Wind Power Without the Drawbacks: Aeroturbines

Wind energy is clean and green, but has its critics and its drawbacks, including noise pollution, and the possibility to harm wildlife (birds fly into the turning blades). But, a company from Illinois has come up with a design that seems to have revolutionized the wind turbine industry. Aerotecture International.

From their site: "Aeroturbines are wind turbines designed for urban settings. Invented by University of Illinois industrial design professor, Bil Becker, Aeroturbines are a new development in wind turbine technology. Aeroturbines can be installed on existing rooftops or built into the architecture of new buildings to provide clean renewable electricity at its site of consumption. Aeroturbines are uniquely suited to urban environments because they are:

• Noise and vibration-free
• Safe for birds
• Able to utilize multi-directional and gusting winds
• Self-regulating (no overspeed protection required)
• Low maintenance
• Made from low-cost and readily available materials

The structural features of the Aeroturbine allow for its easy integration into new or existing buildings: the modular/stackable cages are additive and can be mounted in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal orientation."

These urban wind turbines basically look like a huge helix. They are apparently quiet, can be made safe for the birds, and it seems they are on track to be acceptable for zoning in many major cities due to their unobtrusive design. Check out Aerotecture International. It is the future of wind power.

The Cool Hunter

I like to think I am cool enough to "give a shout out" to the following site, but now that I think about it, I put quotes around "give a shout out" in addition to using the slang "give a shout out" which is really dated and not cool at all. Oh well. I accept my uncoolness.

Check out the following site if you want to be cool. The people who update this site are WAY cooler than I am:
The Cool Hunter

Picture above credit to The Cool Hunter.net. "Props" to The Cool Hunters, and the designer of the room shown. There I go again with those quote marks.

Hella-of-a Designer

Surfing the internet the other day looking for great designers, and the name Hella Jongerius keeps coming up. Rightfully so. One of a crop of great Dutch designers, formerly with the famous Droog Design, now producing work under Jongeriuslab. A substantial list of collections and design accolades to her credit. This is apparently an important designer for our time. I just like the stuff she designs. Insert description of work here... her work is nice to look at, but have you ever noticed that people who write reviews of things use the same language over and over again? Makes it feel unoriginal. I hate that.

Check out her site. I'm curious to hear what you might think we'll remember Jongeriuslab for in 30 years. What is the icon? Is there one piece? Will the style just get grouped into a big group of Dutch designers with "this style". Write a post. I'm curious about your opinions.

i Robot - i Like

Admittedly, I'm not on the cutting edge of the technology bubble here by talking about the Roomba robot vacuum and its siblings, by the iRobot company, but I do want one. More so recently than ever before. They just keep getting better, doing more and more jobs for us. Actually take the time to physically vacuum or wash the floor? Too easy. NOW, I can even get by without having to actually get my hands dirty cleaning my gutters with their new Looj. This is amazing! Live smart, not hard I like to say.

And, to add to the cool factor, so many people have been "hacking" the Roomba, that the company now offers an open platform model that can be customized. I understand one person was able to program it to retrieve beers from the refrigerator. That is so completely, impractically cool!

Or, they also offer a ConnectR robot, which you can use to interact with your kids, or pets instead of you! How good can it get? "Gee honey, I'm sort of worn down from work today and really need a break. Just send in the robot to talk to little Timmy about how school was today." Alright, I realize I just switched to sarcastic. But there are limits to what duties we should expect robots to do for us. And I suppose it does require some interaction from you... BUT, I digress... Check out the Roomba at iRobot.