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Japan's Shokubutsu Hana, the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, Vetiver Farms Philippines, and agency TBWA\SMP teamed up to create a floating billboard to soak up pollution and discourage people from throwing trash in the river. It was made using vetiver, a type of grass that can absorb toxic materials and help to reduce pollution. Spelling out "Clean River Soon," according to the brand the installation is capable of cleaning between 2,000 and 8,000 gallons of water every day.  Eh, not so sure about that one, but if the plants were selected appropriately, this is an awesome way to market a business while phytoremediating nasty water.

A book with each sheet of paper acting as a water filter.  Good look Trav!

Paper making research.  I love to see the waste stream offset typical extraction-based production.  Thanks for the share on this one Ivy!

Earthworms that make their home in contaminated soil do so at a significant cost, according to French and Danish researchers. Results of the study, Acclimation of earthworms to chemicals in anthropogenic landscapes, physiological mechanisms and soil ecological implications, found that earthworms exposed to fungicides in conventionally farmed soil were at a stark disadvantage to worms in land managed organically. Earthworms exposed to the fungicide product Opus, containing active ingredient epoxiconazole, were able to detoxify the chemical, but gained half as much weight as worms from an organic farm, where their population was also two to three times higher.  Whole shebang here.

Joiner’s team realized they could measure that glow from existing satellite data. Research led by Luis Guanter at the Freie Universität Berlin then used the data to estimate the photosynthesis from agriculture.  More here.

Billboard produces potable water via condensation.  Thanks for the share Carrie Mae Rose!

Living in concrete pipes in Mexico -- Tubohotel.  Check: http://www.tubohotel.com

Word.

Behold – 32 days of work to take 126 individual photos, stitched together to create one amazing image. Michael “Nick” Nichols worked on the image for National Geographic – with the tree representing 110 generations of human life.

The designers envision the product as something that people can create in their own kitchens. People can modify and innovate the recipe and CIY (“Cook-It-Yourself”) the Ooho on their own.

The device uses a combination of parabolic mirrors inside fiberoptic cables to concentrate the sun’s energy on a single point, which in turn creates heat of up to 700 degree fahrenheit. This heat is used to scorch and sterilize human waste, which leaves behind a charcoal-like substance that is much easier to transport and put to use on farms around the world.

The operation took 23 hours and was a world’s first, according to UMC Utrecht. According to Verweij, skull implants have been performed before, but it was the first time that a whole cranium was replaced with a plastic skull. In a report, Verweij explained that implants used to be made by hand using a cement-like material that was “far from ideal” and 3D printing technology allowed them to create a skull implant in the exact size they needed. He also added that patients’ brain function often recovers better than when the old method was used.

Created by data scientist Jen Lowe, One Human Heartbeat is an experiment that visualizes Lowe’s pulsating heartbeat. Using the Basis watch to track her pulse, Lowe has created a live stream of her beating heart for all of the Internet to see, and even points out how many more days she is expected to live.

John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his research team have developed a fully biodegradable battery that dissolves inside the body after three weeks in water.  The biodegradable device has several potential uses, including environmental applications wherein the device can be turned into a chemical sensor that assesses an oil spill and simply dissolve afterwards, as well as biomedical implants that deliver drugs as controlled or in response to time-sensitive events like epileptic seizures.  Read more.