The year is 2020. I'm having a party to celebrate making it completely off the grid. Two large windmills are towering overhead from behind the house and a waterfall next to the house is powering a hydro electric generator. The waterfall was artificially created by diverting water from the river up on the hill and running it through pipes next to the house. From there, another pipe takes the water back to the river farther down stream. As a sort of a proof of concept, we decide to turn on every…
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Added by John Searing on March 28, 2010 at 1:30am —
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I've decided to buy a generator that normally powers a headlight/taillight and attach a connector for my cellphone. I rarely ride my bike at night but it will be perfect for cellphone charging! And it'll inspire me to get out more.
Added by John Searing on March 28, 2010 at 1:21am —
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Doug Richardson is the CEO of a business in Burnaby Canada called General Fusion. General Fusion is attempting to take the concepts of Fusion and make them much more Low Tech and affordable. Instead of using giant magnets or lasers to guide the fusion reaction they are going to implement a low tech pneumatic pressure system to guide the fusion reaction. This is the same process that was used back when first attempts at fusion were tried with one big difference; we now have the technology to…
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Added by John Searing on March 28, 2010 at 12:39am —
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I'm sitting at a table with a few friends. Conversation is light: music, art, science...
The meal sitting before us is a new oddity, large green lumps surrounded by smaller white lumps. It looks a bit like brussel sprouts sitting on a mound of rice. This is a new development from the sustainable foods department. All of it is genetically enhanced plant product. The large green lumps are a variation of edamame beans, chalk full of the essential proteins needed, but it has…
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Added by John Searing on March 27, 2010 at 10:41pm —
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I have started a movement in the apartment complex to create an herb and vegetable garden in the entrance area of the complex. I am currently talking with neighbors to see if they wish to participate in the endeavor and so far, many people are responding with enthusiasm about the project. There are a few complexes with similar entrance areas so I will be making fliers to see if I can spread the idea around the neighbor hood. Let's see if we can make this small idea a big trend. ;)
Added by John Searing on March 27, 2010 at 10:23pm —
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The biggest problem I can foresee with food security in the United States would be if transportation stopped. If, for some reason (such as oil prices become too high to make shipping an economically viable option), transportation stopped and food was no longer being transported there are a few food security options already being implemented. One of the more popular methods is know as garden lawns. Instead of having a grass lawn, many people are taking out the grass and planting various…
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Added by John Searing on March 27, 2010 at 9:31pm —
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Ten years from now, ideally, I will be affecting the world on many levels. I will be researching and implementing a technology that is still in its infancy today: nanotechnology. This technology by itself will single handedly change the course of the world and every avenue of daily life. Everything from material science, medical technology, computing, communication, energy, environmental conservation, food production, water purification, even our very biology will become programmable through…
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Added by John Searing on March 27, 2010 at 6:42am —
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I have chosen Warren Ellis as my hero for many reason, however, the most relevant being that his concept of humanity's existence in many potential situations has inspired new questions for me to ask. Examples of this come from a wide variety of his comics and books such as Transmetropolitan (an interesting look at the future of human kind), Crooked Little Vein (an intriguing look at human sexuality and societal views of such), and Freak Angels (a great look at humanity in leu of global…
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Added by John Searing on March 27, 2010 at 6:29am —
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With a lot of interest developing in renewable energy there is a lot of focus on photovoltaics but I live in the Pacific Northwest. It rains around 300 days out of the year. Rather than spending a lot of money on an overly expensive solar panel that will only work intermittently with lower than average power yields, it would be wiser to figure out how to develop a device to make use of the 300+ inches of rain per year that falls from the sky. Interlinking gutter systems on rooftops that go…
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Added by John Searing on March 27, 2010 at 3:52am —
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