The Amazônia-1 is keeping an eye on deforestation in the Brazilian forests and urban expansion around the world. Brazil announced it will launch the satellite in 2011 and will use a high-resolution camera to capture potentially illegal activity in forests, particularly in the Amazon and Congo rainforests.

Going Google Earth with the idea, the satellite will orbit the earth 14 times a day at a distance of 400 miles collecting images from several countries. Each camera can pick up images showing 10 meters of actual terrain in each pixel on the photo – that’s some pretty detailed imagery.

Tyrson Villela, director for satellites and applications at the Brazilian told SciDev.net that the data will be freely available to research centers in Brazil and other countries. “Having access to this information will help other tropical countries to fight their environment issues,” says Villela. Besides making environmental observations and natural resources management, the Amazônia-1 will also map out remote areas, and conduct coastal and disaster monitoring.

While this technology and the purpose of its use are both pretty cool, they’re not by any means unique or break-through. Especially if the satellite isn’t launching for another three years. The bottom line seems to be that Brazil wants to step up with technology. But if it keeps illegal deforestation in check, then go for it.

Via Science and Development Network and TreeHugger; Photo via Leonardo F Frietas

When I’m alone in the wilderness, I like to imagine what I’d have to do to survive if I found myself in dire straits. I’d eat gnats and toads and catch rainwater using a low-tech system I’d devise with Maple Leaves, rocks, fishing line, and a canteen. Or, I could just bring the fog and dew harvesters designed by British inventor Alon Alex Gross. (Given the stack of evidence against my survival skills, this is probably a good idea.)

Gross’s prototype is more efficient than its predecessors because it’s made of lightweight, modern materials and is far more high-tech. Now, contemporary castaways can connect Goss’s collector to the Internet to determine the best spot to catch moisture and to monitor the device from afar. (Waaay cooler than my fancy water pump.)

The invention isn’t just for spoiled Westerners; afar, those who are unfamiliar with high-tech gadgetry can use it to collect clean drinking water. The device may prove a boon in the water-scarce Third World, where disease and infection borne through contaminated drinking water are a leading cause of death. It is a whole lot cheaper than some of the fancy-schmancy water collectors we’ve seen lately, hanging out instead with the other easy-to-use concepts.

Goss’s dew collector weighs less than a pound and can collect just under half a gallon per night. It features a special laminate foil that attracts dew, and a sensor that reacts to atmospheric changes and opens/closes the device, depending on conditions. His fog harvester can collect just over 2.5 gallons in 24 hours.

Via TreeHugger