Trees are the most efficient oxygen-producing mechanisms known to man, so researchers have been trying to replicate them in order to produce breathable air in outer space. Julian Melchiorri, a student at the Royal College of Art, has created an artificial leaf that can produce endless oxygen using nothing more than light and water. The manmade leaves could be a game changer for space exploration, and they could also be used as biological air filters or oxygen producers back here on Earth. Trees do more than create oxygen; many of them also bear fruit. Artist Sam Van Aken has produced an amazing hybridized fruit tree that grows more than 40 different kinds of fruit , including peaches, apricots and almonds. Bees already do a lot of work for humans by pollinating crops and producing honey, but could they build our cities too? A pair of designers suggests that bees’ honey-making glands could be used to produce concrete instead, enabling them to 3D print structures . Even if that plan doesn’t work out, there’s still plenty to be learned from bees. Take honeycomb, for example: A team from the Stanford School of Engineering has made a breakthrough honeycomb lithium-ion battery design that could lead to more stable batteries for electric vehicles . And speaking of electric vehicles, this week Tesla and Panasonic signed a multimillion dollar deal for the world’s first battery-producing Gigafactory . What if you could build an entire house for just $3, 500 ? Architect Nicoló Bini, has developed a novel technique for doing just that — and it involves covering an inflatable balloon with concrete! In other green design news, Turkish architecture firm Autoban recently designed a set of futuristic wooden cocoons for Azerbaijan’s Baku Airport , lending the space a cozy, natural atmosphere. Cozier still, the Hanging Tent Company just unveiled a portable tent that hangs high in the treetops . The spherical tent features circular windows and a wood floor. And a 13-year-old from Georgia successfully built her own tiny house . The mini mansion features a kitchen, a lofted bed and a bathroom with a composting toilet. Looking ahead, Vo Trong Nghia has been selected to design the Vietnam Pavilion at the World Expo 2015 in Milan . The pavilion will be modeled after Vietnam’s national flower, the lotus. And filmmaker George Lucas has hired Studio Gang and MAD Architects to design a museum of narrative art in Chicago. In other green tech and innovation news, Amazon has launched an online store for 3D-printed objects . So far, the store offers 250 products, including pendants, toys, nylon wallets, cookie cutters and bobbleheads. A team from Australia obliterated a 26-year-old record for the world’s fastest long-range electric vehicle last week, traveling over 310 miles at an average speed of 62MPH. (The previous record was 45MPH.) Students from Goldsmiths, University of London created a pair of sneakers that are made entirely from plastic trash found on the beach . The Montreal-based media and entertainment studio Moment Studio has created a luminous forest wonderland in Quebec . A team from MIT has developed a simple graphite sponge that soaks up water and converts it to steam using solar energy. And digital tattoos could soon become a reality : The Silicon Valley firm VivaLnk has partnered with Motorola to offer up temporary tattoos that enable you to unlock your phone with a simple tap. And in case you still need a reason to say goodbye to your incandescent light bulbs, this infographic makes a bulletproof case . Filed under: Misc , Internet Comments

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Inhabitat’s Week in Green: concrete honey, hybridized fruit tree and a $3,500 house

The folks down at the Federal Trade Commission are busy helping all of us these days, whether they’re weighing in on patent disputes or forcing firms to help cover your child’s lack of parental supervision . Today, the FTC charged several companies and individuals with participation in an elaborate shell game from 2010 that was really just a $275 million dollar credit card scam. According to a separate, ongoing lawsuit filed by the Commission, a company called I Works did the stealing, but wouldn’t have been able to take $26 million of the total without the aid of the defendants in this new lawsuit. The unfortunates in question are alleged to have served as the conduit through which all that stolen cash flowed. By providing I Works access to payment networks and multiple accounts, the scheme kept the volume of traffic through those accounts low enough to stay off Visa and MasterCard’s credit monitoring radar. So, while they didn’t actually steal money, they provided the means to do so, and were paid from the illegal proceeds. Several of the accused have already settled up with the FTC, which resulted in a $1 million judgment against them. The remaining defendants face a much stiffer penalty should they lose in court, as the Commission seeks all of the $26 million they helped steal, plus legal fees. Should you be among the victims, I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for restitution — the folks who settled were only able to pay $328, 607.78, so the rest of the judgment has been suspended. Still, we salute the effort, Uncle Sam. May this serve as a reminder for all of us to be careful with the plastic until technology delivers us a more secure way to pay. Credit card theft takes many forms . Filed under: Misc Comments Via: Federal Trade Commission Source: FTC legal complaint (PDF)

