Ever feel guilty when you’re dancing at a club that your energy is being wasted? That all your funky dance moves, wonky break-dancing stunts, high fives and pirouettes are for nothing? Well, soon your energy will be captured and put to good use. A group of entrepreneurs in The Netherlands are working collaboratively on a Sustainable Dance Club project where energy will be collected from gyrating bodies and used to power the nightclub. So the more feet that pump the dance floor, the more electricity is stored and used for important stuff like turntables, lighting and speakers. Toilets will be flushed with rainwater and, instead of painting the walls, the heat whirling around the room at different temperatures will cause the walls to change colour at different stages throughout the night. Biological beer will be served and the ‘relax’ roof will be a chill-out space and home to the water basin. (more…)

As a girl, I’ll admit that I find it difficult to pack lightly when heading off on a trip (you never know when you’ll need that emergency cocktail outfit). So when it comes time to cram into my suitcase the cords, chargers and plug adaptors for my various gadgets (iPod, camera, laptop, etc.), I tend to begrudge the space that they’re taking up in place of that sixth pair of shoes. Luckily, Gear4 has come up with a little device that’s the answer to every pack-rat girl’s prayers. The World Tour V2 connects to anything that charges via USB, and comes with adaptor plugs for Australia, the USA, Europe and the UK. And not only do Gear4 provide great gadgets for all things iPod, but they’re also dedicated to supporting emerging musicians and bands. Check out their website, where you can find recommendations on upcoming artists, listen to sample tracks and watch new video clips.

Not content with the future of designer minimal phones, Simon Claessen has mashed up an old landline phone with a mobile phone to create a wireless mobile device. He has hooked up a used Sagem GSM-phone with the old phone’s parts (keypad, bell) and only very few extra electronics are needed to merge the two into a working phone.