Whether it’s adventure or necessity that ultimately propels us to venture beyond our shores and build new communities in the sea, we’ve got plenty of space to work with: over 70% of the Earth is covered with water. The world’s oceans can provide a dreamy setting for all manner of submerged societies, from self-sustaining utopian cities to ultra-modern inverted ‘skyscrapers’ and museums. These 12 ideas range from science fiction to theoretically achievable projects, possibly leading to the world’s first permanent aquatic abode.

Sub Biosphere 2

(images via: phil pauley)

Imagine an entirely self-contained city that could go practically anywhere as the need arose – from floating on the surface of the ocean, to hidden in the depths. Sub Biosphere 2 is a concept for a submerged city featuring eight live/work/farm biomes surrounding a large central biome containing all necessary equipment to keep the city running. Theoretically, with enough notice and supplies, Sub Biosphere 2 – which is also a seed bank – could survive everything from a hurricane to a nuclear war.

The Gyre – A Floating Skyscraper

(images via: zigloo.ca)

Technically, the Gyre isn’t a floating skyscraper – it’s more like a seafloor-scraper. Rather than reaching high into the air, the tip of the Gyre descends 400 meters under the ocean’s surface from a floating platform with four arms that buoy the building and create harbors for massive ships. The Gyre, powered by the solar, wind and wave energy, would house a research station and a resort complete with shops, restaurants, gardens, parks and entertainment.

Jellyfish-Inspired Ocean City for Australia

(images via: design boom)

Some ocean cities aim not to look like a modern metropolis that has simply been submerged, but like part of the ecosystem of the sea. The beautiful ‘Syph’, a jellyfish-inspired Ocean City concept for Australia, proposes not buildings but ‘organisms’ that each have a specialized task like producing food or housing residents. Designed by Arup Biometrics for the ‘Now + When Australian Urbanism’ competition, this concept has a flowing elegance that’s fitting for its environment.

Trilobis 65 Underwater Home

(images via: sub-find.com)

Not everyone is eager to pack into densely populated underwater skyscrapers and housing complexes, whether more of us live under the sea as a novelty or by necessity. Some deep-pocketed lovers of luxury may choose partially submerged abodes that are a variation of modern-day yachts. The round Trilobis 65 features an ‘observation bulb’ that provides a 360-degree view at a cost of just $4-5 million.

Amsterdam’s Underwater Future

(images via: treehugger)

Amsterdam has been dealing with a multiplying population and a shortage of land, a problem that will only get worse if the seas rise with global warming. While many forward-thinking architects have proposed a floating future for Amsterdam, this proposal would take certain functions of the city beneath sea level. Moshé Zwarts believes that draining canals, building under them and then re-filling them could provide space for parking, shopping and leisure.

Water-Scraper Self-Sufficient Floating City

(images via: evolo.us)

Like a combination of the Gyre and Australia’s ‘Syph’, the Water-Scraper is an inverted underwater skyscraper but also employs some stunning biomimicry. Designer Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum of Malaysia says “Its bioluminescent tentacles provide sea fauna a place to live and congregate while collecting energy through its kinetic movements.”

Hydropolis Hotel

(images via: builder blog)

It was supposed to be the world’s first underwater hotel, a massive 220-suite structure with a submarine ‘leisure complex’, an above-water land station and a tunnel connecting the two. But the Hydropolis Hotel was just a bit to ambitious of a project for the worldwide economic troubles of 2008-2010, even for Dubai, and though construction was set to start anytime, the project has been shelved.

Poseidon Undersea Resort

(images via: one nation)

Now that Hydropolis is off the table, Fiji’s Poseidon Undersea Resort really will nab the title of ‘world’s first underwater hotel’ – maybe. The resort was first supposed to open in 2008, but got pushed back to early 2010, which didn’t happen either.  It’s unclear whether construction has even begun. But if it does ever become a reality, the resort will offer 24 suites on the floor of a 5,000-acre lagoon with stunning views for a fee of $30,000 per couple per week.

Alexandria’s Underwater Museum

(image via: national geographic)

Few people ever get a glimpse of the remnants of ancient Alexandria, long since sunken into the Mediterranean Sea. But all the treasures discovered by divers in the 1990s, including 26 sphinxes, could be visible to the public if the world’s first underwater museum ever gets built. The partially above-water museum would feature four sail-shaped structures representing the points on a compass, and would keep the ruins underwater to follow the UNESCO convention of preservation of underwater heritage. A team is still trying to determine how to build around such priceless artifacts without disturbing them.

