Worldchanging reports that a chinese company has been developing an algae farming system similar to what we’ve been discussing in the office; clear tubes filled with algae and salt water.  Brad’s idea about bubbling CO2 through the mixture seems to be the impetus for the project; they’re using the algea to create biofuel from CO2 produced by underground coal gassification:

At ENN’s research campus in Langfang, an hour’s drive from Beijing, scientists are testing microalgae to clean up the back-end of a uniquely integrated process to extract and use coal more efficiently and cleanly than is possible today.

Coal is first gasified in a simulated underground environment. The carbon dioxide is extracted with the help of solar and wind power, then “fed” to algae, which can be then used to make biofuel, fertiliser or animal feed.

…

“Algae’s promise is that its population can double every few hours. It makes far more efficient use of sunlight than plants,” said Zhu Zhenqi, a senior advisor on the project. “The biology has been proven in the lab. The challenge now is an engineering one: We need to increase production and reduce cost. If we can solve this challenge, we can deal with carbon.”

The algae must be harvested every day. Extracting the oily components and removing the water is expensive and energy intensive.

This video has probably the most cool per minute of anything I’ve seen in a while; cyborg penguins, dirigible penguins, biomimetic walls that play music, self-organizing legos etc.  I almost suspect this is a prank video as part of a viral campaign for a movie about some dystopian future where robot penguins with glowing red eyes have enslaved humanity.

So this seems more like an idea than a product, but it’s still cool looking.

Bionic Car

Bionics, the combination of biology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology and technology is a recent field of research which has nonetheless already made remarkable progress possible in different areas. Nature has provided ideas for high-strength materials, dirt-repellent coatings and even Velcro fastenings and this has lead to an interdisciplinary project combining biologists and engineers the Mercedes Behind-the-Line-Mercedes -Benz Technology Center (MTC) to develop the Mercedes-Benz bionic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionics car – a concept vehicle based on examples in nature. Engineers looked for specific example in nature whose shape and structure approximated to their ideas for an aerodynamic, safe, spacious and environmentally compatible car. Using these examples, the team designed and constructed a vehicle with intelligent lightweight construction and extraordinary aerodynamics.

Leaving familiar paths and giving new ideas a chance is one of the core philosophies of DaimlerChrysler Advanced-Car-Seats that has enabled it to remain a technological leader among automobile manufacturers for a century. The company was founded on the creativity of its engineers and on their enthusiasm for visions and little has changed to the present day – Daimler Chrysler History-of-Chrysler Sep-07 specialists take up the challenge to shape the future of the automobile on a daily basis.

It was upon these principals that the unique bionic car research project was founded – in order to create trailblazing innovations for even more safety, environmental compatibility and comfort, interdisciplinary thinking was employed to consider all the possibilities offered by technology and science.

This was not a matter of detailed solutions but of a complete transfer from nature to technology – a first. This required teamwork: biologists, bionics scientists and automotive researchers from various disciplines embarked on an extraordinary expedition into the animal kingdom which soon led them into the depths of the underwater world where they found a surporising technological role-model.