 |
TM9 Turf Mat Grass Roof (And Living Room Carpet?)
TM9 turf mats are now ready for you to buy, making that grass roof you've always wanted a real possibility.
(TM9 turf mat)
Toyota Roof Garden (subsidiary of the car company) is now taking orders for its modular grass tiles. The idea is that companies can reduce the urban heat island effect, thus cooling our great cities. TM9 roofing tiles also provide excellent thermal insulation.
Individual mats are twenty inches square, and about two inches thick. The mats are planted with a special brand of Korean velvet grass - it only needs to be cut once per year. The mats are irrigation system-ready; water can flow through tubes to channels in the mats, providing moisture to roots.
The price? Just $43 per square yard.
I confess that my real interest in the TM9 turf mat is that I keep looking for grass carpets, as found in Kurt Vonnegut's 1959 novel The Sirens of Titan. In the book, carpets made of real grass are used to illustrate elegant living. I first read about the idea in Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land; winchell Ben Caxton had a living grass carpet in his bachelor flat.
I think that the TM9 would make a perfect "carpet square." The cost to fully carpet my living room? Just $2,400 - cheaper than laminate floors or regular carpet.
Sign me up.
For other science-fictional accoutrements for the home, see
- The chairdog
The ultimate in warm furry, comfort - The suspensor chair
Don't get divots in your grass carpet from furniture - The watercouch
And, you can occasionally tap it to keep your carpet nice and green.
See the roof garden site - thanks to Edo.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/26/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Biology ")
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'- Hal Clement, 1950.
Youthful Brain With A Flip Of A Molecular Switch
I need all the brain plasticity I can get.
Human 'Quadruple Helix' DNA
'Their genetic structure, based on the quadruple sterated octohelix...'- Douglas Adams, 1978.
The Plastic Eaters - Amazon Fungus Lives On Plastic
'the smell of the rotting plastic began to hang permanently in the air...'- Davis/Pedlar, 1971
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
