I like how one simple gadget can help solve a couple of environmental issues, but I’m not too sure if the Gaon can be turned into a real product. For starters, how much trash is needed to produce a decent amount of methane, and how long will it take before the trash produces the gas? And remember, only biodegradable waste will produce the methane, but in urban areas a large part of the waste comes in the form of plastic, glass and other non-biodegradable materials.

Still, Lee is onto something here. You think a version of the Gaon could work in real life?

[via Yanko Design via DVICE]

Aside from collecting garbage, the Dustbot can also analyze the quality of the surrounding air. Its sensors can measure the amount of pollutants like sulfur oxide, benzene, ozone, and nitrogen oxide.

The touch screen monitor seems to be a way for users to tell Dustbot the type of garbage that they’re going to give to him – Vetro is Italian for glass, Carta means paper, etc. – so presumably it will have a way of marking or tagging the garbage bags that it collects. Inhabitat also adds that the Dustbot can be “summoned” via text messaging, and that it will be able to “remember” residents using some form of ID.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Right now Dustbot isn’t nimble enough to navigate crowded streets, but that’s not my primary concern. I kinda wish that Dustbot would have a Taser, or at least a bottle of pepper spray, because sooner or later a bunch of bored kids or perhaps even thieves will mess with the poor ‘bot.  You can visit dustbot.org for more videos, pics and details.

Inspired by the famous garbage compactor scene from Episode IV: A New Hope, these limited-edition hand-painted bookends flip that classic movie moment inside-out. You’ll notice that instead of keeping the walls from closing in on them, Han, Luke, Chewbacca and Leia are all working to keep the books upright. Clever. Although the way I remember it, Chewie was just hopelessly banging on the walls, and not really helping in any way. Of course, you can always flip the bookends around for a more accurate recreation of the original scene.

Unfortunately, you’re going to have to wait a while if you want these for your room. They’re not coming out until April 2010. In the mean time, you can pre-order them over at the Star Wars Shop for $189.99 (USD).

While you wait, sit back and enjoy this brief video interlude…

[via The Awesomer]

That is not a sample of gold from the sludge. But that is gold, and it looks like crap, so. Anyway. The local government already knew about the high concentration of gold in the Suwa sludge as early as 2007, but because the cost of extraction was higher than the price of the gold extracted, they didn’t mine the gold. But since gold commands a higher price nowadays, the Suwa plant began selling the molten fly ash to a smelting plant. Last October they sold 1.4 tons of ash for 5 million yen ($167,000 USD). Not bad at all! The Suwa plant expects to mine a total of 5 tons of ash by March 2009, which should be worth 5 million yen ($167,000 USD). The money will be used to help pay for maintenance and operating costs.

[via Pink Tentacle]

Spotted at the recent 2008 Tokyo Game Show, Gomibako is best described as “Tetris with Trash”. But it’s not just another rehash of the classic block-stacking puzzle format. Nope. Instead of dropping blocks, you’ve got to carefully arrange piles of (difficult to stack) falling debris in order to clear the board.

In addition to some beautiful graphics, the best part of the game is its amazing physics model. Every object in the game is completely 3-dimensional and has life-like properties. This makes the gameplay so much more dynamic than the classic colored block puzzle games of yore.

Items can crush each other, and you have to think quick to grab heavier objects to smash more fragile objects before the trash bin fills up. Items can be bent, broken, get wet and even catch fire and burn. Cool. To check out some actual gameplay footage, check out the 1up video clip below:

Gomibako is expected to be a downloadable game on the PlayStation Network, so you won’t even have to head to the store to get your hands on it when it comes out. No word yet on a release date (or if it’s even slated for North America). I’ve certainly got my fingers crossed for this one.

[via PS3 Maven and Blu-Ray Forum]