Orange County Choppers Builds an Electric Motorcycle [COOL]

Orange County Choppers, known for building machines as brutish as they are loud, has produced this paradoxical bike touted as the “first custom electric American chopper.” The showpiece exhibits the trademark OCC outrageous ode to flair and themed design, but this time you won’t hear it coming from a mile away.

On Wednesday, Siemens, the electronics and electrical engineering global powerhouse, unveiled the Smart Chopper it commissioned from the renowned custom motorcycle outfit. Siemens claims the bike has a 60-mile range and a 100 mph top speed. An onboard charging unit can be plugged into any 110-volt socket to charge the bike in five hours, and Siemens says it’ll charge in as little as one hour when plugged into a higher-voltage station. A single-speed, clutch-less transmission delivers the power from a 27-hp electric motor.

The Smart Chopper joins the growing ranks of electric motorcycles, including the Brammo Enertia, Zero X and the Mission One.

Read more at wired.com

Recompute: A Sustainable Cardboard PC [GADGETS]

An entrant into the Greener Gadgets Design Competition taking place in New York, February 27th. The designer; Brenden Macaluso, has created the fully functional PC that housed in cardboard -- which apparently more heat-resistant than many plastics, with a much higher fire and ignition point -- 258°C and 427°C, respectively -- where plastics begin to melt at about 120°C. Some light specs include an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, and 2GB of RAM.

via Engadget

Carnivorous Lampshade Robot Runs On Flies It Catches!

THIS IS CRAZY!

Here's a weird take on renewable energy -- do you have pests? Specifically, houseflies?

Then you might be interested in this "carnivorous lamp," which appears to be designed to catch flies, feed on them and use energy generated through that to power LEDs.

Only problem is it looks like a tiny disco ball or something.

Flies and moths are naturally attracted to light. This lamp shade has holes based on the form of the pitcher plant enabling access for the insects but no escape. Eventually they expire and fall into the microbial fuel cell underneath. This generates the electricity to power a series of LEDs located at the bottom of the shade. These are activated when the house lights are turned off.

via HuffPo