Minnesota’s Secret Underwater City

(images via: io9)

Since 1996, people have been mesmerized by online accounts of a “secret underwater city” not under the sea in some exotic location, but deep within the Minnesota River. The “official Mankato, MN web page” has even lured tourists in with  stories about an ancient city dating back to about 4,000 B.C., confirmed by “world famous astrogeologist Seymour Bottoms.” Getting the drift yet? The page was created by a professor at Minnesota State University to show his students that you can’t believe everything you hear on the internet – and yes, it has definitely resulted in some very disappointed and confused tourists.

Bioshock’s Underwater City of Rapture

(images via: the next side)

It never was and never will be a reality, but one of the most stunning underwater cities ever imagined is actually from a video game. The city of ‘Rapture’, from the game Bioshock 2, is entirely submerged somewhere off the coast of Iceland. Initially built as a utopian refuge from the post-World-War-II world, it fell victim to unrest from within, and it is the abandoned Rapture that gamers get to explore. This image is one of several by concept artist Tim Warnock depicting Rapture in all of its initial Art Deco glory.

R’lyeh, Home of Cthulu

(images via: john coulthart)

Long before any of the other undersea cities and buildings on this list were ever dreamed up, H.P. Lovecraft’s vision of R’lyeh was the most fascinating submerged metropolis since Atlantis. Illustrator John Coulthart brought it to frightening life in this incredible work of art, reminding us that undersea living isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

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Transportation is one of the main differences between present day and the day of tomorrow in pop culture: People with jetpacks, flying cars, and zooming vehicles will whiz around with no environmental impact, super speed, and total safety. That future hasn’t arrived as quickly as we hoped, but it is on the way. Here are some examples of how personal transport could look just around the corner:

Self-Balancing

(Images via slipperybrick, designlaunches, cultofmac)

The Segway was supposed to change the world, and it definitely didn’t. It did add advanced gyroscopic balancing technology, however, which allows people to cruise around on two wheels in a way we never could before. These vehicles could easily be battery powered, and maybe one day charged via solar.

Unicycles

(Images via techfreak, slipperybrick, telegraph, pcworld)

The unicycle is fast becoming less of a novelty item and more of a fun way to transport around town, but I don’t think any novice would complain about a little help balancing. The new Honda U3-X takes this a step further, giving a crazy looking way to roam around your office without fear of falling.

[youtube=cuIJRsAuCHQ]

Lightweight Autos

(Images via igreenspot, igreenspot, psipunk, tuvie, xconomy)

As gasoline becomes more difficult to obtain, and electric power becomes more common, we’ll need lightweight vehicles that can zoom through town without lugging around too much weight. Here are some visions of what these cars might look like.

Flying Vehicles

(Images via combatreform, gizmag, creative hobbies, coolnessroundup, cnet, brysonmeunier)

Roads are a pain. Traffic, road maintenance, deer… these are all things that make driving difficult, dangerous, and expensive for the consumer and the government. My favorite solution? Teleportation, but I’ll take flying as a close second. The world fell in love with the personal jetpack when 007 used it in the film Thunderball, and the technology has gotten better ever since.

Airboards

(Images via uncrate, thecoolgadgets, gizmodo)

We were promised hover cars by the year 2000, and this is about as far as we’ve gotten. The Arbortech AirBoard, a $14,000 transportation device looks pretty darn cool, almost like you’re riding a jet engine, but at a much slower pace (around 15 mph).

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Leptodirus Beetle

(images via: ICSB-2010, Wikipedia France and Petkovanja in Pondelkovanja)

So-called troglobites – not to be confused with troglodites, or cave men – are creatures that have adapted their physical forms to best suit the environment of caves, typically to the point where they cannot survive when removed from said caves. The first troglobite to be described in scientific literature was the Leptodirus beetle (Leptodirus hochenwartii), back in 1832.

(image via: Wikipedia)

Leptodirus beetles average about 4/10 of an inch (1cm) in length and are thought to survive by feeding on the carcasses of deceased cave creatures. Found only in several limestone caves in southeastern Europe’s Dinaric Alps, Leptodirus beetles are considered to be a vulnerable species as their ecological requirements span a very narrow range.

