks Cities Should Do the Same (Video)
IBM has kicked off an interesting series of short videos that show how their tactics for creating highly efficient manufacturing facilities can be a model for making cities just as efficient. Plus you get to see them blow something up.

Bike Trailer Homes for Sale, Only $1950 O.B.O
Some might say that Brian Campbell has been living on the street for thirty years; others might suggest that he has mastered the skill of lightweight mobile living. Brian actually lives in his creations. Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland writes that he has now gone into business making them for others as well.

Just What We Needed Dept: Mechanized House Plants for Extra Purified Air
Call it a botanical air purifier, or a plant inside a machine with a fan. Either way, it's an odd little device whose main purpose is to suck in air and circulate it around a plant's roots and leaves to give you sparkling clean air.

Fighting Water Scarcity with GPS
Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder have begun using interference patterns-called multipath signals-created when satellite signals reflect off the earth, to measure moisture on the ground and in vegetation. A whole new cheap technology could help us when it comes to the water crisis.

After California Nixes Energy-Sucking TVs, What's Next in the Crosshairs?
PC Magazine takes a half joking jibe at a few devices - but their choices of examples actually show a bright red arrow pointing at a particular group of gadgets.

MVRDV Proposes Artificial Mountains as Green Cities of the Future
Dutch architecture firm MVRDV presents an interesting concept for a high density self-sufficient city of the future in China, all in the shape of a Chinese mountain landscape. And the clincher - we could create it with existing technologies.

Flatpack Instant Office Built Like Pop-Up Book
This could be an entire new branch of architecture- designs which open and close like pop-up books.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Cheap 3D Solar Cells Are 6x More Efficient, Work Underground
Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have created the world's first 3-D photovoltaic solar system that actually works underground.

Drool-Worthy Wooden Mouse Has Debatable Eco-Credentials
This absolutely gorgeous AlestRukov wooden mouse is usually the type of gadget we love to see, but unfortunately we're on the fence about just how eco-friendly it is. Weigh in...

Is There a Future for Compressed Air Cars?
A new study published in Environmental Research Letters pours some cold water on those who think that compressed air cars are the future.

Razor Clams are Inspiration for RoboClam, a Robotic Sand-Digging Anchor (Video)
Scientists have taken a keen look at the mighty clam and have come up with a robot that can mimic how the clam digs itself into the sand, named, aptly, the RoboClam.

TED Talk - 13th Century Astrolabe, the First Popular Computers
Sometimes event the newest gadgets are overshadowed by really, really old gadgets. Ancient technology is amazing, and Tom Wujec shows the astrolabe, one of the earliest computing gadgets.

Qualcomm's Upcoming e-Reader Will Mimic Butterfly Wings for Energy-Sipping Color Displays (Video)
This technology which uses butterfly wings for inspiration for creating ultra low energy, ultra bright color displays will play a prominent role in the new e-reader, which might just give theKindle and Nook a run for their money.

How to Make Nano Solar Cells from Powdered Donuts (Video)
In addition to powdered donuts, you'll need some Passion tea from Starbucks and a bottle of Everclear. Enjoy.

Are Solar Chargers Turning Into Flowers? Beautiful iPetals Concept May Set Trend
Designers seem to be setting a new trend for solar chargers, turning small scale renewable gadget charging into something resembling a bouquet of flowers.

Regan's Beautiful (and Big) Reverb Solar Powered Speakers
The super sexy Reverb can play between 20 and 40 hours on a full charge. And this is no wimpy counter-top speaker, either.

GoodGuide's Newest iPhone App Lets You Scan Barcodes In Stores And Get the Scoop on Products
GoodGuidehas announced the first iPhone application that scans barcodes to "provide impartial health, environment and social responsibility ratings of products and companies." And what's more - it's free.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Scientists Create Bacteria that Lights Up Around Landmines
It seems like something straight out of a science fiction film, but this new bacteria is very real - it actually glows when it senses the presence of a landmine.

Silo Ink Reduces Printer Waste, Saves 80% on Ink Expenses
The cartridges hook up to your printer's existing cartridges and not only reduce waste and are refillable, but will save you 80% on the cost of ink.

