McDonald’s New Green Built Restaurant with EV Charging

McDonald’s Opens New “Green” Restaurant with Electric Vehicle Charging
“I’ll take a Big Mac and a full charge to go” – that may be the new refrain at a Cary, NC restaurant that is offering charging points for electric vehicles, among other green features.

McDonald’s doesn’t tend to get too much love from TreeHuggers – the McDonald’s contribution to Earth Hour was underwhelming to say the least, and given the potential for vegetarianism to fight climate change, Ronald and co are hardly at the top of the list for companies changing the world for the better. Yet efforts are underway to make changes – and when added up together, they start to feel like they rise above the level of complete greenwash (although I am sure many commenters will disagree).

We’ve seen, for example, UK McDonald’s switching to 100% Rainforest Alliance certified coffee, we’ve seen moves to avoid soy from deforested rainforests, and McDonald’s was also nominated as a sustainable seafood champion. Of course, none of that is to say that cheap meat-based fast food, served in disposable containers, often at restaurants only accessible by car is anywhere close to sustainable – but we’ve got to get from where we are to where we’ve got to go, and we’ve got to give credit where credit is due.

The latest effort from the chain is a ‘Green Built’ McDonald’s restaurant that will feature charging points for electric vehicles. In a move that echoes similar efforts to support electric cars by McDonald’s in Sweden, the chain is working with charging point installer Novacharge. The company hopes that these will become part of a wider infrastructure for zero emission vehicles.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/07/mcdonalds-electric-vehicle-charging.php

Beautiful Objects from Brazilian Native Communities through Imaginario Pernambucano

Imaginario Pernambucano is one more project in which the skills of artisan people from native communities are empowered with the help of design. An extended practice in South America, we’ve seen this done on initiatives like Oficina Nomade and Caranday Quinua.

This one is promoted by the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil, and its results are exquisite objects that mix ancient techniques with sleeker shapes.

Take a peek in the extended!

Imaginario Pernambucano was born in 1999 with the goal of strengthening native communities’ identities by helping them organize and reach a sustainable business and lifestyle.

A lot more pictures at – http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/07/beautiful-objects-from-brazilian-native-communities-through-imaginario-pernambucano.php

Microsoft’s Gazelle browser takes a radical path

Many people think that the browser is starting to replace the operating system as the center of the personal computer.

Naturally, the view that Windows is on a path to irrelevance is not one generally espoused by Microsoft. That said, at least some inside Redmond’s walls argue that the Web browser needs to start acting more like an operating system.

“Some of today’s browser policies are not very safe,” says Microsoft researcher Helen Wang.

Wang, who has been at Microsoft since getting her doctorate from University of California at Berkeley in 2001, argues that the Web browser should act as more than just a file clerk that rubber-stamps each request that comes its way. Rather, it should act more like a traffic cop, keeping things moving smoothly and ensuring that the computer’s resources are fairly allocated.

In short, Wang says, the browser needs to act more like Windows does–making sure that different Web applications are protected from one another–even those running within the same site. So Wang and her team came up with a prototype, called Gazelle, that does just that.

Microsoft first outlined Gazelle earlier this year, but has only recently started to detail its thinking. Wang plans to present a paper on Gazelle at the Usenix security conference next month, and last week Microsoft posted an article on its Web site explaining more about Gazelle.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10280270-56.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1

Humans Can Learn to “See” With Sound, Study Says

Animals such as the chestnut short-tailed bat above use echolocation—sound waves bounced off nearby objects—to sense what’s around them.

With just a click of the tongue, anyone can learn to “see” with their ears, according to a new study of human echolocation.

Several animals, such as bats, dolphins, whales, and some shrews, are known to use echolocation—sound waves bounced off nearby objects—to sense what’s around them.

Inspired by a blind man who also navigates using sound, a team of Spanish scientists has found evidence that suggests most humans can learn to echolocate.

The team also confirmed that the so-called palate click—a sharp click made by depressing the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth—is the most effective noise for people to use.

Sound Training

Daniel Kish, executive director of World Access for the Blind in Huntington Beach, California, was born blind. He taught himself to “see” using palate clicks when he was a small child.

Kish is able to mountain bike, hike in the wilderness, and play ball games without traditional aids.

(Related: “Mystery of ‘Blindsight’ Lets Some Blind People ‘See.’”)

To better understand Kish’s skill, Juan Antonio Martínez and his colleagues at the University of Alcalá in Madrid trained ten sighted students to echolocate.

“It was very difficult to persuade some people to take part in the experiments, because most [of our] colleagues though that our idea was absurd,” Martínez said.

The students were asked to close their eyes and make sounds until they could tell whether any objects were nearby.

After just a few days of training, the students had all acquired basic echolocation skills, the scientists report in the March/April 2009 issue of the journal Acta Acustica.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090706-humans-bats-echolocation.html