Kauai Cave Wolf Spider

(images via: Earlham College, Animalaqua, Bishop Museum and Dreamstime)

The Kauai Cave Wolf Spider (Adelocosa anops), discovered in 1971, can be found on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and inside five caves where only about two dozen in total are thought to live. The caves were formed between 3.6 and 5.6 million years ago so the spider has had several million years to evolve into its current eyeless state – “anops” means eyeless, by the way. The creature relies upon a finely tuned sense of touch and the ability to note minute vibrations when stalking prey within the volcanic caves’ pitch-black environs. That’s a normal Wolf Spider at above right, compared with A. Anops on the left.

(image via: Red Orbit)

Though biologists and environmentalists may bemoan the exceptional rarity of the Kauai Cave Wolf Spider, spelunkers and arachnophobics (or both) might feel the opposite: this intriguing eyeless spider is quite large, measuring over 3 inches (8cm) across. It’s considered to be harmless to humans, if that’s any help when you’re exploring the deepest depths of a Kauai cave and the battery in your flashlight dies.

Kentucky Cave Shrimp

(images via: USGS and Unusual Kentucky)

The Kentucky Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias ganteri) is one of a number of eyeless and/or sightless troglobite shrimps that have successfully exploited lightless cave environments the world over.

(image via: The Infinite Sphere)

Living mainly in Kentucky’s famed Mammoth Cave and other subterranean caves in the area, the Kentucky Cave Shrimp is considered to be endangered due to above-ground dams and canals that have affected the natural rate of water flow and sedimentation in the Mammoth Cave system. The shrimp, which are both eyeless and transparent, grow to a length of 1.25 inches (3.15cm) and are closely related to other cave-dwelling shrimp found in Texas, Alabama and Florida.

(image via: Ben’s Biz Blog)

The rarity of the Kentucky Cave Shrimp and the fact that its existence is threatened by groundwater pollution has made the shrimp somewhat of a poster-child for environmental activism and a local cause celeb in the area of Mammoth Cave. In 2009, the newly formed Bowling Green baseball club staged a Name The Team contest and although “Hot Rods” was the winning (or at least, chosen) entry, Cave Shrimp received at least some votes. Pity it didn’t win – just imagine the above awesome logo on players’ uniforms.

Blind Cave Crayfish

(images via: USGS, Dayo Scuba and ScienceRay)

Almost 40 different species of Cave Crayfish live in various cave ecosystems scattered across the United States alone. Common to most of these species is eyelessness, lack of pigmentation and very long lifespans – in some cases estimated at over 75 years! Cave Crayfish are among the largest troglobites, reaching lengths of almost 4 inches (10cm).

(image via: Dayo Scuba)

Cave Crayfish have evolved over millions of years to be totally in sync with their exceptionally demanding environment. As such, they can be looked at as “canaries in the coalmine” – environmental indicators as to the health of the pristine, naturally filtered groundwater in which they live.

Blind Cave Crab

(images via: Daily Mail UK, DBS/NUS and Biotagua)

Like many troglobites, Cave Crabs exist in dark, flooded cave environments around the globe. They share a number of common evolutionary adaptations, such as eyelessness and depigmentation that gives them a ghostly appearance – not that anyone (or anything) saw them before humans with lights and cameras invaded their space.

(image via: Biotagua)

Cave Crabs are often found around the inlets where freshwater enters caves, bringing with it food for the opportunistic crabs to eat. The Cave Crab in the topmost image above, Sesarmoides jacobsoni, was discovered in a cave located on the Indonesian island of Java.

Blind Cave Fish

(images via: FOX News, NPS and National Geographic)

The Blind Cave Fish, or Mexican Tetra (Astyanax mexicanus) has evolved from normal Tetra fish that can be found today in the Rio Grande river and other rivers and streams in Mexico and Texas. Growing to about 4 inches (10cm) in length, the Mexican Tetra displays extreme albinism, a semi-transparent skin and most shocking: complete eyelessness. Such traits are shared by the newly discovered blind cave fish Milyeringa veritas (above, lowest photo), a 2-inch (5cm) long eyeless fish found in Australian freshwater aquifers.

(image via: Wikipedia)

Mexican Tetras are one of the only cave-dwelling troglobitic creatures that are not endangered – they can even be bought and maintained as unique aquarium fish! Owners report that though completely blind, Mexican Tetras kept in aquariums use their highly developed non-visual sense organs to avoid bumping into aquarium objects and walls, and

Brazilian Blind Characid

(images via: BBC)

Stygichthys typhlops, a blind relative of the fearsome piranha, may be “the most threatened underground fish species in Brazil” according to ichthyologist Dr. Cristiano Moreira of the Federal University of Sao Paulo. The fish lives in a single, 15.5 mile (25km) long aquifier in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

(image via: Treehugger)

Villagers drawing water from wells in the town of Jaiba reported seeing strange pale fish swimming in the well. Maybe it’s just me but when you’ve got piranhas in the well it’s time to think about moving, amiright?

