There were originally 15 ideas that I started this blog about. Here are 10 of them.

1. Redesign New Orleans - That is, from the bedrock up. Existing silt would be transported to other areas for agricultural use. Stone or gravel fill would be brought in (I'm thinking by barge) to raise entire areas to be developed to 10 meters above sea level.Neighborhoods would be built around a hexagonal mound system connected by elevated bike/pedestrian/light elec veh. paths .
Historic neighborhoods could be jacked up to the new level or surrounded by dikes that are backed by new construction rather than canals.

2. Sidewinder. This is a smoking replacement/detoxification nicotine delivery system. Instead of smoke, hot, flavored inhalable steam (no carbon monoxide, tar, etc) would be delivered via a flexible tube (that's where "sidewinder" comes from, besides being a western rattlesnake and also, marketing ploy) connected to belt pack holding compressed gas and flavoring components.

3. House tree. See original post, with links.

4. Green Canyon. See Line-of-sight tunnel post. Connecting NYC to Chicago, and creating offshore Islands on Eastern seaboard continental shelf, emergency flood drainage for Passaic River in NJ and utility corridor for housing and industry.

5. Euglena tattoo. In the world of microorganisms, the Euglena is unique in that it moves like an animal, but has chloroplasts and so can photosynthesize. Would it work to infect animal cells with the type of chloroplasts that are in Euglena and thereby allow animals to derive part of their energy from the sun? Similarly, would the ability of nitrogen-fixing bacteria to absorb atmospheric nitrogen be attainable by animals?

6. Hydrogen Algae. This is a proven process rather than a new idea. The production og hydrogen by algae is a way to denitrify waste water effluent while claiming the energy in hydrogen gas as a byproduct.

7. Polar orbit satellite. Free energy from Earth's magnetic field is available if conducting cables are dragged through it, as satellite cassini demonstrated. By placing a satellite in a polar position , it would be possible to beam this energy, converted to microwaves, to a receptor dish at the pole, thereby eliminating the need for petroleum fuels. . It could also be the source of a laser "gun" to power interplanetary flight or return missions to the moon.

8. Laundry cart. Based on the life story of Conan the Barbarian and the idea that clothes laundering and exercise are both things that people need, this is a device that would be a pushable, human powered washing machine. The wheels turning would turn the drum. Gearing could be altered to give more or less resistance depending on the user's strength and speed. The full body workout would nicely coincide with the time it takes to wash, rinse and spin a large load of laundry.

9. Heads-up Helmet.This idea is a combination wi-fi connection pc built into a safety helmet with both integral AC and on-demand repiratory protection.

10. Wildebeeste. Human physiognomy is based on the plan of a brachiator - swinging through trees - as opposed to quadrupedal, like dogs or knucklewalking, like chimps. Our adaption to bipedal locomotion, though advantageous in an evolutionary sense, has drawbacks compared to the range of muscle groups that brachiation accesses. Wildebeeste is a framework that a person steps into and straps on that duplicates the leap and swing pattern of our simian ancestors (or tree shrew, if the relatedness to monkeys bothers you). It eliminates the jarring impact on knee and spine that cause runner's injuries and allows stetching and contraction for spinal, quad, ab, glute, bicep, tricep and lat. Can be fitted with helium balloons to simulate Martian gravity.



What's this about?
All of these ideas are based on the possibility of changes in the way people view the future as having beneficial impacts on the present also. Thanks to Em for having a blog which is how I accidentally got sucked into this (all I meant to do was comment on her site, but my incompetence got me all the way here) (or maybe it was serendipity).
posted by da # 12:10 PM 5 comments



What's this about?
All of these ideas are based on the possibility of changes in the way people view the future as having beneficial impacts on the present also. Thanks to Em for having a blog which is how I accidentally got sucked into this (all I meant to do was comment on her site, but my incompetence got me all the way here) (or maybe it was serendipity).
posted by da # 12:10 PM 5 comments

Projects to ensure the economic survival, disaster recovery, and healthy lifestyles of Floridians:

Elevated Bike/pedestrian/ltwt electric mass transit paths. These would be weather-proof paths connecting common major destinations within Pensacola (Libraries, schools and colleges, downtown, neighborhoods, beaches, hospitals, churches and malls). Several bicycle-auto and pedestrian-auto deaths have occurred in the short time I have lived in FL. Crossing town by car often takes longer than the same trip would by bicycle at 20 mph. If school children had a safe pathway, they could ride bikes to school and counter some the sedentary lifestyle habits that automobile/bus-based transp. encourage them to adopt. The link below shows an elevated bikeway in the Los Angeles area. Thanks to E. Robinson for the link. http://www.metropolismag.com/html/content_0600/ob.htm

Urban campgrounds- The purpose of these city developments would be to provide temporary housing for newcomers, vacationers, travelling students, emergency and hurricane repair volunteers. Units would be based on a "microtel" design - tiny, minimalist, but would be far more affordable ($5-15 per night) than the $60 typ for a motel/microtel. Some of the ideas for units are lean-tos based on cement culvert, sod roof huts, and yurts. Fees would be on a sliding scale with Social service agencies being offered units to temporarily displaced residents or any clients with temporary housing needs.

Seawater mist global warming amelioration.(Near shore or off-shore) See the NYT Science section for Tues, June 27 for the details on this. This would offer some protection from heat and UV related health risks for the Pensacola area.

Xeriscape and green design initiatives. Tax incentives could be provided to retrofit existing or design new commercial and residential properties with xeriscape to reduce water us for irrigation and low energy-use features such as ground temperature coils for heat pumps, solar hot water to reduce unnecessary waste of power.

Line-of-sight high speed tunnel trains from Pensacola to Mobile, New Orleans, Orlando, Atlanta.
The significant feature of line-of-sight tunnels is that they are subsurface and provide free (gravity) acceleration during the first half and braking during the last half of the trip. When coupled with maglev and vacuum tunnel design, this makes for a very low energy cost design which could be non-dependent on fossil fuels.The tunnel feature obviates the need for disruption of surface activites except for the terminals or access ports. Excavated materials would be helpful in providing near-coastal fill to protect against storm surge and replace eroded beach materials.

I hope you find these ideas useful. Please let me know if there is a compilation of suggestions that have been made so far available for review. Thanks.

Best Regards,
Mark Robinson
435-6807


This idea is one in the "50 goals for my life if I live forever" idea. This is instead of "50 ...Before I die" which seemed to put the emphasis on aging and mortality:

Growing hollow trees (biotech) to replace houses made from other materials. http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?d=nytdsection%2b&o=e%2b&v=Science%2b&c=a%2b&query=anthony+atala&date_select=full
see the NYT article link above to see a parallel now being used in medicine (growing bladders in the lab for transplantation into humans -successfully accomplished.

What's this about?

All of these ideas are based on the possibility of changes in the way people view the future as having beneficial impacts on the present also. Thanks to Em for having a blog which is how I accidentally got sucked into this (all I meant to do was comment on her site, but my incompetence got me all the way here) (or maybe it was serendipity).