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FTC busts up $275 million credit card scam, sues the folks behind it

We’ve heard quite a bit about Mr. Zuckerberg’s plans to bring low-cost internet access to the otherwise disconnected, and today, his social network announced plans to do just that in Zambia. The new Internet.org app allows users to browse weather, health and employment info at no cost. And that’s not all Google Search, Facebook, Messenger and Wikipedia are available as well. Right now, the option is available to Airtel subscribers in the country, but it will roll out to other parts of the world in the future. Cellular service blankets much of the globe, however the cost of the mobile web deters many from opting in. This will certainly help. Filed under: Internet , Software , Mobile , Facebook Comments Source: Facebook

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Facebook’s Internet.org app offers free web access in Zambia

Back when Oculus VR first showed off its second virtual reality development kit, the Facebook subsidiary wasn’t saying anything specific about the origins of its new, higher-resolution screen. But now that that second dev kit is shipping to pre-order customers, the teardowns have begun and we have a better idea of what it’s using: the screen from Samsung’s Note 3 . Not a similar screen, but the screen directly taken from a Note 3 smartphone — an AMOLED pushing 1080 x 960 into each eye. Oculus VR even kept the touch module attached, though we’d strongly suggest against trying to use it while wearing the Rift headset. As iFixit notes, the screen is being overclocked to run a higher refresh rate (75 Hz), which is important in creating what Oculus calls “low-persistence”. Hilariously, when the headset’s taken apart, you can see the directness of the screen’s use, camera-holes and all. Check out the video below for a full walkthrough of the new Rift dev kit. Of course, Samsung and Oculus working together is interesting unto itself. We reported in May that Oculus VR and Samsung are collaborating on another VR headset — “Gear VR” — which Oculus is creating the software for while Samsung creates the hardware. That Samsung is providing the screen for Oculus’ new dev kit looks to be another component of the partnership. Interested in learning more about the second Oculus Rift dev kit? Check out the video below! Filed under: Cellphones , Gaming , Wearables , Software , HD , Mobile , Samsung , Facebook Comments Source: iFixit

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The second Oculus Rift headset uses the Samsung Note 3 screen, literally

Genetic testing firm 23andMe might not be in good terms with the FDA, but it impressed the National Institutes of Health enough for the agency to give it a $1.4 million grant. The money will be used for a two-year project that’ll improve the firm’s web-based genetic database and make data available (anonymously, that is) for use by external researchers. This will also allow the company to look into the association between genes and health conditions, conduct more extensive surveys to collect data, among other things that it details on its official announcement . Haven’t heard of 23andMe before? It calls itself a “personal genetics company” that sells DNA test kits and sends customers back their genetic ancestry information and raw genetic data. It also used to issue health reports that indicate how much you’re at risk for a certain disease (cancer, for instance), but the FDA called the reports’ accuracy into question last year. The company believes this two-year project will ultimately lead to valuable information on thousands of diseases and help improve disease detection and drug development. Filed under: Science Comments Source: Reuters , 23andme , FierceHealthIT

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23andMe gets $1.4 million NIH funding to advance human DNA research

So let’s say that you want to quit your day job and start making indie games. It’s a noble pursuit to to be sure, and with Microsoft’s Independent Developers @ Xbox program for Xbox One , it’s supposedly pretty easy. What Redmond doesn’t tell you, however, is just how much it’ll cost you. That’s where Jamie Fristrom , the developer behind Sixty Second Shooter Prime comes in. On his blog , Fristrom breaks how much everything from URL registration and maintenance ($19) to paying to have the game rated in foreign markets ($2, 042) costs, with the total coming in at $5, 143 — a stark contrast to something like Destiny ‘s $140 million price-tag . He notes that even with Redmond giving away free development kits, Xbox isn’t the cheapest indie platform around but that the costs to publish there were “absolutely worth it.” What’s more, he says that if you choose to skip stuff like releasing in other territories, making a game for under $3, 000 could be totally feasible. Good to know. And even though he’s yet to see Prime ‘s first sales report, Fristrom estimates that given the game’s leaderboard population he’s more than covered the cost of development and even made a living wage. How’s that two-week notice looking now? Filed under: Gaming , Home Entertainment , HD , Microsoft Comments Source: Happion Laboratories

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Making an indie game for Xbox One costs just over $5,000

