The bicycle has once again proven its incredible versatility. Not only is it the most efficient transportation form on the planet, suitable for work commutes, transporting heavy loads, rescue work, and combating obesity and global warming – apparently the bicycle also excels at repelling tigers. 

As the Times of India reports, Balaji Vithoba Khode was riding past a water canal during his evening commute between Mangrud and Talodi, India when he was attacked by a tigress.

 

From the Times of India:

Take a green, Carectomy-friendly pursuit (walking), add technology (piezoelectric fabric), and suddenly carectomy patients become free-standing personal power plants.

Engineers from Michigan Technological University, Arizona State, and NanoSonic Inc. are teaming up to create a walker-powered backpack. Static electricity that builds up from a walking person’s shoulders rubbing against the backpack (and is typically wasted) provides the juice. It’s like free power: there's no extra user effort and other than the materials that go into making the fabric and perhaps the storage batteries, no resources are used to create the energy

 

The backpack’s straps, which feel just like nylon, are made from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The material harnesses the static electricity created by the user’s walking motion. This power can either be used directly by electronic devices or stored in batteries for later use.

 

What to do with decommissioned seventeen-ton subway cars? Why, dump them along the Eastern Seaboard to create an artificial reef, of course!

New York City’s Mass Transit Authority approved a $6.3 million contract to submerge 600 stainless steel subway cars off the east coast, from New Jersey down to Delaware. The cars will accommodate schools of fish and provide divers with some unique scenery.

 

"They create a cave-like structure that let young hatchlings mature," said Mike Zacchea, assistant chief of operations for New York City Transit. "Within 30 days, marine life attaches to the car body."

Consumer Consequences is a cool interactive game designed by American Public Media. Players input their consumption patterns and watch to see the level of environmental impact they cause to the Earth based upon an ecological footprinting model developed by Redefining Progress. Scores correlate to how many Earths it would take if everyone on the planet lived just like players do.

The interactive game accompanies American Public Media and Marketplace’s radio series “Consumed,” which explores the impact Americans have on the environment. As the player answers questions, the game gives tidbits of information relating to diet, trash, transportation, energy use, and housing.

 

I don’t know whether to be more excited about the momentum cycling currently is enjoying in U.S. cities or the mainstream media attention headed in cycling’s direction. The two are inextricably linked, and the steamroll effect has begun – the media coverage makes the cities pushing a pro-cycling agenda look good. When USA Today runs a feature entitled Big cities try to ease way for bicyclists, I know we’ve hit pay-dirt.

Much like the nation’s increasing focus on environmentalism, to the point where every facet of modern existence seems to have a potential “green angle,” people are unmistakably starting to turn their gaze to bicycling as a legitimate transportation solution. Just as going green has reached a tipping point, bicycling has latched onto the bigger movement’s coattails and is gaining traction.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino has begun riding a bike every morning and appointed a Bike Czar; New York has adopted a Euro-style bike lane on Ninth Avenue (video); Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom are taking steps to dramatically increase the percentage of commutes done by bike; and all four of these cities (as well as Portland, OR and several others) are taking hard looks at adopting bike rental programs similar to Paris’ wildly successful Vélib.

Photo via Flickr by zyzzyva.

London is adding ten hydrogen powered buses to its fleet. Mayor Ken Livingstone has contracted US manufacturer ISE Corp to supply the new vehicles, and cites reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions as the primary impetus.

"London is now the first city in Europe to commit to a hydrogen bus fleet of this size, which will match traditional diesel buses in terms of performance," Livingstone said.

For £10 million ($20.75 million), London will receive five buses which run on hydrogen fuel cells and another five which burn hydrogen in a traditional engine. These will supplement the existing fleet of 8,000, many of which are diesel hybrids. The mayor’s target is “to have five per cent of all public sector fleet vehicles powered by hydrogen by 2015."