sundance

Green tech finds (6/9/11)

The original electric cars, a solar-powered train tunnel, and geothermal energy harvesting that also sequesters carbon… your green tech finds for the week.

• Big battery breakthrough?: Researchers at MIT are redesigning batteries as “semi-solid flow cells,” which could eliminate charging time issues for electric cars, as well as provide viable storage of energy generated from renewable sources. (via Grist)
  
  
• Solar-powered train tunnel opens in Belgium: A two-mile stretch of train tunnel near Antwerp is now covered with solar panels, and will provide electricity for both high-speed and inter-city rail links, as well as a train station. (via AOL Travel)
  
  

Award-winning photograph of 6 year old swimming with his pet shark

Photographer James Morgan snapped this remarkable photo of six-year-old Enal having a blast in the ocean waters below his family’s “stilted house in Wangi, Indonesia” with his PET SHARK. If that isn’t the look of pure childhood joy then I don’t know what is.

Blocking a sex tape is like getting toothpaste back in a tube

We never thought we’d say this, but we feel kind of bad for Jennifer Lopez. Apparently she made a sex tape of sorts — there was no actual sex in it — with her first ex-hubby on their honeymoon back in 1997, and now he’s shopping it around. J.Lo fought to stop him, but an L.A. judge recently ruled that she had no case against him. Which means he can now sell to the highest bidder.

Letters to the children of Troy

In 1971, Marguerite Hart, the first children’s librarian at the local library in Troy, Michigan, began a letter writing campaign to many famous people asking them to respond with an open letter to the town’s children about the importance of libraries and reading.

Ahhhhhh, BRIDESMAIDS! Thank you.

Thank God for you. Or Goddess. Or maybe just Thank Goodness, goddammit. It’s about time for a breakthrough female-penned and starred bona fide hit, one that inspires more of the same ridiculous editorial content like “Hey, are women funny?” Trampling its way over MEAN GIRLS and HOUSE BUNNY (sorry – but both of those scripts were funny but slightly overwritten), it’s not only laugh out loud hi-larious, but also truly crosses over to the boys without hiding that it’s solely about the girls. Moreover — what Manohla said – the film has some serious content exploring the nature of female friendship and the female sense of self.

Herman Miller’s new docu-series

Herman Miller, the go-to source for lovers of modern furniture since it was founded in 1923, has recently put its mark in another creative field with its new documentary series, “POV.” As mediabistro’s blog Unbeige noted, it’s really equal parts documentary and branding (“because who else would you buy furniture from for your ultra-modern home?”) Nevertheless, the series looks promising; it profiles some of the industry’s leading architects and frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t think of this sooner.

Solar clothing: from the beach to the runway

Got to have your gadgets with you when you hit the beach? Need your tunes with you while you sunbathe, or don’t want to miss calls? Fear not: designer Andrew Schneider’s solar bikini (which first received attention in the concept stage) has hit the market (only for custom orders, though). Yes, you can swim in it (though you need to dry off before connecting any gadgets), and yes, there’s a version for guys on the way (that includes a solar-powered beer-cooling coozy).

Vimeo of the Week: Pi

Pi from Thomas Blanchard on Vimeo.

It is Gay Pride month and what better way to get gayer on SUNfiltered than by watching hotties jumping on their bikes. This film is romantic and beautiful and just sexy enough. It shows off the beauty and form of the athletes and makes me very excited for summer! Kudos Thomas Blanchard.

Mind-blowing Tetris gameplay

I used to think I was pretty good at Tetris, but this gameplay video of grandmaster Jin8 playing an arcade version of this classic game let me know that I’m just a mere mortal with a pea-brain sized capacity for this game.

Portable pocket pillow concept

Key Portilla-Kawamura and Ali Ganjavian of design studio Kawamura Ganjavian created this concept called “OSTRICH (pocket pillow for nap, 2011)” to help provide some portable comfort for those power naps at your desk or at the library

Robyn’s Call Your Girlfriend

My obsession with Swedish singer Robyn is ever further cemented with her new video for the single “Call Your Girlfriend.” In a textured sweat top, leggings, and sneakers she makes a video fascinating only because of her spunk. It was recorded in a single take in Los Angeles at an abandoned warehouse by Max Vitali, who often collaborates with the singer. It’s emotional and fun. And you’ll keep watching, I promise.

New word: Chweeting!

We’re very proud of ourselves for coming up with this one. With the whole Weiner scandal going on, we were discussing how there’s got to be something in between flirting and actual physical cheating. What Weiner did goes beyond mere flirting — even though it didn’t involve physical contact with anyone other than his wife, it did involve sexual antics (and release?) with other women via social networking services and the telephone. So it’s not full-blown, full-body-contact, STD-and-pregnancy-risking cheating, it’s more like virtual or cyber cheating.

You are subscribed to the future

The title of this post is the message that pops up when you register your email at Miranda July’s website for her upcoming film THE FUTURE, which premiered at Sundance this year. The film, like all of her work, polarized audiences. There are the fervent July fans who find her work – in all mediums, I should add – quietly insightful, understated, poetic and razor sharp. Her critics, on the other hand find her overly poetic, even precious. One film critic at The Hollywood Reporter called THE FUTURE “a film as fragile and miniaturist as its title is grandiose…just too terribly twee to readily embrace.” I’ll reserve my own commentary for when the film is released “July 29th-ish,” according to July, but I’m going to have to disagree with twee right now.

Hydroponic farms on grocery store roofs: does it get any more local?

The Story Of Lettuce from BrightFarms on Vimeo.

What’s the maximum distance “local” produce can travel? 100 miles? 500 miles? How about 20-30 feet? That’s the kind of “food mileage” startup Brightfarms is shooting for with its concept of onsite hydroponic greenhouses at grocery stores.

World’s most beautiful gas stations

Since I’ll be in Los Angeles for most of this week, I figured this gallery of “The World’s Most Beautiful Gas Stations” over at Flavorpill is apropos to my visit to the City of Angels.

Can you tell the sex of an author from a paragraph, like VS Naipaul?

In an interview at the Royal Geographic Society last week, during which Nobel laureate and jackass VS Naipaul idiotically suggested that women writers are ‘sentimental’ and ‘unequal to me’, he also claimed that ‘I read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two I know whether it is by a woman or not.’

Queen Elizabeth’s kinetic mosaic portrait

Content is Queen from Sergio Albiac on Vimeo.

Barcelona-based artist Sergio Albiac created this digital kinetic mosaic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II titled “Content is Queen” by incorporating popular videos from the Internet. The artist explains:

ALL ON THE LINE casting call