Innovate

Personally, I'm not one to jump on the "global warming" bandwagon. Much of it is based on bad science, and very short memories. (I remember hearing thirty years ago of a coming Ice Age. We must have asked ourselves what could be worse, eh?) What is more believable is the discovery, that for the rest of the planet to enjoy the standard of living we have in the USA, would require the natural resources of SIX of our planets. This alone lends credence to the need to "live simply, so that others may simply live."

That's why the following was good news to me. Here's an innovation making the rounds on YouTube. As the team describes it: "The Aquaduct is pedal powered vehicle that transports, filters, and stores water for the developing world. A peristaltic pump attached to the pedal crank draws water from a large tank, through a carbon filter, to a smaller clean tank. The clean tank is removable and closed for contamination-free home storage and use. A clutch engages and disengages the drive belt from the pedal crank, enabling the rider to filter the water while traveling or while stationary." The Aquaduct Team is composed of John Lai, Adam Mack, Brian Mason, Eleanor Morgan, and Paul Silberschatz (all of whom get this week's Tip of the Black Hat for their ingenuity). In the comments section, they elaborate on their work:

"[We created] this solely for the Innovate or Die contest. We started brainstorming a few months ago, but built the bike and produced the video over a very intense few weeks... We are all designers (professionally), and decided that the main purpose of this prototype vehicle would be to demonstrate an innovative concept, from the engineering to the total interaction. Materials-wise, any prototype will differ from the market product. We expect that if brought to market, it would have to be scaled down to materials that are locally available... Because of the short build timeline, we chose to take an off the shelf filter for the prototype, with the understanding that there are a lot of different ways you can clean water, and that more detailed filter selection could be made for the market product. Given the time and the budget and we would love to design an appropriate filter/system for this demographic."

More information, along with that of other equally ingenious devices, can be found at the website for Innovate or Die.
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