Hasta La Ideas

Memorandum…

We’ve got an oldie-but-goodie today: it’s an upcycled photobioreactor for cultivating algae, which (ideally) could be exchanged for biofuel credits. But that’s only half of the story: “Bio-Grow” took second place in the International E-Waste Design Competition 2010, incorporating refurbished waste materials—namely a laptop, an iMac and a tower enclosure—into the unassuming, bathroom sink-sized unit. Thus, Mark Schnitzer and his teammates Timothy Harvey, Elliot DeVries, Reza Shiftehfar and Meg Kenney designed “Bio-Grow” to hit the sweet spot between forward-looking sustainability and repurposing e-waste materials.

Rising oil prices and overflowing dumps are ongoing problems… Can we solve for a ‘green’ issue while utilizing recycled electronic materials? For the 2010 International E-Waste Design Competition, my team has designed a photobioreactor for the cultivation of algae, to be later manufactured into biodiesel. Utilizing salvaged and refurbished electronic waste, my team has reinvented the components user experience. The Bio-Grow exists as both a local and global system. With the combination of these two systems, the Bio-Grow is envisioned to help solve the problems of both e-waste and oil consumption. Ultimately, algae-based biofuels will completely replace fossil fuels.

As for what’s under the hood, so to speak: a Dell Latitude CPX notebook serves as the control panel, displaying the vital statistics of the ecosystem. The Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) of a discarded iMac, concealed within the base, has been adapted as a lighting and heating unit, which can be adjusted to the ideal wavelength for growing algae. Lastly, a G4 tower has been repurposed as the clear tank itself, its iconic form factor suggested only by the protruding corners of the box.

In other words, it’s essentially the opposite of burning the candle at both ends: by adapting detrimental electronic waste into a source of green energy, “Bio-Grow” is a sort of ultimate win-win.

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What’s your favorite color, Johnny? 19-1664! Hey, it could happen, now that Abrams has inked a licensing deal with Pantone for a new series of books that will prime young readers for colorful lives. The first of the Pantone Colors books will hit shelves in March as part of the new Abrams Appleseed imprint, which will be dedicated to “artful, developmental, and transformative books for readers ages 0-5.” Pantone Colors will introduce babies, toddlers, and preschoolers to the wonderful world of the Pantone Matching System through eye-catching spreads: a recognizable monochromatic illustration will be matched with a Pantone swatch-style array of shades and tints, each one named for familiar objects. According to Abrams, “By experiencing each of the colors first as an image, then as shades, children are introduced to the concept that one color name can mean many different things in a dynamic way that will thrill parents, educators, and designers.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

I’m not sure if it’s the presentation or the Sharper-Image-style design, but the Levitron Revolution somehow manages to make desktop levitation pretty cheesy. The idea is neat enough: You stick an up-to-12-oz. object onto the disc, and it floats above the base. Then, I guess, you invite people into your office to show it to them while warning them not to touch it.

I wouldn’t think you’d want a powerful electromagnet on your desk, so close to your laptop, but apparently people do—the $100 device is currently sold out.

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Finley and I downloaded a new app recently that we’d like to share with you. Robot Blue from Planet 22 is the story about a tired robot who has lost his “off” switch and cannot fall asleep. As the story is narrated, you can help the robot look for the switch, put together some puzzles, push robot buttons and feed the robot a bedtime snack. A bonus for us is that one of Robot Blue’s companions is a fish named Finn.

Robot Blue from Planet 22 was written and illustrated by Jayson Fuerstenberg who is one of the illustrators profiled in Work/Life 2.

Download it today on iTunes!

And take a look at this:

Underneath Robot Blue in the New Books section of iTunes is the app companion to our book Work/Life 2, deemed #1 of What’s Hot! Cool. Download the FREE Work/Life 2 app here and purchase the book here.