Texas Blind Salamander

(images via: Academic.ru, Silverfish Attack and Why Evolution Is True)

The Texas Blind Salamander (Eurycea rathbuni) is an extreme example of eyelessness as an adaptation to low or zero light conditions in underground environments. Growing up to 5 inches (13cm) in length, this rare and unusual creature is found in just one location: the San Marcos Pool of the Edwards Aquifer in Hays, Texas.

(image via: CaliforniaHerps)

Texas Blind Salamanders are amphibians and they lay their eggs in water. They eat snails, amphipods and blind shrimp – a case of the blind eating the blind, pardon the pun.

Olm

(images via: Wikipedia and ScienceBlogs)

The Olm (Proteus anguinus) is the only member of its genus and the only troglobitic vertebrate on the European mainland. Like the Leptodirus beetle, it can be found in the freshwater caves of southeastern Europe’s Dinaric Alps. First described in 1768 but not recognized as a purely cave-dwelling animal, the Olm is known to people in Slovenia and Croatia as the “human fish” due to its pale, pinky coloration.

(images via: Arkive, Oracle ThinkQuest and Posing Facts)

The Olm’s snakelike body averages 8 to 12 inches (20–30 cm) in length with occasional examples reaching 16 inches (40cm). As one of the symbols of Slovenia, the Olm was featured on some of the country’s coins before they switched to the Euro.

(images via: Wired and Nature Manchester)

Though it may superficially resemble the Texas Blind Salamander and like it is completely eyeless, the Olm is a completely different animal. It is neotenic, remaining in the gill-breathing larval stage its entire life (which may be as long as 100 years!). Olms also have 3 toes on the forelimbs but only 2 on their hind limbs. Here’s a short video on the Olm from the acclaimed PBS television program Nature:

Land of the Falling Lakes – Alien Creatures, via PBS

Madagascar Blind Snake

(images via: IO9 and WebEcoist)

The Madagascar Blind Snake (Xenotyphlops mocquardi) is one of 15 different kinds of blind snakes that call Madagascar their home, though Xenotyphlops takes sightlessness to a whole new level. In fact, unless this 10-inch (25cm) long, pencil-thin burrowing reptile opens its mouth – or happens to be in motion – it’s tough to know which end is which. While not eyeless per se, the Madagascar Blind Snake is negatively phototaxic, meaning it avoids light and when brought to the surface immediately tries to burrow back underground. Xenotyphlops and its blind relatives are the only snakes that eat insects exclusively, homing in on ant and termite nests with a highly developed sense of smell.

(image via: MSNBC)

The Madagascar Blind Snake was actually discovered twice: once in 1905 and again one hundred years later after not being seen at all in the interim. It obviously has perfected the art of deception; the genus is believed to have split off from its ancestral line about 155 million years ago when Madagascar was part of the composite Gondwanaland continent.

(image via: Filmcritic)

Some like to think “the eyes have it” but these 10 amazing eyeless animals prove without a doubt there’s more than one way of having it; a way that doesn’t depend on seeing what’s wanted. It’s a vision thing… that doesn’t require actual vision. You see? They don’t, and that’s cool.

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Living In A World Of Poop

(images via: WIRED.com, Jacob Berkowitz and UCMP Berkeley)

If one considers the number of living creatures who have walked, trod, swam and flown through Life’s billion-year reign, it’s a wonder we’re not up to our eyes in excrement today! Or maybe we are and just don’t know it. When excrement fossilizes, minerals replace the organic matter and to the casual observer the result (a coprolite) is indistinguishable from a rock, stone or pebble. Paleontologists and the rather more specialized Paleoscatologists, however, know turds from treasure when they see them. Sometimes, in fact, the former can be the latter!

(images via: SuperStock and Amazon.com)

Meet Karen Chin, one of the world’s most well-known paleoscatologists – she’ll understand if you don’t want to shake hands. Chin is the curator of paleontology at the University of Colorado Museum in Boulder – no pun intended – and her work with dinosaur coprolites has enlightened us to some important aspects of dinosaur behavior and lifestyles.

