New Device Helps Paralyzed Walk

Amanda Boxtel hasn’t walked since a skiing accident left her paralyzed nearly two decades ago.
In the video below, she stands and walks for the first time in 18 years using eLegs, a 45-pound wearable robotic exoskeleton aimed at getting paraplegics out of their wheelchairs and onto their feet. It’s an amazing sight.

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Electric Taxis in San Francisco

Palo Alto, Calif. – (October 27, 2010) – Better Place, with support from the U.S. Department of Transportation via the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, today announced a commitment to bring a switchable battery, electric taxi program to the Bay Area in partnership with the cities of San Francisco and San Jose to further cement the region’s position as the “EV Capital of the U.S.”

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India Develops $35 "laptop"

India has come up with the world's cheapest "laptop," a touch-screen computing device that costs $35. India's Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal unveiled the low-cost computing device that is designed for students, saying his department had started talks with global manufacturers to start mass production.

"We have reached a (developmental) stage that today, the motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around $35, including memory, display, everything," he told a news conference.

To see the laptop in action select the "Read More" link below:

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Local Dirt - connecting farmers and buyers

When Heather Hilleren worked for Whole Foods she noticed they had trouble finding and buying from local farmers.

By 2005, Hilleren had earned an MBA from University of Wisconsin Business School. As one of her class projects, she had developed a plan to use the power of an online interface to facilitate buying between local farmers, distributors, cooperatives, retailers, restaurateurs and even individuals.

Hilleren combined her savings,  a $600,000 National Science Foundation grant and  $1 million in new investment from O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures in San Francisco and Boston-based Peak Ridge Capital.

She's using the money to get the word out nationally and to continue to build her offerings for her site, which she says has thousands of farmers, distributors and buyers. Hilleren wants to offer electronic ordering services for local grocery store buyers, who can simply go online, check local farmers' inventory and buy what they need. Eventually, she plans to charge a subscription fee--probably $360 per year--to wholesale buyers and sellers.

The site saves the average wholesale buyer about four hours a week, Hilleren says. In addition, it gives farmers a new sales venue, and it offers transparency. "People can actually find out when the product was harvested and what the growing practices were that went along with it," she says. "All products need to be identified, so people know what they're buying and where it came from."

Read the entire Article:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217449

Visit the Local dirt website:
http://www.localdirt.com/

What can you do with this information ?

• Run, don't walk to your local organic supermarket and ask them if they use this service, if not print out the website and the article listed above and give it to the manager. 
• Share this information with local restaurants that use locally grown produce.
• If you or someone you know farms organically send them this information.
• Read the FAQ page at the website to learn more about the program (they sell a lot more than fruit and veggies) http://www.localdirt.com/faq-a193.html
• The next time someone tells you the government just wastes our money. Mention that the National Science Foundation supports this site which is creating jobs for local farmers nationwide.
• Write an note to the Hillary thanking her for creating this service, a little encouragement goes a long way. http://www.localdirt.com/contact_us-a194.html
• Share this blog with friends and associates

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Khan Academy

One of the most amazing educational resources on the Internet. Over 1800 free online videos and thousands of practice problems all produced by one man -- Salman Khan: Teacher to the World

The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere.

Sal has videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology and finance which have been recorded by Sal at his home.

The Academy also has an "exercises" section which allows you to solve problems online, find out if you answered correctly and get hints if needed. After you have correctly answered 10 problems you are prompted to move to the next level.

Sal received his MBA from Harvard Business School where he was president of the student body. He also holds a Masters in electrical engineering and computer science, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and a BS in mathematics from MIT where he was president of the the Class of 1998. While at MIT, Sal was the recipient of the Eloranta Fellowship which he used to develop web-based math software for children with ADHD.

Tell all the Math teachers you know about this resource.

Khan Academy website
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Khan Academy Exercises
http://www.khanacademy.org/exercisedashboard

Google Awards Khan Academy $2 million prize
http://edudemic.com/2010/09/google-awards-2-million-prize-to-khan-academy/

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United Through Reading

United Through Reading helps parents separated from their children share the simple joys of reading aloud together.

Picture a young Soldier in Afghanistan walking into a tent, dropping his gear, and picking up a copy of Green Eggs and Ham to read to his daughter at home. Imagine, back home in base housing, his wife and daughter sit down to watch Daddy read a bedtime story from the other side of the world. At that moment, Daddy is home.

The Military Program, has more than 250 recording locations worldwide including nearly every deployed US Navy ship, in 75 USOs, and from forward operating locations around the world, including 46 camps in Afghanistan.

More than one million American children are separated from one or both parents due to military deployment and nearly double that for children separated from their loved ones due to incarceration, drug treatment, or social services. Still others are separated from their grandparents, and therefore, from generational love and learning. United Through Reading has served 1 million beneficiaries over the past 21 years.

If you know of someone who can benefit from this program, please pass along the resources listed below.

Original Article;
http://www.serve.gov/stories_detail.asp?tbl_servestories_id=407

I found this story at a government website - United We Serve
http://www.serve.gov/stories_all.asp

United Through Reading website:
http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/

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Smart Power Outlets

John La Grou unveils an ingenious new technology that will smarten up the electrical outlets in our homes, using microprocessors and RFID tags. The invention, Safeplug, promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires -- and to conserve energy.

His solution, Safeplug, is a cheap data chip placed into the plugs of appliances that can be read by a cheap wireless receiver in the socket. The device and the outlet are now an intelligent network, trading information of the safe operating ranges of the device. This allows the wall socket to shut off power if too much energy is flowing.

Whenever there is nothing plugged in, the wall unit can just simply shut off. Considering the amount of sockets in the States alone, shutting them off when not in use can save an unbelievable amount of wasted energy. It could even prevent injuries caused by children playing with electrical sockets. 

Watch the video and read more at
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_la_grou_plugs_smart_power_outlets_1.html

I found this article at the TED site - ideas worth spreading
http://www.ted.com/

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Lifestraw - Cleans Yucky Water

This device is so simple and effective you can tell by looking at it that you have found a winner.

The Problem: I was surprised to learn that a shocking 6,000 people die daily from consuming unsafe water.

The Solution: The Danish company Vestergaard Frandsen has created a clever portable water filtration system called the LifeStraw. Designed to be worn around the neck, this life-saving accessory transforms mud puddles into a refreshing sip of water. Best of all, it requires no training to use and lasts for roughly a year (if used by a single person) without any maintenance what so ever.

I'm wondering if this could be used in this country for back packers who need clean water in remote locations.

Read the article:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/lifestraw_clean_water.php


Visit the Lifestraw Website:
http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw

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Recycling Plastic into Oil

A Japanese company called Blest created a small, very safe and easy to use machine that can convert several types of plastic back into oil.

You put in plastic bags, styrofoam containers and bottle caps and out comes gasoline, diesel, or propane. I hope that someday soon plastic bottles and styrofoam containers will be eliminated, but until that day we have to do something with them. Recycling them would be so cool.

I want one of these machines....

Here is the video and article.  Watch the movie and be amazed. the article is pretty long, but worth your time. http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/plastic-to-oil-fantastic/

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