Grass-Covered Computer Mouse (...and Cell Phone, and Car, and...)
Is this the new wave of accessories to go along with all the bamboo-covered computer devices on the market? Japanese artist Hanaoka likes to cover stuff in grass.

Awesome Art for Green Geeks - Mona Lisa Made of Motherboards
This Mona Lisa is in the lobby of the headquarters of ASUS in Peitou, Taiwan. It looks like a photomosaic, but the pixilated Mona Lisa is a bit more geeky than that.

Garmin Eco-Route Add-on Turns Your GPS Into a Green-Driving Teacher
A new add-on cable that can plug into your car's diagnostics communication port and feed that real-time data to your GPS device.

Does Our Water Really Come From Outer Space?
A new theory poses that our water was actually a chemical hitchhiker, finding a home on Earth after being brought here as ice on incoming meteors. In other words - alien water!

Swarms of Tiny Robotic Ocean Explorers to Help With Marine Preservation...Or Become Fish Food (Video)
Lots of little robots called autonomous underwater explorers (AUEs) might be swimming with you on your next trip to the beach.

Carbon Nanotube Sponge Can Absorb Toxic Oils and Solvents up to 180x Its Weight!
Scientists have created a sponge made of carbon nanotubes that can absorb organic pollutants from the surface of water up to 180x its weight (!) without absorbing water (see video below to see how light it is).

Tech Chest Turns Luggage Into Hide-Away Computer Case
One part neat upcycling, and one part Steampunk, one part James Bond, this PC case is fantastic. You know you want one.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every week on Gizmodo.

Sneakers for Geeks and Hackers Are Made form Recycled Computer Chips
Gabriel Dishaw, junk-metal artist extraordinaire, fashioned these incredible shoes out of pieces of computers and typewriters, with only glue and metal bending techniques to keep the pieces held together.

Mavizen's 130 MPH TTX02 Electric Motorcycle Runs on Linux
This crazy motorcycle is called a "laptop on wheels" because of all the electronics it packs on top of what is strictly required to control the electric motor - including a dash-mounted computer that runs Linux, has wifi connectivity and a web-server.

Amphibious Architecture Gets People to Interact with River System, Includes Texting Fish
A new design project offers an interesting, techy way for fish and people to interact, including humans sending text messages fish. Yes, text messages...and getting a response.

Futuristic Manhole Cover Harvests Rainwater Power and Tells You Where to Catch a Bus
The covers, called "eco signs," harvest power from rainfall in order to tell you, just by tapping your foot on its right or left side, information such as where to find the closest subway station or bus stop.

Hand-Held Printer Only Needs You to Wave It Over The Paper (Video)
Printers can be big, clunky machines that spit out more pages than you intended to print. So what if you had a tiny hand-held printer that only put down ink where you waved your hand? Now you can.

Foresters Use GPS to Save Ants' Nests from Thousands of Falling Trees
Just how good has GPS technology gotten? Good enough that it can be used to pinpoint the exact location of a handful of tiny ants in a massive forest.

A Solar Powered Blanket Creates Cell Phone-Powered Health Care for Africans
Sounds like a strange mix, but a blanket that sports solar power could help improve health care in Africa by allowing those people without electricity to charge cell phones used for getting health care information.

The 100-Mile Diet for Electricity? The Institute for Local Self-Reliance Argues for Decentralization
The Insitute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has released a second version of its study that pushes for local power - in other words, how you can run what's in your house off of what's on top of your house.

Harnessing Bacteria to Grow Custom Packaging
This ambitious concept called Bacs harnesses the bacterium acetobacter xylinum to self-assemble around an object, encasing it in a biodegradable paper-like shell. No kidding - bacteria into packaging...

Take Up Less Space With A Vertical Bed
Sleep standing up. It's the ultimate nerd bed.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Off-Grid Charging for Cell Phones Is a $2.3 Billion Industry (Video)
Solar and wind powered gadget chargers are part of an industry that can not only reduce the carbon footprint of our gadgets, but is also worth billions.

Finally! Attractive Solar Clothing - The Zegna Ecotech Solar Jacket
And here's where a big chunk of that $2.3 billion is coming from - It's about time gadget lovers make a positive fashion statement with a good looking piece of solar clothing.

