Happy Corn Cob Balloon

So, I'm walking around in my local Ralph's grocery store, when suddenly I spot one of these guys (see picture) above me. Yes, its a large mylar corn-on-the-cob balloon, with a grin big enough to make anyone smile. I wondered "why is that corn smiling?" ... and then I noticed something.

The nozzle to the balloon is between the corn's "legs", and though it doesn't show up very well in the picture here, it's a good 3" long (for a 33" tall balloon, that's a pretty good size, trust me). To make matters worse, this is also where the balloon tie string/ribbon was attached.

Yes, Mr. Corn is having a good day.

Get in your car and drive!!

Do you bike to work, happy in the knowledge that you aren't contributing to global warming? After all, you aren't dumping pollution into the air, unlike that hummer that just nearly ran you over. But wait, what's that:

Food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car would emit over the same distance. The climate could benefit if people avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes.

So you mean to tell me that it takes (gasp) energy to keep a person running?!? Say it isn't so!!!

Ah, don't worry about it. Come to my place, and we'll sit on my porch, and watch the sunset over an ice-cold glass of carbon-free raspberry lemonade. Mmmmm, taste that raspberry sweetness.

Just stick your cans in my car!

This is an interesting new way to run a car:

An EE professor at Purdue University has found a way to produce hydrogen that replaces the need for gasoline by mixing water with beads of an aluminum-gallium alloy. The discovery could lead to engines that essentially burn water, instead of gasoline, since the gallium is not consumed in the reaction and the aluminum can be recycled.

Hey Dewkid: you could fill your car up with water, and empty cans of Mountain Dew, and be totally gas free! Of course, you'd be passing up on the 5 cent refund value, but it's still probably be cheaper than gas at $4/gallon!

Seriously though, the inventor claims there are no toxic by-products, and can produce 2KWatts power / pound of aluminum.

For a 350-mile trip in an automobile, it would take about 350 pounds of aluminum at a cost of about $60, since the aluminum oxide left over after the reaction could be converted back into aluminum-gallium pellets for reuse.

Hmmm, 350 pounds is a lot of weight that your car would have to drag around everywhere. I'm not convinced this is a useful breakthrough, but I suppose time will tell.

Cornbrator

This is wrong in so many ways. Nuff said.

Plasma Waste Processing

This is a pretty neat technology that could really revolutionize waste management on this planet.

The arc in the plasma plume within the vessel can be as high as 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit ... three times hotter than the surface of the Sun. When waste materials are subjected to the intensity of the energy transfer within the vessel, the excitation of the wastes' molecular bonds is so great that the waste materials' molecules break apart into their elemental components (atoms).

... and the biproducts?

The two principal byproducts of the Plasma Converter are a synthesis fuel gas called PCG ™ and an obsidian-like stone, which is non-toxic and non-leachable. Both are commodity products that offer the customer revenue potential. The PCG can be directly used for plant heating or cooling, to make electricity, or to desalinate water, as well as other uses. Additionally, the PCG can be used to make hydrogen or methanol. The obsidian-like stone can be sold to the construction and abrasives industries.

Keen! I want to clean out my garage, run it through this baby, and keep the stone as a souvenier! I wonder how much electricity the PCG can make - in other words, can this machine power itself with the waste it processes?

ZAP-X SUv

With gas prices continuing to shoot upwards, this kind of vehicle is looking more and more attractive.

Potentially charged in just 10 minutes, the ZAP-X will have a 350 mile range on a single “tank” of electrons and develop the equivalent of 644bhp, making its 155mph top-speed sound all too feasible. Four-wheel drive should hopefully keep that fancy body stuck to the road, too.

My only problem, is the color. I hope they have it bright corn-yellow, with green trim. I'm also wondering if there is enough head room in there for me... I need a lot of space for my corn shaped head.

For more cool ZAP cars take a look at the ZapWorld website!