Baby You Can Drive My Wooden Car

Though it's admittedly not "out to save the world," the research behind Project Splinter could be considered an important exercise in alternative materials.

Pictured above is the Splinter, the graduate project of a group North Carolina State students. It is a 2500-pound sports car, with a target horsepower of 600. Wood composites, or engineered wood, have been utilized everywhere possible in the car's design and construction, including chassis, body, and large percentages of the suspension components and wheels.

Please note: This car is flammable. Burn rubber at your own risk.

An Aerobic Revolution: Powering Gyms with Gyrations

A new gym in Portland, Oregon, called The Green Microgym, has figured out how to harness the energy it's members expend while working out.

The "human-powered" gym, which opened last week, is stocked with stationary bicycles designed to connect to wind-generator motors. As gym patrons pedal, batteries supplying power to televisions and stereos are simultaneously charged.

The gym, which also relies heavily on solar power, is currently working on ways of capturing excess energy from it's elliptical machines, and hopes to generate 40 percent of their own energy needs.