Volkswagen to Make Limited Edition of 1-Liter Car (282 MPG!) in 2010 – nice to see the big manufacturers getting up to speed on efficiency.

Whoa: August 8, 2008 - Psst

Thallium-Doped Lead Telluride – Try saying that five times fast. Apparently it can turn heat into electricity twice as efficiently as any other material, and might be able to reclaim heat from car engines to power them further.

Gravity Bikes – stripped down BMXs with fairings, meant for going downhill only. Check out the videos and pictures, and how to build your own.

IKEA provides free bicycles and trailers for hauling your stuff home – But only in Denmark so far: “About 20% of IKEA’s customers ride their bicycles to the stores – even though most of then are located outside the cities. IKEA in Denmark has now introduced a free bicycle hire scheme with VELORBIS bicycles and trailers. You can borrow a bicycle and trailer to take home your newly purchased items.”

Liv’it Fly Shelf Projection Screen – slick; it rolls up into a shelf when you’re not using the screen.

Environmental Constraint = Better Quality – A major motivator behind my own environmental constraint: “Time and time again we see that when we reduce environmental harm, we end up producing better-performing, higher-quality Patagonia garments. And sales of those improved garments often enhance our business health and profitability.” Includes lots of good examples.

“Eritrea has, sadly, a long history of civil war with Ethiopia. They got their freedom in 1992. There are lot of land mines. As a result, at the University of Asmara in Eritrea, I’d say maybe 25 percent to a third of the students are missing a limb. Those who are missing legs cannot get up the stairs to the second floor or the third floor. No questions asked, the students just carry each other. I’ve never seen anything like it. Very naturally, somebody offers you his back and you climb on it and he takes you up to the next floor.” – Tom Campbell

Flash Cards Gone Mental | Mental Case – “RSS for your head” – set it to create flash cards from things you want to remember…

The world’s ten oldest jokes – I think you probably had to be there.