What can you do with a green gadget? The possibilities are endlessly encouraging. Gadgets are perfect for inclusion into BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET because they are so wonderfully surprising. They can allow humans to do things they never even imagined were possible. This week is all about saluting inventors and people who are trying to innovate their field of expertise.

BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET: GADGETS [www.sundancechannel.com]

This week features a university professor who wants to make your computer out of chicken feathers and soybeans. Richard Wool, professor of chemical engineering at Delaware University, is turning the computing world into something out of an Isaac Asimov novel by advancing research and development of organic computer parts. This research also advocates efficiency because chicken feathers are annually wasted in landfills by the tons.

Discover Current Energy, a new type of sustainability appliance specialty store. Dedicated to making your wallet fatter and the skies lighter, Chad Vickers, General Manager of Current Energy, decided to create a ultra hi-tech shop that helps people make better use of mother nature’s resources. Check them out online [www.currentenergy.com].

Elizabeth Redmond is an inventor with big dreams of researching bigger and more complex gadgets. She decided to focus her effort on developing materials that could be used in the generation of piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity [en.wikipedia.org] is created when certain special materials are compressed or bent by physical force. Elizabeth created a new type of technology called POWERLEAP, which is a flooring that generates electricity when people walk on it. As cool as this is, Elizabeth is setting her sights on even inventive solutions for the world’s needs.

To learn more about the whole BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET series, check out THE GREEN [www.sundancechannel.com].

If you are interested in finding the physical locations for some of the BIG IDEAS businesses, check out the marker group [www.sundancechannel.com].

ECOISTS: Josh Duhamel [www.sundancechannel.com]

Josh Duhamel, like this blog writer, has an immense crush on alternative energy. He believes that alternative energies are based on access to open space, which is quite true in the case of systems that generate power from solar, water and wind resources. Because of this access to open space, he insinuates that shifting away from fossil fuels and focusing on alternative energy would mean that there is “not as much to fight over anymore.”

ECO BIZ: GREEN SLAM [www.sundancechannel.com]

Billie Jean King, a famous tennis player who has pledged herself to making the sports world more sustainable, started a company to help influence the sports world. Her hope is to compel manufacturers and athletics organizations to green business as usual.

STRAIT THROUGH THE ICE [www.sundancechannel.com]

Climate change is definitely changing the surface of the planet in serious ways. The most noticeable change is occurring in geographic locations that are already the most extreme in temperature and water access. These spots are found along the equator for hot, tropical places and can be found on the North and South Poles when it comes to freezing habitats. This documentary explores the mythical northwest passage, that shipping captains have dreamed about for centuries. Although airplanes have made travel to China a much easier affair, captains still dream about being the explorer that discovers the passage through the ice locked northwest passage between the North Pole and Canada.

The ice is finally melting and a new voyage can be taken; adventurers should take caution however, as the trek is still extremely dangerous.

Thanks again for joining us on THE GREEN Blog. As usual, please make a comment about this post or if any ideas spring to mind, consider adding your thoughts by creating or commenting on an Eco-mmunity Map Marker.

Social science fiction requires a great deal of creativity at the same time that it draws upon an observant understanding of the world today. Social science fiction attempts to theorize the possibilities of human societies and the big innovations that can change the world. The helicopter, the internet, virtual reality, robots, telephones, space travel, the dangerous majesty that is industry, communism, democracy, justice, all of these topics and inventions were the foundation for many science fiction novels.

Many people would argue that science fiction is one of the more entertaining ways to learn about science, sociology and predictions for the future of the planet. Science with a plot line; can entertainment get more educational?

While we are talking about prognostications of the future, the first thing to consider is climate change. What will it do to the world? How will humanity change as the world ecology tries to adapt to the new chemical composition of the planet that is created by industry? A trilogy of books written by the author Kim Stanley Robinson delves into some of these questions. The three books are titled “Forty Days of Rain,” “Fifty Degrees Below” and “Sixty Days and Counting.” Mr. Robinson creates a story set in the near future and contains characters who are embroiled in the frontlines of the combat against climate change. You will find a mixture of analysis, literary associations, intrigue, politics, a world on the verge of collapse and in the midst of this web of intricately interwoven themes lies hope.

If you would like to try reading a narrative story that contains many commentaries on the environment, then definitely check out these books.

If you are interested in social science fiction in general, you should definitely check out some of the classics from authors such as Robert A. Heinlein, Bruce Sterling (”Schismatrix” is a favorite of this blog author), Mary Shelling, Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells and William Gibson.

As always, thanks for joining us in THE GREEN Blog. Make sure to leave a comment or two if you get the inclination, we would love to hear from you.