Green-er MACHINES By Marci Blackman Photos by Ed Glazar In a four hundred square foot studio in Red Hook, the hinterland of Brooklyn, a botanist, an engineer, anthropologist and bike messenger mental away the hours putting the finishing touches on a bicycle that could save the world. Okay, maybe not the whole world. Perhaps not even a block of it. And twenty-somethings Justin Aguinaldo and Sean Murray would probably never refer to themselves as an anthropologist and botanist even though bike messenger Aguinaldo majored in anthropology in college, and Murray once taught the plant science to children with learning disabilities at the Churchill School in Manhattan. Mostly, along with Marty Odlin of Columbia University's Earth Institute (our engineer), they are a brainy trio of bike geeks who-like the rest of us-get excited over things like black-rimmed wheels with matching black spokes and black high flange hubs, gear ratios, and lightweight composites. And none of them is ever likely to profess that he could save the world. But the bicycle the three are developing along with the streamlining of its manufacturing process could help put a dent in a few of our problems: rural world poverty, health and well-being, greenhouse gases. Plus, as a bonus, they might even win the awesome wicked cool award while doing it.

Some have called it the car that will save General Motors: the Chevy Volt, a plug-in electric sedan set to launch in three test markets (in California, Michigan, and the Washington, D.C., area) by the end of 2010. GM's Chevy brand was one of the charter sponsors of this week's South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, and it brought a Volt along for the ride. Why, exactly? The 12,000 SXSWi attendees, most of whom are all about the latest high-tech craze, are exactly the people Chevy thinks will want a Volt.

Turn your iPhone into and iPad. Now, ... this is right up your iLego replacement.

Pullin' for the Saints! Go Drew Brees - God, the Chargers front office let this guy go! OMG! Go Drew! We loved him when he was here in SD!

Too bad ...

OK! But, ... there's a silver lining - another car with 300+ mpg and with a 17" Infotainment center (so I can talk to you in my new car) and this appears to actually be real - http://www.teslamotors.com/models/index.php - check it out, and you can get it for your wife! It seats 7 - your whole family and two friends of your girls!

Now you have to have one!!

FishMan might need this when he gets his iMac!

Go for it, FishMan! It might blend into http://groups.diigo.com/group/collective-intelligence-theory-reseach/content/dmitri-3d-mandelbrot-set-1213946

I know the rarest Tiger Cub of all!

Where's the Tiger Cub? We miss her!

@FishMan - Your hour has arrived!!

I tried two imports of this, trying to use pictures, and can't make it work for me. What is it with pictures and socnets?

Cool! Geocoding your TweetDecks!

Cute - But I DON'T have to have one of these.

If you had boys, FishMan, they'd want one! LOL

My son will be 21 in 8 days, so he's a little beyond this ... it's the sounds that make this interesting!

I have to have one of these!!

It probably will work with an iPod touch! Just needs WI-FI, I think. I'm doing more investigating on this one - I have to have one! Too Cool!

Comes with two cameras - interesting impromptu interview - looks like maybe at CES this year - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTsbNeYmeB8 - but not even priced yet.

Just for the FishMan!

This is interesting, but, with all that I'm doing with trying to do the same thing on my new site (which I'd like you to take a look at sometime, FishMan, for your worldly advice!) www.jackdlogan.com - it's a mess right now, but I can't get access to the Apple servers in the cloud this morning!) I'm not so sure I want to do both at the same time. If you do anything with it, let me know what you think, please!

Hey, thanks for the look - Diggo corrected to Diigo, ... THANKS! - I thought Visual Complexity was your site, ... not? I have a failing memory and I remembered in one of our Twine conversations that somehow I got the impression that that's your web site. I love the site, but I'll put it somewhere else, if it's not yours.