(images via: Denver Post, Hanscom Family and Tea Cozy)

For example, Chin noted worm tracks in coprolites that indicated the big beasts were afflicted by worms and other intestinal parasites. She also discovered bones – both whole and crushed – in T Rex’s fossil dung that indicate the dainty-fingered dino wasn’t a dilettante when it came to downing its dinner.

Ex-Stinkers From The Extinct

(images via: NHM and Wyoming Dinosaurs)

Coprolites have been found to have come from all manner of creatures, great and small, fish or fowl, but dinosaur coprolites seem to have inspired the most interest and fascination. Perhaps seeing their poop brings these large, fearsome creatures down to size, so to speak. Maybe it’s just that for most of us excreta is a passing thing – yet these dino dumps appear pretty much “as left” even though they first saw the light of day tens of millions of years ago.

(images via: Fossils For Sale, It’s A Hard Rock Life and Science A2Z)

Paleoscatologists state that coprolites from carnivores are more easily preserved than those from herbivores – a somewhat surprising fact given that some of said plant-eaters were the largest creatures to have ever walked the Earth. Cretaceous carnivores were no lightweights however, and that goes for their dung as well.

(images via: RSM, Prehistoric CSI and Oak Park Journal)

The monster loaf above was thought to have been pinched by a Tyrannosaurus Rex some 65 million years ago, presumably during a commercial break. Discovered in 1995 by Wendy Sloboda of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the dino dropping measures 17.6 by 6.4 by 5.2 inches (44 x 16 x 13 cm) and weighs over 15.5 pounds (7 kg).

Mammoth Dung: A BIG Problem

(images via: PPSC, SEAC and Discovery.com)

Mammoths and Mastodons were big, they ate during the bulk of their waking hours – and they ate in bulk, period. What goes in, must come out as the old saying goes, and it’s likely these extinct shaggy pachyderms had a significant impact on their environment. Images of several fossilized “impacts” are shown above.

(image via: Green Diary)

It doesn’t take long (on a geologic scale) for dung to fossilize and in some cases the process is over and done with in just a few hundred years. Not so in the earth’s frozen tundra where generations of Woolly Mammoths roamed for hundreds of thousands of years, doing what Woolly Mammoths do… and doodoo. Some scientists speculate that as global warming heats up the Arctic, dormant microbes in the dung could wake up and go back to work, in the process spewing forth significant amounts of methane. Kinda like letting your dog do his business in the yard all winter and next spring when the snow melts… uh oh.

Regurgitalites: Jurassic Barf

(images via: WordSpy and Karen Carr)

Closely related to coprolites are Regurgitalites, or mineralized vomitus. If that’s not plain enough for you, we’ll call a spade a spade: fossilized vomit. One of the most, er, exciting regurgitalite finds occurred in 2002 when Peter Doyle of the University of Greenwich described a conglomeration of belemnite skeletons believed to have been coughed up by a marine reptile called Ichthyosaurus approximately 160 million years ago.

(images via: New Scientist, Prehistoric World and Tonmo.com)

Belemnites are ancient relatives of squid that had hard, calcified skeletal structures. It’s thought that once a certain number of these shells had accumulated within an ichthyosaur’s stomach, it would vomit them up much the way owls do with indigestible rodent bones. As for the British regurgitalite, Doyle stated that “We believe this is the first time the existence of fossil vomit on a grand scale has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.”

Pseudocoprolites: If It Ain’t Crap, It’s Crap

(images via: WAMS and Wikipedia Japan)

Sometimes what looks like a coprolite is really just a crappy rock. Various geological processes can conspire to create these so-called pseudocoprolites, most involve water and a variety of chemical reactions. Paleontologists and paleoscatologists can determine if a coprolite is the real deal by examining it under a microscope and by treating it with chemical agents. Coprolites of carnivores will have a high calcium phosphate content due to their high bone content.

Ground Sloths: Paleofeces Of The Pleistocene

(images via: NMNH and NHM)

Giant Ground Sloths were once relatively common in North and South America, and were the poster kids of the megafauna. Some species weighed up to 5 tons and stood up to 20 feet tall. Though most giant ground sloths died out thousands of years ago, a few may have survived in Cuba and on some Caribbean islands up until the mid 16th century. These massive creatures liked to make their dens in sheltered caves – those in dry or desert regions contain remarkably preserved samples of their dung.

