This episode of Dnews is brought to you by BASF, THE Chemical Company.
The sun is cool and all, but is there a way we can use it to make our lives better?
..It just dawned on me.
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and I apologize for that awful pun earlier.
It's a sickness and I can't stop.
Anyway, we've been talking a lot lately about simple things you can do at home to decrease
your carbon footprint.
Recently I showed you how to start your own backyard compost, and today - I'm gonna be
talking about solar power.
Now typically when people hear solar power, they think of solar panels - which are great
for the environment.
But they're also expensive and complicated to install.
But that's ok - because it turns out, there are tons of solar-powered devices out there
- that don't require installation, that you probably never even knew existed.
A keyboard, for example, is something almost everyone uses - and Logitech makes one that's
reasonably priced and runs on solar power.
What's even cooler about this one, is that you don't need natural sunlight to charge
it.
Any light source will work, including a desk lamp.
And it has great reviews, too - one person on Amazon said they kept it in a dark room
for several months, and the power level never dipped below 100%, which is pretty insane
when you think about it.
Another product that's nowhere near as useful as a keyboard - but interesting, nonetheless
- a solar-powered bikini!
For the person who has everything, except shame.
This was created by Brooklyn-based designer Andrew Schneider, who spends around 80 hours
on each one, hand-stitching hundreds of strips of photovoltaic film together with conductive
thread.
Of course the downside, is that you can't actually use it in water, but hey - if checking
Facebook at the beach is THAT important to you, you can always custom order one through
his website.
For a less girly product, a company called Husqvarna makes a line of solar hybrid robotic
lawnmowers - like Roombas, but for your yard.
These are pretty pricey, around $2-4K, BUT their list of features is pretty damn impressive.
They can be used at night, in the rain, on steep hills, on uneven grass - and did you
notice they look like mini-Batmobiles?!
If your dream is to own a Batmobile, and you have 4,000 dollars lying around - it would
be downright irresponsible of you, not to buy this.
Yeah.
I said it.
All the money in the world can't buy this next product - but that doesn't make it any
less amazing.
A pair of Swiss aviation pioneers recently unveiled the Solar Impulse 2, a single-person
aircraft powered entirely by the sun.
The surface of the plane is covered with 17,000 solar cells, and custom-made lithium batteries
store that energy for nighttime - making it the only plane in the world with unlimited
endurance.
To raise awareness about clean energy, its creators will attempt the first 5-day, non-stop
flight around the world in March 2015.
And since I know you're all wondering - yes, the seat does double as a toilet.
God the future is incredible.
And hey, speaking of great inventions - Discovery Digital and BASF are teaming up once again,
to get kids to use their imagination and demonstrate their knowledge of all things science.
Children in grades K-8 are encouraged to submit a 2-4 minute video about an educational and
creative science experiment related to chemistry, sustainability, innovation, technology, or
energy.
One Grand Prize winner will receive a $10,000 college scholarship and an iPad, along with
a Stuff To Blow Your Mind prize pack.
All you have to do to enter, is submit your video to stufftoblowyourmind.com/science-awards
by May 23rd.
The winner will be announced June 6th, and the winning experiment will be featured on
StuffToBlowYourMind.com - so if you wanna be internet famous while spreading the gospel
of science, be sure to get your videos in by May 23rd.
That's all for me, but as always - you can check out more videos of Dnews by subscribing
here.