Battery Chargers - Solar Chargers to Buy, Chargers to Hack, And Concept Chargers to Wait For
Another big chunk of the $2.3 billion comes in the form of these fabulous battery chargers...but maybe not such a big chunk. There are some ideas in here for hacking an off-grid charger for free.

Universal Phone Charger Approved, Could Save 13.6 Million Tons of CO2
A universal charger was approved by the International Telecommunication Union that manufacturers will be strongly encouraged to adopt as they roll out new phones - it'll save e-waste and emissions, not to mention lots of money.

Venom Introduces First Carbon Neutral Alkaline Batteries...But Can Disposable Be Green?
Do we pick apart just how "carbon neutral" disposable batteries can possibly be, or do we congratulate Venom on taking steps forward on greening batteries that are an undeniable product in our market place?

The Best Swag Bag EVER! PopTech Hands Out Solar FLAP Bags That Turn Into Lanterns
Attendees at this year's PopTech received as their swag bag the FLAP - Flexible Light and Power. It's messenger bag with built in flexible solar cells that can charge up a mobile device, or power an LED in the bag, turning it into a lantern. They *so* should have these at next year's CES.

Electric Wooden Buggy Hits the Streets of New York (VIDEO)
Seth Kinmont is an artist with one foot in the future—and one way in the past. He built an electric car with a design based on a combination of old wooden buggy models, including a horse drawn carriage, and an Amish cart. Apparently, the whole thing runs on four 12-volt batteries.

What Will It Take to Get EVs on the Road (Really)
Electric cars have the potential to improve our energy system, resuscitate the automobile industry, and dramatically reduce America's oil use. At least, that's the goal. The question is how do we actually get them on the road, and charged.

Dell HQ Gets a 130 kW Solar Parking Lot with Plug-In Charging Stations
Check out Dell Headquarter's newest parking lot feature - generating solar power, keeping employees' cars cool, and offsetting about 145,000 pounds of CO2 a year.

Disappearing Plastic Bags - New Plastic Magazine Mailer Dissolves in Hot Water
And one random one...might your next issue of Wired come in a plastic bag that dissolves faster than you can say "off-grid charging"?

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

More Than 100 iPhone Apps For Green Shopping, Eating, Travel and Fun
Every app you might want for living a greener life, from augmented reality to home automation.

9 Best Eco Apocalyptic Science Fiction Films of All Time
There's nothing like a vision of a world gone to hell to get the point across. In these nine post-apocalyptic movies (and one tv episode), ranging from the 1960's until next month (one's not released yet) the death, destruction, and general bleak futuristic visions are all based on environmental disasters. A note on the selection process: Don't expect to see "Waterworld". Bombs, even with savvy green messages, didn't make the cut.

Green Cell Phones Prefered by 40% of Consumers...If They Could Find Them
According to a poll conducted by ABI Research, nearly half of consumers in the market for cell phones would choose one that is considered "green." There's a catch, though - or rather, two catches.

Man Drives Wind-Powered Car
Harold Smith of Prince Edward Island has it all figured out: He has a private 20 Kilowatt wind turbine, and electric Toyota and a licence plate that says NO GAS.

Tiny Robot Trash Harvesters to Clean Streets of the Future
Move over Roomba, you've just met your match. It's called the Scarab, and it's an automated robot that's been designed to efficiently and quickly clean much larger areas, like shopping centers and neighborhood streets.

LG POP Cell Phone Goes Solar Powered
The latest entry into the market of cell phones with embedded solar cells is the POP from LG. The slick phone - very similar to the LG Dare - boasts an optional battery cover that is a solar cell, letting users charge up the battery with sunlight.

Buying Music Online Can Cut Carbon by 80%, Study Says
A new report put together by Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Stanford University examines how environmentally friendly digital music distribution is in comparison to traditional methods. Turns out, carbon emissions and energy use can be cut by 40% to 80%, depending on a few factors.

Nation's First TV Energy Efficiency Standards Will Cut CO2 By 3.5 Million Tons
The television energy efficiency standards being pushed forward by California are not without controversy...and not without some serious green potential. Even utility Pacific Gas and Electric is going to bat for the improved standards.

Japan's High Tech Graveyard Solution as Burial Space Grows Scarce
Japan has come up with a novel, high-tech and space-saving solution that reuses warehouse building space as a place to mourn the dead.

