Going Green?

by: Morganne Williams



How can we save green by going green? There are 3 easy ways to be more energy efficient and save money at the same time.

1. Save energy:

You can save money by setting your thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer, this does not have to be done in big degrees but just a few at a time instead.

2. Save Water:

You can do things like installing a low flow showerhead or turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth.

3. Use less gas:

While you save money at the gas pumps you are also saving the ozone. To save gas you can do simple everyday things like riding your bike or carpooling.

Taste Bud Changing Tomatoes

In Kazuhisa Kato's laboratory, they have created a new type of tomato that can trick your taste buds. If you eat one of these crazy tomatoes, about an hour afer you eat it things that would usually taste sour will taste surprisingly sweet. The ingredient in these taste changing tomatoes is miraculin. Miraculin is a molecule found in West African berries. These tomatoes would be great for Halloween! Imagine all the sour candies would taste super sweet!



By Rhyan Montgomery

This news just came out 4 days ago and could save paper and potenially slow down the cutting of trees by over 30%. In Japan, YankoDesign came out with a new pencil sharpener that also makes pencils. Feed it waste paper and lead to receive a new pencil that is eco friendly. When the pencil becomes dull, put it in and it will sharpen it. I have to admit, that's neat.











More on the P&P sharpener at: www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-09/new-shredder-turns-discarded-office-memos-fresh-new-pencils

Sound Powered phone

Mallory Coats

The problems with phones these days is that they cost too much, need batteries, are a hassle to maintain, and get effected with extreme temperatures. A sound powered phone can turn the sound waves of your voice into energy and can come out the other end of the line. There are no batteries so they are energy efficient and you don't need to charge them. If they get wet, cold or even a wire gets melted they will still work, unlike cellphones. So can voice powered phones really be the future of conversation?

unplug it!!!

I know that you all know to unplug your phone chargers when you aren't using them. But, most people still leave their phones charging for too long. I recently found out that my phone only takes about two hours to fully charge and I had been leaving it on the charger for at least 8 hours a night. That is a lot of wasted energy. So, do an experiment. Plug in your phone during the day and see how long it takes to charge. You might just be surprised.

Magnet Powered Hover Cars

by Abby and Summer



Economically and scientifically, magnetism would be a difficult thing to achieve. Along with putting magnets or somehow magnetizing the roads, making magnetized hover cars could be a difficult process. If we were to apply the rules of magnetism to something above the cars, it would be a less costly and more efficient solution. If we were to apply magnetized paint on the road, the cars could both get their source of propulsion and a way to stay in the correct lane. With both a source of power from the top and bottom of the cars, it would be correctly and evenly balanced between the two. The only down side to this is that we would have to stop producing magnetic appliences for our houses and other things that may apply to our lives. The video below shows a basic model of a regular magnet propelled car.

How save the planet one piece of trash at a time

You just finished up the bottle of soap yesterday and you're planning to throw it out today. Instead of throwing it out, turn it into something new. That soap bottle could become a charging dock for an iPod Touch. People have made whole Halloween costumes out of candy bar wrappers. Pens out of ink when combined with leds and some proper wires can be glow sticks that last more than one day. Two really good websites for making things out of trash and empty bottles and such are Popular Science.com and Instructibles.com. So remember, before you throw out that old soap bottle or dried out Sharpie, make sure it has a use to you or to the enviroment.