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Blogging the future

BotaniCalls is a new technology that allows plants to communicate directly to people through the phone. A soil moisture sensor and a phone device allows plants to alert their owners when they are in need of water, making gardening an easier task for everyone.

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A plant is supposed to be self-sufficient when it lives in its natural environment. It converts sunlight into nutrients with a process called photosynthesis, and needs the occasional rain shower to keep it hydrated and healthy. Plants come in all shapes and sizes, and have adapted into various environments which means they can be found on almost any terrain in the world.

Most people have at least one type of plant in his or her home; plants can give any dull room some much needed color. Some of them spring up flowers, others grow vines, but when they are taken out of their natural habitat, they can no longer survive on their own – they need a human’s helping hand to keep them alive and constantly flourishing. However, in today’s hectic society, it is common for people to neglect their plants, leaving them to die from dehydration.

BotaniCalls is an ongoing collaboration between scientists Rob Faludi, Kate Hartman, and Kati London from New York City. They have devised a way for plants to call their owner whenever they are in need of water. A soil moisture sensor is implemented inside, which detects when a plant needs water. The results are then sent through a phone that is connected to the owner’s personal cell phone. Through this innovative technology, a plant will never die prematurely again.

The goals of the BotaniCalls project are to help keep plants alive, as well as to enhance our connection with other living organisms. By using technology, we can better understand plants, while making gardening an easier task.

More info:

• http://www.botanicalls.com
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxqX5XM9SUE

Students from the College of Science and Technology at Deakin University create the home of the future: a compact house with adaptable rooms that will change as needed, and a shared garden and patio for up to 4 members of one family.

We tend to associate people who live in big houses with personal and professional success. This is one of the most striking features in our society: the values are determined by material goods that people acquire throughout life.

But at least with regard to buildings and homes, that concept may have its days numbered.

A group of students from the College of Science and Technology at Deakin University, Australia,led by Project Leader Jeremy J. Ham, has created several designs of houses for the year 2050. And one of these projects shows how one family of up to four people can live perfectly well in space of only 16 square meters (about 150 feet)!

The residence has a single room, but at the same time possesses dining room, office, living room, bathroom, etc.. How is this possible? The students created the concept of “modules” so that the environments are “assembled” in accordance with the time or need.

This tendency to abolish the walls of a house, incorporating the environment and the people who live there, is becoming more popular among architects. This project shows the most extreme aspect of this innovative and interactive trend.

The house of the future also has garden and yard surfaces, touch screen walls, and translucent panels. In addition, housing is self-sustaining. The house has received a number of adjectives such as intelligent, virtual, recyclable, smart, and interactive.

The concept is built upon a dynamic blend of space, time, and necessity, for people in the future. The results can be seen in the video below.

More Info:

• http://www.ab.deakin.edu.au/online/futurehouse/
• http://www.deakin.edu.au/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SNRzQSBJ8g

Swedish designer Camilla Diedrich has found a way to combine wallpaper with electric lights in order to create a fashionable and innovative way of illuminating a room. By incorporating fiber optics into wallpaper, Diedrich delivers a beautiful and interesting way of brightening our homes in a way never thought possible.

Wallpaper and illumination systems allow us to decorate our homes with plenty of space to express our inner designer. Today however, thanks to optic fibers we can integrate the two together.

In 1879 the era of artificial lighting was born under Thomas Edison. Not only was the first prototype of a lamp and an incandescent light bulb created, but also the acceleration of an entire industrial sector. Very few people remember that optic fibers are contemporary to the light bulb, and that significant progresses in the field were only starting to be made in the 1960’s. In reality, the optic fibers are very efficient conductors of electricity, and in this case, also a potential lighting alternative.

Nature Ray Charles is special wallpaper that entwines strings of optic fiber in a luminescent flower pattern, giving the room a truly amazing look. The Swedish designer, Camilla Dietrich, idealized the concept with the intent to find an innovative way to illuminate any room without having to use electrical lighting methods. The Swedish stylists are committed to rendering the design accessible to the public.

Imagine what type of scenarios we would be able to surround ourselves with if this optic fiber was powered by solar energy and sold at a cheaper price. The price of this wallpaper is still too high to be considered a product entering the mass-market, but the energy saving advantages it has will certainly draw public interest.

More Info.:

• http://online.diedrich.se/

Washing clothes by barely using any water? As impossible as that sounds, a system has been put in place where environmental friendliness meats cleanliness. In the future, doing the laundry won’t be nearly as wasteful for our limited and precious natural resources, and it doesn’t include going to the lake and washing clothes like they did centuries ago.

The first ever washing machine was patented in 1858 by Hamilton Smith. This rotary machine accomplished the simple deed of washing away dirt from clothes. As the years rolled on, washing machines became more and more effective, being able to use detergents as well to make clothes smell like new, while also washing away stains. Now, theses machines are used in most households all over the world. But the environmental consequences are noteworthy, namely: the millions of gallons of water needed for washing machines to operate at optimum capacity.

Researchers at the University of Leeds have developed a washing machine that uses an astonishingly low amount of water. It only consumes a mere 2 percent compared to any other conventional washing machine. This technology is already being dubbed as the “virtually waterless washing system”. The process uses plastic granules that are mixed with the clothing and have the power to remove stains singlehandedly. This process is capable of removing virtually any type of dirt or build up, and when the clothes are taken out, they are almost dry.

The process being developed will have beneficial effects for the earth and water usage. Each washing cycle will lead to less build up at industrial sites such as wastewater treatment centers. As this technology spreads around the globe, fresh, usable water will be available for other services, rather than wasting by the gallon as it washes clothes.

More Info.:

• http://www.leeds.ac.uk/media/press_releases/current/washing_machine.htm