Everybody wants to lower gas prices. And everybody has an idea of how to do it.

Yesterday I wrote How Not to Lower Gas Prices.

Today…part 2.

A couple in Dartmouth decided they would beat the system by hoarding some gasoline in their apartment.

Fumes ignited from the gasoline that was stored in a utility closet and sent residents from eight units fleeing for their lives.

Firemen were on it, and the sprinklers worked well to extinguish the jugs of gasoline that had been covered with cloth rags.

Are we sure Obama wasn’t talking about people in MA, too?

The whole apartment came dangerously close to a vapor explosion.

It wouldn’t have lowered the gas prices overall, there would just be a few less people lining up at the gas pimps, er, pumps.

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Looking at the new M-112, a compact economical car that recently participated in the Shell Eco Marathon 2008 in France, I’m pretty sure there are big chances it will be an inspiration for cars we’re going to drive in 5 – 10 years. Large cities will get even more crowded and I don’t even want to think what those traffic jams will be like unless, of course, we build suspended cities or develop flying cars.

Designed by Ignacio Garcia, the M-112 is a real concept car not just a prototype. Elegantly tiny and packing an ecological engine under the hood (really has one?) I’m pretty certain the one seater futuristic go-kart will turn heads when you make a trip to the city center.

I wonder if it’s expensive, because I’d definitely want to drive one.

via Novate (translated)

Apparently this guy didn’t read my instructions on how not to get rid of bees.

Some knucklehead, in his 40s maybe, fell 85 feet off a cliff and landed in a bee hive.

Talk about crashing a party, or dropping in unexpectedly.

The bees didn’t take to the invasion.

They used him for a pin cushion. The swarm was strong enough to knock him over, then covered him completely.

The first thing that came to his mind “My God, I left my cell phone in the car.”

What was he going to do, call their mommies?

In his nose, his eyes, his mouth, his ears…and headed for other holes and crevices that in hindsight, I am sure he was glad he had covered.

Cops backed off for fear of being attacked.

The fellow has lots of time to pull out bee stingers while he heals from a shattered wrist, three broken ribs, a broken arm, a broken toe and 40 staples in his head to heal wounds from the bee stings.

Animal rights? I am not arguing with the bees. You tell the little buzzers they don’t have any rights!

See also:

How Not to Get Rid of Bees

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Broadstar Wind Systems has designed what is supposed to the be next generation wind turbine. Based on principles first established by the French aeronautical engineer Georges Jean Marie Darrieus who invented a wind turbine capable of operating from any direction and under adverse weather conditions, the AeroCam is capable of generating power virtually anywhere.

Though it looks a lot like a water wheel because of the horizontal axis with multiple blades, rest assured that it’s really capable of delivering energy.

Probably the most interesting feature of the AeroCam wind turbine is the fact that it has the ability to automatically and interactively adjust the pitch or angle of attack of the blades that will rotate it. Much like a bird which is changing the shape of its wing when it flies.

“It all adds up to a solution that delivers more power and more choice of location, with a lower total cost of acquisition and ownership and a faster payback period. The AeroCam has the potential to equip almost every local community, business and government building with its own renewable energy power station and it can supplement existing turbines,” said Stephen Else, president of the company.

The price is $250,000 for a 250kW AeroCam wind turbine which is $1 per watt if we do the math. It’s the lowest in the industry.

Now you understand why oil business men are switching to wind?

via Energy Daily

My wife needs one of these things from Strapya and Tokyo Coil Engineering. The companies have come up with a plan to prevent missing phone calls. A solar-charged cell phone strap.

The strap weighs just 40g (1 oz) and is just 12.5cm (5 in) long. Yet it can store up to 40 minutes of call time once fully charged.

Just one problem … it takes 6-10 hours to charge in perfect weather conditions.

The solution…let the strap hang out of your pocket or bag and walk around outside all day. Or, you can just plug the dang thing in every night to keep it charged.

Price – Y1,995 ($20)

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We say, or at least some people say, that two heads are better than one. The Japanese say “sannin yoreba monchuu no chie” which roughly translates to three heads being better than one.

But, not always.

In China’s Hunan province a gecko has been found with a head on each of its body. The little fellow was found wandering to and fro, back and forth, going here and there, trying to make up his minds in an antique shop. He’s slow, but can go both directions.

“Where you want to go?”

“I don’t know. Where you want to go?”

Meanwhile -

In Japan, not wanting to be outdone by China, a two headed turtle was found in Moriyama. The little boy who found him named the amphibian ‘Takara’ meaning treasure. The cause? Researchers say it was NOT pollution but rather some sort of natural phenomenon. Takara is alive!

Yeah, right!

