The Michelin Man might be getting a green makeover. Michelin is going to spend $71 million over the next eight years investigating the possibility of making their tires out of plant based materials. Several other tire companies have started to incorporate other materials, like orange oil, into their tires. More companies are looking into this kind of innovation. Given the increase in the cost of butadiene, a component of synthetic rubber, it’s not surprising.
Going green
Its also worth noting that most other companies that have incorperated other materials have done so for performance as opposed to going green.
With the holidays officially started, NPR is giving us a little lesson in the chemistry surrounding cookies, a classic holiday treat. With some help from TED Talks, they take us through all of the chemical reactions that lead to such deliciousness. From the melting of butter and creation of steam to the generation of carbon dioxide which cause the cookies to rise, they hit it all.
There be chemistry in that there oven!
Now I really want cookies…
As many of you know, I’m a huge supporter of space exploration. While I’d love to see NASA doing that exploration, it’s good to see another country jumping on the space bandwagon. China is expecting its lunar rover Jade Rabbit to be reaching the moon shortly after a Monday lift off. This probe is important not only for China’s developing space program but also because it marks the first time since 1976 that a craft of any kind has attempted a “soft” landing on the moon.
If you’re going to call it Jade Rabbit, the least you can do is paint it green and give it some bunny ears.
With over a billion people in the country, one would think they could come up with a better name than Jade Rabbit.
Therefore I Geek 
I love this idea of “green” tires. I think we are coming full circle: first rubber came from trees, then it came from a lab, and now it’s coming from nature once more!
Never thought about it like that, but that’s true! Nice way of looking at it.