This week's goodies for your Blu-ray home entertainment system will have you cowering behind your bowls of popcorn. (Come to think of it, it'll be a good idea to watch these with a very very jittery girl friend or boy friend.) Curious? We've got The Orphanage, One Missed Call, Sublime, and Six Degrees Could Change the World lurking at the full article.

It looks like Sharp is well on its way to developing technology for solar-powered homes. They have plans to produce storage batteries for solar power systems of homes along with two other companies, Daiwa House Industry Co. and Nippon Printing Co. Find out more after the jump!

There are a lot of ways to curb global warming. An example would be the use of electric cars which produce virtually zero pollution. Since there aren't a lot of these cars in the market, Andrew Angelloti built his own electric pickup truck with only US$ 6000.

Details of his truck after the jump!

With the issues of global warming and ozone layer depletion still hanging over our heads, it's good to know that people are still trying to find out ways on how to reduce traffic, specifically by reducing the public's reliance on cars and promoting public transportation usage.

Such is the case with Daventry, a Northamptonshire town in the UK that is experimenting with a self-driving vehicle termed the Cybercar.

The Cybercar offers the best in public transportation: push-button convenience, windows with a view, and no grumpy driver to contend with. The driving is done by a computer, one smart enough to use lasers to avoid obstacles and the like on the road.

This adds another layer of protection, considering that the Cybercar itself is only built for short trips at low speeds.

The demonstration of the Cybercar, the end result of Daventry collaborating with European Commission group Citymobil, is situated on the town's Eastern Way, where the vehicles can be seen zooming around in a test track. The demonstration itself ends on October 5.

As for the rationale of the Cybercar demo, Daventry District Council leader Chris Millar says, "We can build lots more car parks and have lots more cars going in or we can look at a viable alternative to the car. We believe this could be the answer."

Carry on, the little Cybercar that could. Chalk up one for the folks of Daventry!

 

We've seen all sorts of stuff in the QJ gadgets blog. Most of them are cool, others useful, and some are pretty trivial. This one shown off in the Fleethorse site, however, is totally out there.

The idea here is to not do away with cars while trying to stay green. The execution, however, wasn't too smooth. Yup, what you're seeing is a van with a horse trying to pull it along, or more appropriately, a "horse-powered" van.

We must say that the idea is noble and very entertaining. However, chariots were invented a very long time ago and this one just modified them a little. We might be able to do away with global warming if we ever mass-produce these, but with all the horse manure we'll get, land pollution horse-style could be the next issue for another Kyoto Protocol.

  

Everyone's environmentally conscious these days. The Swiss are no exception as they've developed the world's first commercialized solar barbecue. It's available now in the US and it's showing a lot of promise.

Unlike conventional grills, it doesn't use charcoal or gases to produce flames. As a matter of fact, the Solar Grill doesn't even use flames. Everything's done with the sun's heat. Using mirrors aimed at the sun, the light and heat is re-channeled towards the cooking chamber. Here you can roast meats and eat without worrying about contributing to global warming.

   

Another advantage is that you can bring it where flames are forbidden to be started. In fact, you can even use it in your home's balcony. The only problem is if you live in places where it's always cloudy. The Solar Grill is priced at US$ 250 and can be bought online.

Let's face it: Everyone doesn't want the planet to heat up like a warmed-over burrito and we'd all love to do something about global warming, but it's just that it's so much fun and convenient to pollute the air with our cars, power plants and cigarettes.

That's the deadlock that mankind is trying to break. We all want a good Earth and at the same time we don't want to stop living large, so the X Prize organization is organizing a contest in hopes of finding the most convenient solution possible.

With million at stake, mechanics and automotive engineers from around the world will try to come up with a clean and fuel efficient car that can save the world. The ultimate goal? Make the four-wheeler run a hundred miles per gallon.

These are the rules of the contest:

• Be simple to understand and easy to communicate
• Benefit the world - this is a global challenge
• Result in real cars available for purchase, not concept cars
• Remain independent, fair, non-partisan, and technology-neutral
• Provide clear technical boundaries (i.e., for fuel-efficiency, emissions, safety, manufacturability, performance, capacity, etc.)
• Offer a "level playing field" that attracts both existing automobile manufacturers and newcomers
• Attract a balanced array of private investment, donors, sponsors, and partners to help competitors succeed (e.g., manufacturing assistance, testing resources, etc.)
• Make heroes out of the competitors and winner(s) through unprecedented exposure, media coverage and a significant cash award.

We hope someone wins the prize for all our sakes!

Keeping clean and being nature-friendly is all the rage these days. Heck, even the toilet industry is chipping in. The "eco-toilet" designed by inventor Paul Calvert may not exactly get rid of global warming for us, but it does help maintain the cleanliness of water systems and makes good use of our waste.

 

The new toilet has two chambers where urine and feces are separated. Urine and water is diverted for use in the garden to enrich the soil while solid waste goes into a separate compartment. This area is dashed with ash to sanitize and deodorize it and is collected as powdery material annually for use as a component in fertilizers. Very clever indeed.

The eco-san toilet is currently only available in India but there are plans to introduce the toilet in Europe and the US in the next few years. It sells for Rs. 3,500 or about US$ 80.

We all know the whole global warming thing that scientists and politicians around the world are trying to fight, so we're not going to stress you with the 'use less energy' talk. But this is something that even those of you who hate the environment can probably relate to. We associate electric cars with the words slow, impractical and usually, ugly. Well that is all about to change with the latest innovations in motor car technology. Now you can have environmentally-friendly cars that are fast too!

This Mini Cooper, the car you may recognise from The Italian Job, is what you would call a wolf in sheep's clothing. It looks like a bog-standard Mini Cooper with over-sized tires, but what lies beneath the hood is something you probably haven't seen before. The MINI QED electric hybrid houses 4 120kW (160bhp) wheel motors complete with inverters to convert momentum back into stored energy under brakes.

Initially the car is powered by the petrol engine straight from the Mini Cooper S, but after a bit of braking, the stored energy is converted into electricity, used by the motors to power the vehicle. This gives the unorthodox petrol-electric hybrid no less than 640 BHP, shifting the car from 0-60mph in a time of 3.7 seconds up to a top speed of 150MPH - that's supercar territory. Each wheel has its own electric power on the electric motor of that wheel, giving the car 4 wheel drive.

After delivering the energy to the battery system the mileage translates to around 80mpg and gives the QED a range of 1000 miles (1500 kilometres) between recharges or visits to the petrol station which will definitely keep Greenpeace happy. There are still a few pieces of technology to be ironed out on the Mini, so don't expect a release soon; but remember, next time somebody tells you that hybrid cars are slow, tell him about this one.