Well I guess I am outlier as NYT called it grotesque and Tree Hugger says “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”  Well, I love it as it appeals to both my obtuse styling sensibility and interest in clean advanced technologies.

Debuting at the LA Auto Show, this concept car is not another gas-guzzling autrocity (pun intended).  The car is a combination of the Honda racing technology and and their relatively recent interest in fuel cells.  Coming in at 135HP it will be no match for Tesla’s 300HP might.

Honda has been at the fuel cell game since 1999.  The basic concept is that a hydrogen fuel cell powering an electric engine.  The technology is certified Zero Emissions  - no green house gasses or other toxic stuff just a little water vapor coming off this machine.  Honda has a production version of their fuel cell called the FCX Clarity that is being leased in southern California which is pretty great so long as you live and work near one of the 3 (sic) hydrogen stations in LA.   Given the availability of fuel. don’t expect me to be driving one soon.

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The English Cotswolds are known for their natural beauty but soon it will also be world famous for its Eco-Friendly homes in the Cirencester area.  One development,  The Lower Mill Estate, offers “distinctive, sustainable, modernist second homes, in a rural setting”.  The development was a 550 acre mining site which has been transformed into a seven lake reserve fed by three rivers and offers beautiful plant and wildlife.  The above, to-be-built house, known as the Orchid house exemplifies the uniqueness of designs where they have strived to achieve a harmony with the surrounding nature and yet blow your socks off with gorgeous, jaw dropping architecture.  

The Orchid house was designed by London based designer Sarah Featherstone and will boast many green features including  an underground geothermal heating system and a planet switch.  The project was recently sold for a price rumored to be more than $14 Million - that is one incredible second home! Other designers of properties in the Lower Mill Estate include  Richard Reid, Will Alsop .

Image Credits: www.dailymail.co.uk

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Boston Dynamics has invented the most amazing autonomous Robot that they call BigDog which walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. This robot reminds me of a cross between RoboCop and a Star Wars’ Imperial Walker. The BigDog robot runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, and carries a 340 lb load!  They say, and you can hear, that it is powered by a two stroke gas engine and has articulated legs like an animal.  Those legas are controlled by an on-board computer that manages locomotion, servos and sensors.    The BigDog program is funded by DARPA.

Photo Credit: www.2dayblog.com

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