Steamed wood flowerpot

This is the world's first and only steam-bent Flower Pot. Each one is a beautiful and unique work of art with its own personality. As a limited edition of 500, each is handmade, signed and numbered by one of the sixixis team.

The sixixis Flower Pot is made from one long length of locally sourced, sustainable Cornish ash, which is then carefully steamed and bent into shape; finished with weather-proof varnish. About $70

Cyborg GruntBot

Sunday Press (2011) Eliminating excessive costs, future builders may use superpowers on the job by leasing the Hal-5 for $600 per month.

Yoshiyuki Sankai of the University of Tsukuba has developed a cyborg-type robot suit.

The motor reads signals from the brain while the suit moves together with hands and legs. This advances the art because the suit's hands and legs move at will and do not move on their own.

A polio sufferer could walk, although with a limp, and even a person with a spinal disability could walk with its help,

and a load of materials could get on site before lunch!

via RawFeed

Productivity jig for doors

Simply place the door between the two 'L' members and the weight of the door automatically clamps it securely into place.

For installing doors from 1'1/8 to 2'1/4. The wheeled and 'big wheeled' models allow heavy doors to be moved with ease.

Drywall or plywood can be moved by simply placing the material in the holder as you would a door.

Denpo Door says, "This door holder is a quality product. Its paint is a tough powder coat finish that can stand up to the heaviest of shop activity. Made of heavy gauge steel, this holder can hold up to 300 Lbs. and will provide many years of heavy duty use."

Toilet target

find that pan in the dark, says redferret, describing the neon glow:

The Jonny Glow Toilet Locator uses no electricity, batteries or hidden magic sauce to help you hit the toilet pan accurately.

Instead it relies on good ole glow in the dark stick-on strips. Your family will thank you. As will your slippers. $11.99.

Improved driver bits

Driver bits with a coating of fine diamond grit to increase friction.

Hardened steel, nickel-plated. 1" long, 1/4" hex shanks.

Lee Valley. About $3 each.

Fuel and glue

Paul Weimer at the USDA Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Weimer has found a bioadhesive that is tough enough to replace up to 70 percent of the petroleum-based phenol-formaldehyde that's used to manufacture plywood and other pressed-wood products.

But wait, there's more:
He's also discovered a way to boost cellulosic ethanol production, with the help of some unusually hardy bacteria. By tapping the plant-degrading powers of Clostridium thermocellum. Thanks to this heat-loving microbe, which thrives in 145-degree environments and doesn't require oxygen, he's been able to create ethanol plus an all-natural wood glue as well.

Building block from waste

Bitublock is a new construction material with high recycle content - waste materials such as crushed glass, pulverised fuel ash, incinerated sewage sludge ash and steel slag.

The use of bitumen as the binder managed to achieve a level of replacement that exceeds any replacement percentage achieved so far with cementitious and clay-bound materials.

Compressive strength of the various versions of Bitublock is at least equal to that of the normal cement aggregate block plus seems to produce more flexibility.

With several support grants, the new product was developed by the Civil Engineering division of the University of Leeds, UK.

The group is also developing a version made from vegetable oil called the Vegeblock.

Solvents lower sperm count

Men who are regularly exposed to moderate to high levels of organic solvents on the job may increase their chances of having a low active sperm count, or reduced sperm motility, report Canadian and British researchers. [findarticles]

The researchers found that among infertile couples, men with the highest solvent exposure--including professional printers, painters, dry cleaners, and marine craft builders--were twice as likely as men without such exposure to have a low number of active sperm.

Men exposed to high levels of solvents should try to minimize their exposure because of the solvents' known adverse effects on the nervous system. Such effects include nervous system depression and possibly death at very high levels of exposure, as well as chronic effects on mood and behavior following repeated exposure over years at work.

A third arm tool

The DimonLyft is an invention sold in Europe that just might be the bee's knees for reducing fatigue.

The load is transferred from arms and fingers to the hips.

The website says, "Productivity is at least doubled..."

Maximum tool weight about 15 pounds.

Self cleaning birdbath

This is a self cleaning birdbath that operates with conventional sprinkler systems for automatic operation.

This pic is a beta production bowl and nozzel. The nozzle blasts water across the bowl as it rotates, then fills bowl.

Much cheaper photovoltaic power

Third Generation photovoltaic power seems to be arriving from the work at Massey University in New Zealand.

Solar electricity 90% cheaper
Solar electricity in the shade
Solar electricity generators in our windows

New Zealand's 'Stuff' reports:
Not using silicon, the new solar cells do not require direct sunlight to operate and use a patented range of dyes that can be impregnated in roofs, window glass and eventually in clothing to produce power.

The key to everything is the ability of the synthetic dyes to pass on the energy.

The 10 micron thick layer of dye-sensitized titania nanocrystals form an optically transparent film of titanium dioxide. "This means teenagers could one day be wearing jackets that will recharge their equivalents of cellphones, iPods and other battery- driven devices."

