With airborne epidemics like SARS and bio-terrorism no longer being figments of science fiction writers, the traditional protective mask may not be the ideal solution to combat air-borne infections. The national finalist from Switzerland for the James Dyson Award, the 4N DS 21122010 MS protective mask is a new take on the usual single-way protective mask that features a common half mask’s bearing system and the mask body of the one-way mask. The optimized solution guarantees optimal positioning and a perfect fit that is essential when the mask is being used in places where the risk of contamination is high.

Those amature-ish shots clicked with a digi cam may look like the perfect slice of real life but there lives in all of us, the need to have a few perfect pictures which basically is what runs the massive professional photography business despite the invasion of the camera phones and the digital cams. However, most clients simply do not understand how important lighting can be to make that perfect shot look prettier and sometimes, when a pro photographer is not paid enough to hire an assistant to hold the flash and other paraphernalia that the paying public thinks of as “dispensable”, having devices like a Backpack Flash can be a real lifesaver.

Design students at the Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah must be some set of go getters. Under the guidance of Dr. Robert Todd, they constructed a hybrid race car. Daubed in color blue, this streamlined beauty, aptly known as Hybrid Blue, is touted to be extremely fast and efficient. The super duper auto has already proven its mettle. After taking up the Society of Automotive Engineers Formula Hybrid challenge, the speedster stood first there. The event took place at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway very recently in 2012.

Products by Apple are very sleek and come covered in a lot of style and elegance. If you have been hunting for a perfect for your iPhone, iPad or iPod, then your search ends here. Here is a smartly designed dock from Woodguy, which is unlike any other you will find in stores. The wooden creation isn’t like a block or wood onto which the Apple gadget will stand, but has additional traits that makes it wanted.

Sustainable buildings are the need of the future and various designers around the world have been coming up with various such innovative designs replicating sustainability. Such an example is this Net Zero Energy (NZE), a prototype of high performance school, which is also a winning entry of the Los Angeles Unified School District Competition and planned by the District to be built throughout Los Angeles on several campuses for various purposes.

Many people just love gardens but don’t have space to grow plants inside the house. If you live in a space cramped home but nurture a fondness for gardening, then you must take a look at this modular, minimal and flexible gardening system. Known as Urbio, the system mainly consists of planters and plates that can be mounted on the walls of your home. And not just walls, they can cling to all ferrous surfaces like bathroom mirrors, metal planes and even doors of refrigerators.

The Inertia electric bicycle concept by designer Devraj Bhadra is truly a futuristic take on the traditional bicycle that brings us a clean and eco friendly bike that we’d truly be delighted to ride around the streets on. With a fiber glass covered body and a skeleton made of carbon fiber, the lightweight bicycle is powered by spoke less in-wheel motors that allow the bike to shed the weight of the spokes and reduce the friction during operation.

Solomon Cordwell Buenz joined hands with Transsolar Climate Engineering (based in Germany) to give a new outlook to the Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons, Loyola University in the form of a digital research library which is situated on the shores of Lake Michigan. The building has been constructed in a way which will bring down energy consumption and rev up the comfort level as its form, materials, function, space as well as construction act in a way that creates this wonderful environment.

Just like most people today, you too might be one of those that find your life and living space slowly but surely being overtaken by gadgets and gizmos and a gazillion other little accessories that your personal gadgets “need” like chargers, charging docks, amps, speaker docks, headphones, USB connectors and so on. Not only does all this stuff add to the clutter on your desk/nightstand, it also unfortunately adds to your carbon footprint since most of this stuff is made from plastics and needs electricity to run. This is where having plastic- and electricity-free cellphone accessories like the eco-amp really make a great case for themselves.

Dreamlike and suave, this structure looks like a piece out of Barbie land. It looks as if the mellifluous design was set down gently on top of the water’s surface and has been floating there ever since. Its angled bends are very relaxed and the skin is as neat as a new pin. Offsetting these are trendy elements like the bubble shaped buttress below the sloppy climb and the bright orange hue along the pathway.