(images via: Cryptomundo)

These massive creatures died out too recently for their dung to become completely fossilized as coprolites. Instead, what friable droppings remain are described as “paleofeces”. Samples found in Arizona caves have been extremely well preserved, and a cave in Chile was found to contain not only paleofeces but surprisingly fresh-looking sloth skin and hair. The photo above shows the interior of one of the best-known Arizona “sloth caves” with piles of dung scattered across the cave floor – not a candidate for a Good Housekeeping profile. No recent, color photos of the cave exist because a careless human smoker accidentally started a fire in the cave which consumed most of the flammable dung.

Dung Deposit Leaves Ancient Viking Thor

(images via: Guardian UK and York Daily Photo)

Human coprolites? In my bank? It’s not the deposit one normally expects to find but workers digging a new bank vault for Lloyds Bank in York, England back in 1972, found exactly that. At first, the 9-inch (23cm) long object was thought to be a chunk of old refinery slag but upon further investigation it was determined to be a rather large mineralized human excrement over 1,000 years old. According to paleoscatologist Andrew Jones, “This is the most exciting piece of excrement I’ve ever seen. In its own way, it’s as valuable as the Crown Jewels.” No shi-, er, no kidding!

(images via: Jorvik Viking Centre, BBC and Sports Illustrated)

The area of northeastern England including the town of York was under Viking occupation in the 10th century so it’s reasonable to assume the originator was a Viking. The Lloyds Bank Coprolite‘s impressive length and girth led student conservator Gill Snape to comment “Whoever passed it probably hadn’t performed for a few days, shall we say.” This makes sense, what with all the rape, pillage and games against the Packers that kept the Vikings busy. The coprolite is currently on display at the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, which invites you to come face to feces with the Vikings.

Who’s Laughing Now?

(images via: Personal Money Store, Gawker, Odd News Articles and Earth Magazine)

A remarkable discovery in Gladysvale Cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, has extended the age of the oldest found human hair from 9,000 years to over 200,000 years – thanks to the caveman’s ancient nemesis, the hyena. The hairs – about 40 of them – were discovered when coprolites of prehistoric Brown Hyenas were dissolved and analyzed. As the only human (hominid, to be exact) species known to inhabit the area 200,000 years ago was Homo Heidelbergensis, thought to be ancestral to Neanderthal Man, it’s extremely likely the hairs were ingested by a hyena that either killed one of our ancestors or scavenged a predeceased carcass.

When Poop Mines Were Goldmines

(images via: Welcome To Boyton, Factoidz and One Suffolk)

Not the most prestigious address perhaps, but the sign above marks a curious chapter in British history: the Great Coprolite Rush of 1849! It seems that in the early 1840s, coprolites aplenty were discovered in the hills of Suffolk, England. Processing with sulfuric acid released copious amounts of phosphates which were used for fertilizer. Most of the refining took place in the city of Ipswich, where the above street sign is located.

(image via: Suffolk Booklover)

The coprolite industry declined in the 1880s when other, less expensive methods of producing phosphates were discovered but Ipswich holds dear to its unusual claim to fame – and woe be it that anyone call the town a dump.

Polishing A Turd

(images via: Witless Wanderer, Bellerustique, Ken Grant Jewelry and Contrariwise Ramblings)

Who says you can’t polish a turd? Some may be familiar with jewelry made from polished dinosaur bones but coprolite jewelry is also available from the same manufacturers – and is often quite beautiful. Thank the natural process of mineralization for providing the coprolites with such a wide range of contrasting and complementary colors… and thank the dinosaurs for taking time out to produce those gaudy baubles in the first place.

(images via: FOX News and Telegraph UK)

As long as we’re co-opting old expressions, how about “I don’t know whether to sh*t or wind my watch”? Now you can do both… well, sort of, courtesy of the Dinosaur Dung watch from Artya. The Swiss-made timepiece features a polished coprolite face sourced from a herbivorous dinosaur’s dung dropped 100 million years ago. A bronze casing chosen to match the “warm and matchless tints” of dinosaur dung and a strap made from American Cane Toad skin completes this piece of… art? All for only $11,900.

(images via: BoingBoing and EW.com)

Whew, I need a break, and not that kind of break if you know what I mean. Writing about poop can leave one feeling flushed, pooped even, but it does stimulate some speculation such as: how appropriate it is that remains… remain? Coprolites offer us a unique way to get down & dirty with the daily details of ancient life – without all the actual down & dirtyness working with fresh pre-coprolites entrails. I mean entails. That’s it, I’m outta here.

