Business & Politics

Photo: Toyota

Ouch
We all knew it was coming, but now it's official. Toyota has formally filed a voluntary recall for 437,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide. Most of those are third generation Prius hybrids, but they're also recalling the few Prius PHEV out there (the plug-in hybrid version, more details here), the Lexus HS 250h, and the SAI in Japan. This breaks down to about 223,000 hybrids recalled in Japan, 150,000 in North-America, and about 63,000 in the rest of the world.

Science & Technology

Image via Bundle

Ahhh, keeping up with the Joneses - spending more so you can match up with your neighbors. But does it always have to be that way? When it comes to smart metering, experts have shown that knowing how much electricity your neighbors are using can spark up the competitive spirit, and you're likely to reduce your energy consumption just to "beat" your neighbor. But what about when it comes to buying stuff - if we knew just what our neighbors were doing, might we be encouraged to spend less than them? Gizmodo points us to Bundle, an interactive website that tells you what your neighbors are spending their hard earned dollars on. Could this put a twist on the old saying and turn it into, "Keeping below the Joneses"?

Fashion & Beauty

Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week may be bidding a final farewell to Bryant Park and for the last hurrah, IMG Fashion, Tetra Pak, and natural beverage supplier O.N.E. ™ Natural Experience, have announced that the entire production will be -- for the first time ever -- a carbon neutral event. Continue reading the full announcement, made at a press conference this morning, after the jump:

Cars & Transportation

Photo credit Tim Green aka atoach @ flickr.

Without even knowing it, you are daily performing, probably at least a little bit, the death-defying act of pedestrianism. (And the most fatal area for peds? D.C.) Traffic fatalities have been relatively stable since the 1990s - around 5,000 pedestrian deaths annually, with 700 of those cyclists. Yes, accidents happen, but looking forward to Transport World 2.0 perhaps we need not kill so many pedestrians and pedalers, and instead start to create the livable cities that logically seem part of our bi-pedal birthright.

Food & Health

photo: Kirsten via flickr.

Genetically-modified cotton has been grown in India since 2002, but until today it appeared that the nation's first GM food crop would be introduced in 2010. BBC News and other outlets are reporting that the start of GM brinjal (eggplant or aubergine, call it what you like...) has been suspended, with environment minister Jairam Ramesh calling for more testing and essentially putting on indefinite hold the introduction of any GM food crops:

Science & Technology

Image via Mapenvelope

A key element of party invitations is including in the envelope directions on how to get to the location. But what if the envelope is the directions? We love this idea for an envelope that unfolds into a Google map that not only reduces how much paper space is used up on directions, but also just makes for a great looking envelope.

Fashion & Beauty

Those of us who cycle all winter are familiar with the phrase "There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing." But how to take that important call on your cellphone in the middle of a rainstorm? Nubrella to the rescue. It reinvents the umbrella into an aerodynamic sphere, protecting you from the rain and guaranteed never to get blown out, or as they call it, "invert."

It is also completely hands free, "No more struggling to maintain your umbrella in the proper position. Simply strap on the shoulder support and walk completely hands free even in significant winds."

Design & Architecture

Photos: Courtesy of Jahara Studio.

Made entirely from recycled aluminum and 100% recyclable at the end of their lifetime, these home accessories are the first creation of Jahara studio in Brazil. Their name, Batucada, refers to a percussion beat used in carnaval parties in that country, in which people often play instruments made of tin (hence the beaten aesthetics of the collection). More pieces and colors inside.