Daniela Muhawi

Time is precious. We've all heard that before, and it's not a happy thought to have when minutes tick away during the day's unpleasantries: waiting at stop lights, sitting in traffic, cleaning the house, playing chauffeur to kids, meetings... the list goes on. Much of our time isn't our own. It is no wonder that the Roomba was such a hit when first introduced to the market. This little vacuuming robot has saved buyers countless hours by diligently rolling around the floor and picking up crumbs, hair and specks that would otherwise have needed attending to. Following the footsteps of the Roomba comes an independent self-charging, solar powered lawn-mowing machine made by the Swedish firm Husqvarna. Couples don't need to argue over whose turn it is to cut the lawn while business-folk can leave their homes for a week and come back to an elegantly cut lawn. Husgvarna's 'automower' is a futuristic looking device-the...

Modern technology is evolving at a frightening speed and ambitious scientists are beginning to realize that anything is possible. Less than a century ago, if you'd told anyone that people will travel to the moon, you would have found yourself heading to the nearest psychiatrist, no matter how calmly you relayed that information. Claims of talking to someone on a miniature phone, driving around in a horseless cart, building skyscrapers or seeing moving pictures in a box will have harbored the same results. With todays technology, however, even the most phenomenal natural process can be replicated and according to some, improved. Volcanoes have been responsible for spewing up islands (formed from massive amounts of magma) since the beginning of time. It is a challenge imagining anything more powerful than an erupting mountain. However, a now infamous United Emirates Development...

When it comes to improvements, it is good to start with the basics. The fundamental part of any city, road, or building is concrete. By reducing the amount of energy needed to build, and by simplifying the components of the concrete, CO2 emissions are reduced while the whole building process is made more efficient. Voted a GoingGreen winner and covered in numerous publications ranging from Time Magazine to Gizmag, Hycrete is a company at the forefront of cement technology. Hycrete has been manufacturing products in New Jersey for 40 years, and had already made a significant impact to the building industry by bringing a class of rust inhibitors to the market in the 1950s. Its more recent claim to fame-waterproof cement technology-was developed in the mid 90s when Michael S. Rhodes, one of Hycrete's key inventors, developed the unique moisture and corrosion blocker. Rhodes' accomplishments are impressive: He has...

In Madagascar lives a creature that looks so bizarre it is no wonder that the local Malagasy and Sakalava people believe it to be a symbol of death. The menacing omen comes in the shape of an aye-aye: Its piercing orange eyes, bony fingers, large incisors and bat-like ears definitely give this nocturnal primate a unique appearance. Some tribesmen even go so far as to claim that the aye-aye will sneak into your home at night and use its slender middle finger to pierce your heart. These beliefs couldn't be further from the truth. The creature that the local villagers are so petrified to come across spends most of its time searching out grubs, nuts, nectar and fruits rather than people to condemn to death. Unfortunately, superstitions associated with the aye-aye result in the animal being killed on sight. It doesn't help that the aye-aye is almost tame when compared to other wild...

It's not hard to understand why food on-the-go is so appealing. Pull a car full of hungry kids into the drive-through at your local burger joint and everyone leaves full and happy. In the mood for a coffee or egg sandwich on the way to work? It wouldn't be a surprise with dozens of 50ft billboards advertising blended coffees or hot snacks. Plus, it's quick and easy. Unfortunately, the plastic or Styrofoam containers last much longer than the sandwiches, drinks, burgers or fries that are devoured in a few minutes. Non-biodegradable plastics will last indefinitely and plastic is everywhere: According to the EPA "In 2006, the United States generated about 14 million tons of plastics in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream as containers and packaging, over 6 million tons as nondurable goods [such as diapers and trash bags], and almost 9 million tons as durable goods...

Nobody likes to admit it, but there is one thing everyone has in common: Urination. It is just one of the many "benefits" associated with being alive, in addition to sweating, sneezing, coughing and shedding dead skin cells. The body excretes an array of substances, whether we like it or not. Excusing one's self to relieve the bladder from part of the 800-1000ml of fluid that pass through the organ every day may be embarrassing, but the water wasted flushing away the urine is an even more controversial topic. Toilettes and urinals use an average of 25% of a building's water supply, while a leaky toilet adds to the problem; wasting up to 200 liters of water a day. Water free urinals are the next step in the world of resource management. Falcon Waterfree Technology, developed environmentally friendly urinal stations with the knowledge that a typical urinal wastes about 151,000 liters of water a year. The idea...

Brazil's Cerrado (translated to mean "inaccessible") is thought to be the most biodiverse savannah in the world. Giant anteaters, armadillos, pampas deer, cougars, macaws and howler monkeys are just a few of the animals that make their homes here. The maned wolf is one of the more unique species living in the region. This animal has a striking appearance, often compared to a fox on stilts with a bushy mane. As these solitary animals stalk their prey in this hot and relatively humid area, stepping on ancient soil and brushing past tall grasses, termites and leaf cutter ants diligently toil away around them. Cerrado's woodlands, now making up 21% of Brazil, are shrinking as the area is being converted to farmland. In an attempt to study the area in detail, scientist from Conservation International (CI) and various Brazilian Universities found 14 undocumented species in the Serra Geral do Tocantins Ecological...

Innovalight is getting a lot of attention: Time Magazine, The Economist, and Red Herring have all profiled this Santa Clara based company, while the department of energy has awarded them a fortune to assist with Innovalight's unique solar panel development process. Numerous photovoltaic companies have been covered by EcoWorld and solar power has raised the eyebrows of many: It is a great concept and is environmentally friendly, but can have incredibly expensive start up costs. Innovalight takes all this into consideration and has plans to market a new version of the solar panel concept: a nanocrystal solvent made from silicon. These silicon nanoparticles (also called quantum-dots) are extremely efficient; capable of absorbing various forms of light-infrared, ultraviolet and light from the visible spectrum - and able to produce multiple electrons from a single photon of light! Silicon is the...

Irrigation canals, water wheels driven by oxen, and smooth stones meant to catch dew drops that form during colder nights have all been used to water crops. Irrigation processes are constantly evolving. In today's world, subsurface drip irrigation is one of the most efficient ways of water dispersal. This subsurface system wastes little water by allowing it to drip out directly onto the root zone while a miniscule amount of the liquid is lost to drain-off or evaporation. This is an attractive choice, especially when one considers that water is not always an abundant resource. Drip irrigation doesn't only benefit those concerned about saving on water, however. This system is also an environmentally friendly alternative to the more wasteful systems (like sprinkler or surface irrigation). Ideally,when it is an option, wastewater (or effluent) is used to grow crops and maintain...

Numerous companies are coming up with techniques to use alternatives to fossil fuels. This is no surprise with fossil fuel prices sky-rocketing, oil supplies running out and concerns about the product's effect on the environment becoming more abundant. Unfortunately, demand for fossil fuels is still immense: According to the Energy Information Administration, almost 90% of the world's primary energy production was reliant on fossil fuels in 2005. Ethanol production is becoming more popular, but it is still unrealistic to think that it will replace the more efficient fossil fuels. It is good to have options, though: BioFuelBox makes the process of biofuel production a more attractive one by providing a unique product that is capable of manufacturing biodiesel from waste products ranging from algae and cooking oil to chicken fat and waste fish oil. In addition to being so versatile, the...