Anxious to start… not driving in the UK? Though late to the party, the government is has announced that driverless cars will hit the streets in three UK cities starting in January 2015. To kickstart research, the Department of Transport also launched a £10 million ($17 million) fund. All of that follows an announcement that the government was re-coding road laws to accommodate such vehicles. US states followed a similar trajectory back in 2011 by first passing new road laws, then approving self-driving vehicles for road use, accompanied by a human driver. There are now quite a few players in the self-driving game, which only kicked off in earnest once Google jumped in . Since then, new projects have launched from Volvo , Audi and Google again . A UK company called MIRA specializing in such vehicles told Sky News that though it had driverless tech, “we lag behind actually getting (it) into some real field trials.” [Image credit: AP/Michael Sohn] Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: BBC Source: Telegraph

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UK to let driverless cars loose on roads by January

After unsuccessfully trying to charm authors , Amazon is now appealing to its customers during the ongoing war with Hachette. The retailer has revealed the reasons behind the spat, i.e. cheaper e-book prices , and the noble intentions behind it. Using its vast archive of data, the company believes that titles that, surprise, surprise, are priced at $15 won’t sell as well as those that are priced at $10. As obvious as it sounds, the company’s data says that for every 100, 000 copies of the book that are bought for the higher price, 74, 000 more copies would be bought at the lower figure, making a total profit of $1, 738, 000. Given that e-books incur no printing, warehousing or transportation costs, Amazon feels that it’s a fair trade off. The company is also opening up about its proposed revenue split with publishers, saying that both Hachette and the author would receive 35 percent of the profits, or around $60, 000 in the example above, with Amazon taking the remaining 30 percent ($52, 000 as commission. The Kindle team, however, doesn’t believe that the publishers are playing fair with their talent, keeping a bigger portion of that pot for themselves. Another way that Amazon would like to drive a wedge between publishers and authors is by pointing out that the cheaper books have a much better chance of appearing on the bestseller lists — so authors should be insisting their books are sold for $10. Of course, Amazon didn’t say how many titles in its e-book library regularly make 100, 000 in sales, so perhaps this is all a bit of very wishful thinking. Filed under: Amazon Comments Via: Werner Vogels Source: Amazon

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Amazon runs the numbers to convince you that e-books should be cheaper

Many people can’t really justify buying a cellular-equipped tablet — why pay for more data when your phone probably does the trick? FreedomPop is undoubtedly aware of that thriftiness, as it just started offering its namesake free service on tablets. Whether you buy one of the carrier’s pre-supplied tablets or bring your own, you’ll get the same gratis 500MB of LTE data, 500 messages and 200 voice minutes as a phone customer . That may not make sense at first, but FreedomPop reckons that it’s important for apps that ask for a phone number. It’s much easier to hail an Uber car when you can supply some digits, for example. It could also serve as a backup if your phone’s battery dies, or if you’re nearing your limits on a capped phone plan. The catch, besides the relatively low 500MB data ceiling, is the device selection. FreedomPop is selling only the aging Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 ($199) and original iPad mini ($319), and any tablet of your own will have to play nicely with the Sprint network that FreedomPop uses for LTE. You’re getting more free data than T-Mobile offers , though, and the phone functionality should be icing on the cake. Filed under: Tablets , Wireless , Mobile , Sprint Comments Source: FreedomPop

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FreedomPop’s free data and voice are now available on tablets

What happens when a physicist decides to become a chef? If they’re anything like Manuel Linares, then you can expect a fusion of food and science to come out of their kitchen. For instance, one of the Spaniard’s masterpieces is an ice cream that changes colors when you lick it. He calls it the Xamaleón, a play on the Spanish word for chameleon, and it originally starts as a periwinkle blue frozen treat until it’s spritzed with Linares’ “love elixir, ” a super secret mixture he concocted himself. This mixture reacts to changes in temperature and saliva, causing the tutti-frutti-flavored ice cream to turn into purple, then into pink as you lick. As unusual as it sounds, this is just the beginning of Linares’ foray into the color-changing ice cream business: he also plans to whip up ice cream that turns from white to pink, and another one that glows under ultraviolet light. You can only get a scoop of this chameleon ice cream from one the creator’s shops in Spain right now, but he’s looking to export it to other countries, according to The Mirror . Until that happens, you can check out this video that shows how the yummy dessert transitions from purple to pink. [Image credit: Manual Linares/IceXperience / Cocinatis ] Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Via: Geek Source: Cocinatis , Diari de Girona

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Physicist concocts ice cream that changes color when you lick it