http://www.vimeo.com/7186567
More information is trickling in… Images, too. But did LCROSS find water on the moon? We may have to wait until December to find out…
http://www.vimeo.com/5843246
It started as a design challenge for UC Berkeley Bio-Engineering Professor Dan Fletcher’s class and now it’s known as CellScope– a microscope that fits onto a cell phone. Because it’s mobile and inexpensive to make, this microscope will be a very useful, life-saving tool in developing nations and remote areas.
It was described last week in PLoS ONE and has been making news ever since. The students at CalTV scooped everyone and ran the story last winter.
Impressive work from Berkeley students!
http://www.vimeo.com/5643268
The 40th anniversary of the Moon landing has caused quite a stir in the press. We wanted to post a story here and on the museum floor to talk about the technology that’s come out of it and how we’re going to get astronauts back there. It’s such an awe-inspiring event, even now.
http://www.vimeo.com/4984220
Why not use micro-organisms (bacteria, viruses, fungus, etc) to create sustainable energy and fuel? There are a lot of ideas currently being researched and put to use; for example, PG&E has started turning cow manure into natural gas.
Cow poop? Not another gross-out story, you’re probably thinking. Just wait. When we interviewed Dan Kammen of UC Berkeley for this piece, he even mentioned harnessing cow farts in the barn at night.
We’re going to need fuel and energy from just about any creative source soon. So why not e coli? Why not termite bacteria? Why not cow poop and farts? Bring it on!
-Molly
http://www.vimeo.com/4152811
They say necessity is the mother of all invention, and 20 years ago after the large oil spill of the Exxon Valdez, hairdresser Phil McCrory saw a need and discovered a solution. Human hair absorbs oil naturally, why not in large oil spills? He invented hair mats, testing them in his backyard and even at NASA. Lisa Craig Gautier and her organization, Matter of Trust have taken it a step further. They’re collecting human hair and dog fur from around the globe and are trying to manufacture the mats stateside. Lisa is so hard-working and her organization is so wonderfully holistic, it’s easy to be inspired by the work she does.
She’s also working with researchers on a safe disposal method for the used, oil-filled mats. It looks like Thomas Azwell of UC Berkeley might be on to something with his army of worms. Check it out. Oil, hair, worms - not a pretty story, but an important one.
-Molly