Facebook HQ Recycles 60s Computer Factory
Computers used to be about hardware, when Aligent made electronic measuring devices at this factory in Palo Alto. Now it is headquarters for the 850 employees of Facebook, and what a transformation it is. Studio O+A left as much of the old building as they could, recycling old lab desks and reusing cranes.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Can Energy Dashboards Change Behavior, Permanently? - West Coast Green looks at the gadgets that help us monitor our energy use, and weigh in on just how helpful they are, or aren't.

See Where Stuff Comes From with SourceMap - Imagine a future in which pointing a PDA at a product bar code returns an instant readout of product source and environmental footprint. That's SourceMap - the Wiki of visualizing supply chains.

Meet Your New E-Waste Recycling Symbol: "4th Bin" Winners Announced - Curious about what to do with your gadgets after the sparks die? Here's your answer...

Friends Again? HP Gets Props from Greenpeace in Latest Gadget Guide - Greenpeace gave HP the what for when they tagged the company's roof with "hazardous products." But it looks like HP has cleaned up its act, and Greenpeace is giving them a hat tip for it.

Kindle e-Reader Hits Schools, Students Say "Meh.." - Kindle got a lukewarm reception when it hit a few university classrooms, though when you hear students' reasons, you can't really blame them for giving a thumbs down.

Apple's Tablet to Take Over Textbooks, Magazines, Newspapers - Apple is likely perfectly happy at Kindle's ho-hum school trial, because the company is edging its soon-to-be-released Tablet at just such a market.

Dell's Latitude Z and Its Wireless Charging Misses the Green Boat - The Dell Latitude Z has some phenomenal features...but its new wireless charging is among its least green.

Zipcar iPhone App Makes Car-Sharing Even Better (as Long as You Don't Abuse Remote Honking) - Zipcar, one of the heavy-hitters of the car-sharing world, has released a new iPhone and iPod Touch free app that will make interacting with the company's reservation service and vehicles better than ever.

These Smart Clothes Dryers Could Reduce Electricity Demand by the Equivalent of 6 Coal Power Plants - No joke! Whirlpool announced it will produce 1 million "smart" clothes dryer in 2011 and if all are installed, bye-bye power plants.

Google Earth Ramps Up for Copenhagen: New Layers for Exploring Climate Change Scenarios (Video) - Google has let loose an interesting tool in preparation for COP15 that allows users to explore what the world might look like if various levels of warming, sea rises, and so forth occur. You're able to see played out some of the what-if scenarios you're hearing about as the Copenhagen date approaches.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

According to Andrew Kudless—from design/architecture studio Matsy—this kind of water-based structures may become "the fundamental factor in future urban infrastructure in the American Southwest." He says he was inspired by Dune too:

In Frank Herbert's famous 1965 novel Dune, he describes a planet that has undergone nearly complete desertification. Dune has been called the "first planetary ecology novel" and forecasts a dystopian world without water. The few remaining inhabitants have secluded themselves from their harsh environment in what could be called subterranean oases. Far from idyllic, these havens, known as sietch, are essentially underground water storage banks. Water is wealth in this alternate reality. It is preciously conserved, rationed with strict authority, and secretly hidden and protected.

I like the idea. And I like how it looks even more. [BLDGBLOG]

Google Earth has a new application that shows carbon dioxide in different layers of the earth's atmosphere. Not only can you navigate through space, but also through time!

Indiana Jones wants to keep the tropical jungles where he has his adventures. In other words, Harrison Ford along with some heavy hitting companies have launched a new social networking site dedicated to stopping deforestation.

Ask Pablo: What is the most efficient use of solar power? Check out the top 3 ways tech helps us utilize the sun most efficiently.

Electric cars, anyone? Here are 9 that made the biggest splash at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Art Energy Design has created a sculpture, of a 12-foot flower with solar cells in the leaves and a small wind turbine for the petals. It looks hacked-yet-still-futuristic enough that it just might be something you want to install in your back yard.

We like plants near our computers but what about in our computers? Might you offset your carbon emissions with this desktop planter?

Android phone users, you're about to become scientists! Check out this awesome new app that puts research labs on your cell phone.

Nanotech looks to be the holy grail here is making more efficient solar panels to reduce the cost of solar power. Here's how that would work...