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Mankind’s quest for energy has successively centered on wood, coal and oil though these fuels are slowly giving way to nuclear, wind and geothermal power sources. Even newer fuels have sparked alternatives, however, and what today seems odd and impractical may someday be commonplace. These 10 unusual alternative energy sources show real hope that goes beyond the usual hype.

Used Adult Diapers

(image via: InventorSpot)

Adult diapers – they’re more common than you think, especially in Japan where the average population is aging rapidly and the national output of used adult diapers has soared past the 5 billion mark. A company called Super Faiths thinks there’s a better use for used adult diapers than simply burying them – why not burn them as fuel?

(images via: InventorSpot, Green Launches, Japan Times and Now Public)

The SFD Recycle System pulverizes and sterilizes used adult diapers, then forms them into pellets suitable for fueling large biomass boilers. The machines are rather large and are designed to process large numbers of adult diapers, not a problem because the expected users are large hospitals and retirement homes.

Urine

(image via: Unique Daily)

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are being developed by a number of researchers who seek to employ specialized bacteria to break down waste products of various types and, in the process of doing so, create energy that can be stored for future use. A team of British researchers is working with urine (from either Man or beast) as a medium, explaining that “Urine is chemically very active, rich in nitrogen and has compounds such as urea, chloride, potassium and bilirubin which make it very good for the microbial fuel cells.”

(images via: EbooksX, Next Energy News, Space Fellowship and AOL News)

Organizations such as NASA have taken specific interest in MFCs that use urine and other, er, related wastes to produce energy as such substances would tend to either accumulate on board a spacecraft or would have to be ejected into space. Remember that the next time you wish upon a “star”.

Confiscated Booze

(image via: Autoblog Green)

You’ve heard that drinking and driving doesn’t mix, but don’t tell Svensk Biogas AB. The Swedish biogas company is partnering with the Scandinavian nation’s customs service to process 185,000 gallons of seized smuggled alcohol seized by the customs service last year into enough biogas to power over 1,000 buses and trucks – even a train (above). “We used to just pour it down the drain, but because of the increased volumes we had to look around for new solutions,” said Swedish customs spokeswoman Ingrid Jerlebrink. With the new partnership agreement in place, “We pump it into a big tank that we jokingly call ‘the giant cocktail’ and then a truck just comes and picks it up.”

(images via: Brain Tree Hemp, BUSS Branschen and Daily Echo)

The Svensk Biogas AB plant in Linkoping, located 125 miles southwest of Stockholm, heats the confiscated booze and converts into biogas. One quart of pure alcohol is required to produce about a tenth of a gallon of biogas, and according to Carl Lilliehook, head of Svensk Biogas AB, “It is good business, because the material to make it is free.”

People Power

(images via: Daily Mail)

Power to the people? How about power FROM the people! A number of initiatives currently being pursued look to harness the kinetic energy created – and wasted – by groups of people performing energetic tasks. One project already in place in Tokyo, Japan, uses piezoelectric floor pads positioned where pedestrian commuters are more likely to tread: outside train stations and beneath ticket turnstiles, for instance.

(images via: Inhabitat, Glam and Telegraph UK)

Commuters can be somewhat tired and listless, but there are other places where people expend a lot of energy and have fun doing it – like dancing and working out. The former takes place at Club Watt in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, which calls itself “The World’s First Sustainable Dance Club.” The club’s dance floor features embedded LEDs that are powered by kinetic energy generated by dancers. Bee Gees, met BTUs. The latter occurs at so-called “green gyms” like Green Revolution, where a group cycling class with 20 bikes can generate up to 3.6 megawatts of renewable electrical energy annually – more than enough to pedal, er, peddle elsewhere.

Burning Seawater

(image via: Radiowaves)

How fortunate we would be if it were possible to drink seawater AND use it as fuel. Well surprisingly enough, one of those wishes might soon be answered and grab a beer because it’s not the first. Leukemia patient and researcher John Kanzius has been experimenting with a new cancer-fighting technique that destroys cancer-causing agents through the use of radio waves.

(images via: CBS News, Amazon and How Stuff Works)

Kanzius noted that his radio-frequency generator broke the water molecules in the seawater into their component elements: hydrogen and oxygen, and as anyone familiar with the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster knows, hydrogen will burn fiercely in the presence of oxygen. As long as Kanzius kept his generator on, the seawater “burned” at a temperature of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Oh, the huge potential!