After Gutenberg reports:

Titanium dioxide solar cells are cheaper and cleaner to manufacture than traditional silicon solar cells. After 15 years of research there seems to progress in developing an efficient dye-sensitized solar cell, DyeSol has begun manufacture of titanium dioxide solar cells.

The basic material is an abundant, non-toxic, mineral — titanium dioxide — coomonly used in pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, cosmetics, etc. Thus, these solar cells are more environmentally friendly that other types of solar cells.

Concrete that cleans pollution

also at One Stop Thought Shop

"Smart building materials designed to clean the air"

The European Union earmarked US$2.27 billion to develop "smart" construction materials that would break down pollution - nitrogen oxides and other toxic substances.

From transstudio

"In the United States there are 46,837 miles of highways with miles of sound barrier walls being erected daily to mitigate the negative impacts of highway systems on urban neighborhoods. At the same time, these transportation systems alone produce 1.4 billion tons of airborne pollution annually.

With the increasing prominence of this additional component to our highway infrastructure, the public is beginning to demand a more appealing design solution to highway-generated air, sound, and light pollution.

"In addition to mitigating sound and light pollution as present highway barrier systems do, the Superabsorber system also absorbs airborne pollutants. Designed by Douglas Hecker and Martha Skinner of Clemson-based FieldOffice, this innovative system has the potential to significantly reduce airborne pollution in urban areas with the application of photocatalytic cement products that have been demonstrated to reduce air pollution in urban areas by 50% when covering just 15% of urban surfaces."

"Among other things, we want to construct concrete walls that break down vehicle exhausts in road tunnels," said Karin Pettersson, a spokeswoman for Swedish construction giant Skanska. "It is also possible to make pavings that clean the air in cities." [technology review]

---

Update:
Enrico Borgarello, head of research and development for Italcementi, developed TX Active. It's an additive for cement that literally eats surrounding smog.

"When light shines on TX, the material becomes active and neutralizes surrounding pollutants like nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide."

According to tests conducted by Italcementi, which spent more than a decade and $10 million developing the product, TX can reduce local air pollutants from 20% to 70%, depending on sunlight levels and wind. It also adds as much as 20% to the cost of the cement.

Cover 15% of the exposed surfaces of a city like Milan, Borgarello estimates, and you could cut pollution in half. And as a bonus, TX helps buildings stay whiter than white by resisting the pollutants that scar and stain cement over time. [Time Magazine]

Redneck PCs

From Raw Feed, Computers For People Who Wear Hard Hats

It used to be that Windows PCs were for people who sit on their asses all day in some office.

But nowadays, blue collar workers are getting PCs for their "workstations," too (forklifts, cranes, construction equipment, and freight carriers).

Noax Technologies has introduced wireless Embedded Windows XP PCs for HEAVY EQUIPMENT that can survive rain, dust, extreme vibration and even refrigeration.

Ouch.
Starts at $3500

Small Scaffold

Gizmag reports:

Australian company AdForm is to unveil an interesting portable scaffolding.

The key feature of the standard 1.8 metre AUD$595 (US$) Miniskaff is that it can be assembled inside eight minutes, deconstructed to fit into a standard car luggage space and offers a safe, stable elevated platform capable of carrying a workload of 225 kilograms.

Miniskaff is seeking international licensors for the system.

Forget about sink plungers?

It's been estimated that the average person loses 100 hairs per day. Some of that hair inevitably ends up down the drain and entangling on drain hardware.

Flexisnake aggressively grabs drain hair and holds fast, like velcro, providing the mechanical force needed to retrieve those tenacious clogs that drain cleaners fail to budge. You don't have to climb under the sink and disassemble the drain trap.

FlexiSnake costs less than most drain cleaners, about $3. Simply throw it away when you're done.

Wireless automated meter reading

Shanghai, China's largest and most developed city, may become a leader in AMR deployment - wireless automated meter reading.

In the next 10 years, China is expected to build more than 70 million new homes in what observers are calling an unprecedented housing boom in the country.

This year alone, Shanghai will build towers with more living and working space than all the towers in New York City.

The most sophisticated toilet

No drain.

No water.

Recently tested by the Canadian government, this may be the only 'certified' closed system composting toilet in North America.

Ecoethic.ca calls it "The most sophisticated composting toilet in the world."

A fan pushes warm air under and around the compost in order to achieve the optimum temperature for fast decomposition and evaporation of liquid. A float switch operates heaters if excess liquid is detected.

The toilets are equipped with stainless steel mixing arms (with 'cutting blades') to breakdown toilet paper and ensure the compost is in a homogenous state. The efficient mixing of the compost ensures enough there is the required amount of oxygen for the process. The mechanical mixing and aerating makes the material porous and sifts the composted portion into the humus tray below. The non-composted portion and the dry, composted portion are kept separate.