Nuclear bunker...for a data center? Turns out it's a perfect location for greening up IT operations. Check out this bat cave of a data center in Sweden.

Speaking of nuclear...guess what cleans it up! Here's a hint: It's a bacteria we try to avoid just as much as nuclear waste itself.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Nissan's engineers were originally tasked to simply recreate the sound of an engine. But, says 30-year veteran noise and vibration expert, Toshiyuki Tabata:

"We decided that if we're going to do this, if we have to make sound, then we're going to make it beautiful and futuristic. We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art."

The sound will kick in automatically when the car starts, and turn off at about 12mph (when tire noise is enough to warn pedestrians).

Of course, it's not the first time we've seen this sort of tech. Fisker Karma's electric car will use a similar system designed to sound "like something between a formula One car and a jet plane". That's cool and all, but I think I'd still take the Sci-Fi option. [Nissan via Bloomberg via LA Times]

Nanosolar has broken radio silence and the news is good. They've simultaneously released information about three things, including possibly hitting grid parity with their solar cells, starting mass production, and we get to view a very cool video showing the inside of their factories.

Will personal solar power take over our lives? This image from a concept personal solar power device makes us groan at the possibility. Even so, we have to admit that this solar vest is a great idea for Boda Boda operators in Africa. Solar certainly has its place.

Moving on from solar, turns out trees are a source of electricity as well. Could we one day just plug our gadgets into a branch at the park? Your computer could be that much more tree-huggable if you let it calculate and offset its emissions all on its own.

It looks like lithium could be a wildly sought-after material as our need for batteries grows. Check out this video about where lithium is produced and its potential future in the marketplace. The news about lithium also reminds us about the importance of recycling those toxic batteries. But there's good news on that front as well, with perfect gadget recycling as a reachable goal.

And no column is really complete without the mention of robots. Check out the deep sea robot being tested out off the coast of California.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Home energy monitors get reviewed, and our findings can help you figure out what works best for you. Jon Plowman, the former head of BBC Comedy, explains how each real-time energy saving display works, and talks us through the pros and cons.

Speaking of saving energy, Apple's new Snow Leopard OS gets reviewed for its energy saving potential, and the results are small but surprising over the long term.

And speaking of Apple, they've had a major packaging fail that we spent some time gasping at. But then again, if you're an Apple fan, there's a way to deliciously make up for any added carbon footprint you might have thanks to the company...

On the car front, some interesting things have been happening. Police cars are using new technology to cut down on idling time and save $3k per year per car...so your next speeding ticket might be thaaaaat much more green.

Moving on to cell phones, there are some surprising numbers that most of us don't know about the devices. We give some back story and tips about making the most of your mobile.

Off-grid energy has also been getting attention. First, we talk about a wide range of cool devices that disconnect us from the wall outlet. We also talk about Japan's own moonshot - their goal to invest $21 billion in space-based solar power.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

The modest distance (and height of about 5 feet) isn't a bad start in human-powered flight for a do-it-yourselfer. Dutchman Jesse van Kuijk hopes to go further in the future, without the bike chain powering his propeller slipping off its cog.

Though he's never flown in a real plane, Jesse says he studied self-powered craft like the Gossamer Condor and the English-Channel crossing Gossamer Albatross. He also got tips from the Albatross' pilot, American Bryan Allen, who is now a software engineer for the Mars exploration project.

So, what did you do this Summer? [Spiegel via Inhabitat]

The Robotic Hull Bio-inspired Underwater Grooming tool or Hull BUG is a new autonomous robot that can sense where a ship is and isn't clean, and spiff up besmirched spots. And the Navy expects it to be a big deal for fuel efficiency.

Spray-on solar power is closer than we think. A new nano-ink process may one day become a standard manufacturing method for solar panels.

Spray-on is great, but what about zip-up? An idea for lightweight, inflatable solar panels would brings renewable energy access to any building.

A crash-landed UFO is using solar power to clean up two of the grungier canals in the Japanese city of Osaka

And just to stick with odd solar stuff, check out a couple of the stranger uses: how about using the sun to rotate your hanging baskets, or cool your picnic?

Temporary housing could get a face lift with this cool concept for a not quite tent, not quite house buBle. And offices could get a face lift of their own with a concept for breathing wall partitions.

