
One of the main reasons that green power hasn't taken off is its high price tag, but Australian PhD candidate Nicole Kuepper may be changing that. This green-thinking student has discovered a way to
produce solar cells using a pizza oven, nail polish, and ink jet printers.
According to the
The Sydney Morning Herald:
Ms Kuepper realised a new approach would be needed if affordable cells were to be made on site in poorer countries: "What started off as a brainstorming session has resulted in the iJET cell concept that uses low-cost and low-temperature processes, such as ink-jet printing and pizza ovens, to manufacture solar cells."
While it could take five years to commercialise the patented technology, providing renewable energy to homes in some of the least developed countries would enable people to "read at night, keep informed about the world through radio and television and refrigerate life-saving vaccines".

Back in March, in an interview with German publication Die Ziet, prolific industrial designer
Philippe Starck admitted to feeling "ashamed" for being "a producer of materiality," saying, "Everything I have created is absolutely unnecessary." In shock, the design world was buzzing. Would this mean retirement for the can-do-no-wrong designer. What would
we blog about.

Although there are many things to admire about cyclist and activist
Lance Armstrong, his blatant water abuse isn't one of them.
According to the New York Times, Armstrong's Austin home guzzled down 330,000 gallons of water in July alone. For comparison, most US households only use 120,000 gallons of water in a year.

The New York Times has an
article and
interesting slideshow showcasing the 1830 townhouse of director Roland Emmerich (10,000 BC, Independence Day) in London. When the German-born director moved into stuffy neighborhood Knightsbridge, he asked his interior designer to create a space that was “as nonfrumpy as possible,” that reflected "his predilection for art with a political edge." Especially during a national election, these days, political humor is rampant. But, most of us get our fill flipping through a copy of The Onion or turning on The Daily Show.

When photojournalist Julie Keefe moved into her rapidly changing (and gentrifying) North Portland community, a place that was once "a village raising all the kids," she noticed that as new business grew, streets became safer, and houses were fixed up, the dialogue between community members (and children) took a sharp decline . . .