Poultry Waste

(image via: Ribotto)

There’s a way to turn previously useless agricultural byproducts into clear, clean, fuel oil – if, that is, you’ve got the guts. Turkey guts, in this case. The recipe may sound disgusting but it works: grind poultry heads, feathers and innards fine and mix with water, then heat to 500 degrees Fahrenheit at 600 psi. Cook for about an hour, or until the complex polymers in the offal mix start to break down. A little distillation and what was once garbage is now as good as gold… black gold.

(images via: Chemistryland and Chosun)

Changing World Technologies is behind the push to turn organic, carbon-based waste from computer parts to turkey guts into fuel oil through thermo-depolymerization. Nature herself has paved the way: the billions of barrels of oil and gas buried deep underground were once living plants and animals “processed” into hydrocarbons by heat and pressure over hundreds of millions of years. CWT just speeds up the process a bit.

Landfill Gas

(image via: Savvy Studios)

So you’ve got a landfill that, like most landfills, burps (for want of a better word) methane from decomposing buried garbage. What to do? Well, one idea is to pipe it to a nearby school. Well, not directly – the EcoLine project uses purified methane gas captured from a nearby landfill to power 85 percent of the University Of New Hampshire’s heat and electricity needs. Rivals may still say UNH stinks but no, it’s just the landfill gas.

(images via: Treehugger and CNBC)

With the EcoLine project, UNH becomes the first school in the nation to source a majority of its power from landfill gas. The power isn’t free – infrastructure must be put in place to trap, store and purify the methane – but it’s significantly cheaper than burning fossil fuel with the added benefit of being non-polluting.

Cow Farts

(image via: Gr33nData)

Research by Argentine scientists has revealed that a single 1,210 lb (550 kg) cow produces 28 to 35 cubic feet (800 to 1,000 liters) of methane emissions each day – and let’s be frank, by “emissions” we don’t mean evaporating sweat. Nope, it’s cow farts. Cow burps too; these multi-stomached ruminants emit copious clouds of methane from both ends. Lucky for them some prankster doesn’t walk up with a lit match.

(images via: China Post and Thomas LaCour)

Methane is a much more reactive greenhouse gas compared to carbon dioxide and unlike CO2, it burns quite nicely. If only there were some practical way to capture the methane emitted by cows, sheep, goats, llamas… basically ANY domestic livestock, we’d be killing two birds with one stone. The cumbersome collection tank mounted on the recalcitrant bovine above is one possible solution but if not that, what?

Coffee Grounds

(image via: Daniel Talsky)

Next to oil, coffee is the most traded commodity on the planet. Unlike oil, coffee production and preparation creates a lot of waste. Now it seems that this so-called waste – coffee grounds in particular – can be put to good use as a fuel. Researchers at the University of Nevada’s Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering analyzed coffee grounds and discovered they contain a significant percentage of oil in the form of biodiesel. What’s more, the natural anti-oxidants in the extracted coffee oil help extend its shelf life. The leftover grounds can be compacted and burnt as pelletized fuel.

(images via: Science of Coaching Squash, Marilka and BHIP Global)

While home users won’t be able to do much with their used coffee grounds beyond composting them, major coffee retailers could reap huge rewards by changing the way they treat waste grounds. It’s estimated that Starbucks generates 210 million pounds of coffee grounds annually. Processing these grounds could provide nearly 3 million gallons of biodiesel and about 90,000 tons of fuel pellets.

Bouncing Breasts

(image via: Slate)

What two things do female joggers have in common? If you answered breasts and MP3 players, you’d be right – and you probably need to get out more. The question is relevant, however, because some joggers have posited powering their iPods with energy generated by the repetitive motions of their breasts. Though companies like Triumph Japan have shown off solar-powered bras, there’s real science behind harnessing, if you will, the power of bouncing breasts. Victoria’s Circuit… you’ve gotta love it!

(images via: The Silverbacks and Zimbio)

LaJean Lawson works as a consultant for sportswear companies like Nike and has been researching breast motion since 1985 in an effort to design better sports bras. Lawson discovered that a runner’s breasts move from side to side, from front to back, and up and down with the most motion is generated vertically. That may seem obvious; this more so: “Naturally, the bigger the breast, the more momentum it generates.” Giggity.

(image via: HubPages)

Alternative energy sources are only unusual in the sense that they are unused, impractical, unprofitable or all of the above. That may just mean the times aren’t right for their implementation. Petroleum was known to the ancients but it wasn’t until late in the Industrial Revolution that oil was effectively sourced and processed into usable forms. It’s unknown what the future will hold for energy, but at least it’s certain there ARE alternatives.

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