And finally, Kindle news. Turns out, it might be justifiably more green than printed books.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Recycle your phone by throwing it. Really! Check out 4 ways to keep your phone green.

Electric cars are already a greener option for automobiles, but what if they were also smart enough to charge up only when electricity is at its cheapest? Ford is looking to give customers exactly this with new charging software.

Speaking of cheaper electricity options, the Internet could become less energy intensive with smart algorithms. A new study shows how energy-savvy algorithms could switch traffic to data centers where the cost is lowest.

And finally, what week kicks off well without UFOs? Well, UFO-like objects, anyway. This very cool solar-powered water filter just hit the waterways of Japan.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

TOPLESS stands for "Thin Organic Polymeric Light Emitting Semi-conductor Surfaces" (not your first guess, eh?); it's a three year, £3.3M project financed 50% by the UK government and 50% by a consortium with the goal of creating "high quality white light generating single polymer, and efficient large area single pixel
device architectures." In the video here, you can see one of their very cool OLED Desk Lamp prototypes in action.

The solar messenger bags, which have a removable flap with a solar panel that charges a built-in LED light and USB connection, are so far drawing fairly positive response from the locals African Hersman.

Nearly every day, we get news of a new cell phone app that will help us shop for eco-friendly this or that, figure our public transit route for us, help us find recycling outlets, or control the thermostat in
our home. There are hundreds of "green" apps, all claiming to make our lives more eco-friendly if we use them. So, are people using them and are they making anyone's life greener?

Finally, here's a pretty cool solar coffee maker. It was created by designer Gun Ho Lee, and while we have some doubts on how well it would work, it definitely looks better than most coffee makers...

When trying to determine the greenest option among products, it is important to take into account the whole life-cycle of the product. The U.S. Department of Energy has already released a few life-cycle assessments (LCA) of LED lights and LED maker Osram has just released a new LCA study conducted by the Siemens Corporate Technology Centre for Eco Innovations. Their conclusions are pretty interesting...

Vinod Khosla clarifies his take on the future of Lithium-Ion batteries and the future of energy storage in a guest post. Get the scoop on Li batteries from someone in the know.

We take a look at the Samsung Reclaim and wonder if it's just another piece of greenwash, or worth a double take.

Craving a solar charger for your gadgets but everything on the market so far is a bit clunky? Well, they're getting better.

So, are netbooks greener than notebooks or not? We weigh the pros and cons to decide if you're going green if you're on the netbook bandwagon.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

We're not kidding. Salmon DNA gets spun into nanofibers and is used to coat these extra-durable white LEDs. They can even tune the color.

The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) has teamed up with several Googlers to put greenhouse gas emissions data on maps.

For something to be green, it has to be practical. That's not the case for this Kodak solar charger that takes 28 hours of sunlight to fully charge batteries.

Computer models are used for all kinds of things these days, including to help salmon safely pass hydropower dams to go breed upriver. Pretty cool what technology can do!

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

In its Eco-Management 2013 report, Samsung says $4.3 billion is going into greening its gadgets. Check out how.

Can a robot lay bricks better than human workers? A particular robot in Switzerland raises the question, and a gorgeous building.

This cool cookstove greens up your BBQ and gives you extra electricity!

It just might be the right time to boast your gadget repair skills. Business is booming for iPod doctors!

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

If you're off grid but still needing to use AA-style batteries, wouldn't it be great to be able to add more juice just by shaking them up a bit? That's what the Mint Energy Rechargeable Battery concept would allow us to do...just use a little "shakenergy."

The latest in our un-TreeHugger department is a very odd cell phone idea, that helps you pollute the air with cigarette smoke along with all the other emissions associated with mobile devices. Yes, light up with a built-in cigarette lighter!

MIT has just announced a new project that makes trash a whole lot more technical -Trash Track. The goal is to figure out exactly how much energy and effort goes into taking trash from homes to final disposal, which could help guide consumer choices about products while they're still on the shelves.

They call it the Net-Zero Energy home. It has ground source heat pumps (promising a 30% reduction in energy use), photovoltaic arrays, supplementary wind power, high efficiency appliances and battery storage, all talking to each other through a Home Energy Manager. That's a lot of impressive technology. But are green gizmos the best way to achieve net zero energy?

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.