More critters with two heads -

A two faced cat.

A two headed goat.

A two headed snake.

Another two headed turtle.

A two headed lamb born in China

A two headed arowana fish in an aquarium shop in Shah Alam. They are not dead but can’t swim either.

My advice … don’t drink the water.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Yeah, I get the idea about saving the animals, going green, being eco-friendly, going on strike, protesting naked, all those things, after all that’s the idea behind GreenPacks.

Call it a peace treaty, a temporary armistice, a break in the action, down time, chill time … whatever.

India and Pakistan are playing each other in cricket.

There are bats, bowlers, wickets, pitches, strikers and non-strikers, runs, fielders, outs and tea.

The match can go on for three days and nobody will win and still everyone will go home happy … unless, of course, somebody does win.

If India beats Pakistan or Pakistan beats India in this second most popular sport in the world (football/soccer is number one) then the world falls on the brink of nuclear destruction. These countries take their cricket matches seriously. And all the world worries even after the score is published – Who won?

For now -

India won the toss and opted to bat (is it an option to not bat?) against Pakistan in the second match of the triangular (I thought the field was oval shaped) one-day series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.

India have included uncapped (as opposed to the guys who wear caps?) batsman Yusuf Pathan in the team for their first match of the tournament. (I thought it was the second match. I’m confused.)

Pakistan has made one change to the squad that beat hosts Bangladesh by 70 runs in the opening match on Sunday, with all-rounder Rao Iftikhar replacing Fawad Alam.

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In the “that’s what happens when oil reaches new records” category (no we don’t have one) truckers from Spain and France went on strike on Monday to protest against high diesel prices. And they have damn good reasons : €1.30 for a liter in Spain ($7.71 a gallon) and €1.45 in France ($8.62 a gallon). This is 40-percent more than last year and 20-percent more than January.

For the record, these are not the highest prices for diesel in the European Union. The Brits are leading with ~ €1.65 for a liter.

Most of the big cities in Spain such as Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona suffered traffic jams because of the low speed driven trucks, while the two main borders with France, La Jonquera and Irun were blocked because no vehicle was allowed to pass, by the demonstrators.

The protests are expected to continue till the end of the week when Portuguesse truckers may join, too. Of course, one way to save gasoline/diesel fuel is to sit and let your trucks idle for a couple of days, right guys?

We’re still waiting for the mainstream electric trucks. How about you guys?

Harrison Ford (aka Indiana Jones), Bo Derek and Robert Duvall have recently joined forces with the World Bank to save the the tigers from extinction. A century ago there were at least 100,000 tigers. Studies revealed that there are currently less than 4,000.

Though the World Bank is more likely to support poverty and developing countries rather than wildlife projects they are now behind the new Tiger Conservation Initiative. Other members include wild life experts, scientists and governments, all working for the same purpose, to protect tigers.

The large predators, which I think are the most beautiful cats on Earth, are being killed for their skins, meat and body parts which are used in traditional Asian medicines.

Image by Oyvind Solstad

Russia and Nepal are examples where governments took initiative and managed to save the felines. Saving the world tiger population is much harder.

“This is a problem that cannot be handled by individual nations alone, it requires an alliance of strong local commitment backed by deep international support,” said World Bank President, Robert Zoellick.

Kudos to these three famous Hollywood actors for supporting the cause and a quick note to World Bank. Do it faster, or there won’t be any tigers to be saved. Besides, with Indiana Jones on your side, how can you lose?

T. Boone Pickens Jr. is one of Texas’s richest oil men who’s making a small fortune every minute thanks to the high oil prices. He’s also now seemingly setting his safety net by building the largest wind farm in the world (he says). The farm will have a 4,000 megawatts generating capability, enough to be able to power 1.3 million houses with green energy.

To become a Texas wind tycoon, Pickens is going to invest $12 billion in the project with an expected 15% – 25% return on the money.

“For a number of years I’ve watched the wind turbines develop—and I feel like it’s time for it. I think that oil has peaked at 85 million barrels in the world. We’ve got to other forms of energy – wind, I think solar will be next, and I hope I’m still around to be in the solar deal” Pickens said.

Though he’s not a fan of the current President, Pickens is confident that the federal wind energy production tax credit will pass Congress, because the United States needs to develop more alternate energy sources, including wind.

“We’re now importing 72 percent of the oil we use every day. I think everybody can see that we’re gonna break the country if we pay 700 billion dollars a year for, uh, imported oil.”

When a Texas oil man worth $3 billion (according to Forbes), bets against oil on renewable energy like wind or solar power you may want to think again which boat you’ll be in for the next few years.

Here’s the whole interview on the Living on Earth Show.

Image by fieldsbh