Throw it off the top of a building or down some stairs, or carry it in a bag without padding, and the Durabulb will take the licking keep on ticking (or lighting, as it were).

The lightweight LED uses 80% less energy than conventional bulbs and its rugged design means it also requires a lot less packaging, saving on space and materials for shipping that would wind up in a landfill.

The flexible, shatter-proof design is thanks to a bouncy polycarbonate plastic shell. It was tested by throwing it 100 feet and attempting to smash it with a tennis racket. It was also mailed without a box through the US postal service and worked on the other end. The bulbs can last up to 10,000 hours.

“Lighting Science is committed to creating products that promote sustainability and low carbon economies,” said Pete Rumsey, Executive Vice President of Business Development for Lighting Science. “By choosing the lightweight Durabulb instead of other LED bulbs, Americans have the opportunity to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with LED lights by 20,000 tons a year. That’s the equivalent of driving a car across the United States 16,213 times.”

The post Durabulb: ‘Unbreakable’ LED Survives 100-Foot Fall & More first appeared on Gajitz.

In a world already packed with devices that need to be recharged or plugin in, this wire-and-battery-free switch saves some trouble and turns the energy of the user’s own motion into its own unlimited power source.

Developed by Panosonic, the switch generates power through users and can trigger anything around you from lights and fans to computers and music players. Imagine walking into a room or sitting down at your desk and having your devices and lamps turn on around you all automatically.

Additional functions can be activated by physically tapping the switch but moving it is not essential – even ambient surrounding activity can charge the device, like opening doors or jostling surfaces. Easy setup and installation are possible thanks to the lack of wiring and while the device is a prototype it can presumably be programmed to various functions in time and on demand.

The post Wireless Switch Needs No Batteries to Turn Stuff On & Off first appeared on Gajitz.

Thai fireflies gather annually to glow, flashing in great quantities in the country’s mangrove forests. Artists Robin Meier and André Gwerder stepped into the mix, adding artificial flashers to sync up the natural bioluminscent species.

Some types of firefly will synchronize on their own, but following their natural rhythms. By introducing fakes into the mix, the pair of artists tricked a huge group into following their cues, pulsing in controlled patterns and sequential clusters.

“Synchronicity (Thailand) is a video documentation of an experiment where live fireflies are made synchronise their flashes to computer controlled LED’s. Throughout the video the artists explore the relationship between mathematical models of this complex group behaviour and their biological reality in the field. By influencing living fireflies with computer controlled lights they question the idea of free will and simultaneously transform a machine into a living actor inside a colony of insects.”

The post Organic Light Show: LEDs Fool Fireflies into Synchronizing first appeared on Gajitz.

Form follows function in this flexible and transparent combination bookmark and nighttime reading light, which turns on when you fold the battery back to connect with a lower tab.

The ‘bookmark light’ by Kouichi Okamoto “uses a conductive ink that transmits electricity through the help of a lithium coin battery. The grid utilizes ink with nano size silver particles between a layer of film that forms the liquid crystal.”

The transparency provides a fun way to see how the gadget works, and the simple on/off function makes for easy use as a light while the flat configuration makes for a simple bookmark. All in all, a pretty simple but neat way to get a little illumination for your bedroom or travel reading.

The device was created in “collaboration with business venture Agic Inc. of the University of Tokyo – the interactive design can be used as page tab or as a illuminative source, allowing one to carry on reading without disturbing a sleeping partner.”

The post Close the Circuit: Bookmark Folds into Flexible Reading Lamp first appeared on Gajitz.

The Cyclotron features a pair of spokeless wheels and air-free tires made from solid polymer, and in the spirit of TRON: it also features automatic lighting that lends it a sleek futuristic look. Its creators boast that it is the first no-spoke bike to be commercially available.

Space in the wheels is freed up, which makes for an unusual add-on feature: the ability to put storage containers in the center of the resulting void, expanding carrying capabilities.

An app alerts users when the battery is getting low, cuing riders (via an app) to plug the seat post charger into the wall.

More from the makers: “materials and production methods have rapidly evolved within the last decade. The ‘cyclotron bike’ is made of space grade carbon fiber composite, which makes it rigid, stiff & ultra lightweight at the same time.”

“The stiffest, most lightweight and durable construction could be achieved with a ‘carbon fiber sandwich’ — two layers of carbon fiber are combined with an ultra lightweight core structure. this way fewer layers of carbon fiber and less resin are used, without impairing stability. “

The post Cyclotron: Spoke-Free Bike Wheels Roll Along on Airless Tires first appeared on Gajitz.