Toyota just announced that it will invest $50 million in Tesla Motors and the two companies will partner to manufacture electric vehicles to meet California's growing demand for greener cars.

Since this has been covered many places, just follow the related link below for more information.

It has been almost a year since I wrote about sunscreen and the specifics of which ones offer the best protection. If you want to read the original article click here.

Today I want to remind you that sunscreen is one of the best ways to protect your skin and keep a healthy young look. Also, the ingredients matter for protection against skin cancer. You want UVA protection. See the July 8, 2009 entry for specific brands, products and ingredients that offer UVA protection.

I also want to share the best rated non-toxic sunscreens being advertised right now. Keep in mind, these are rated for being non-toxic, not good sun protection. We ultimately need a best of both, but giving you the knowledge of key ingredients and a list of non-toxic options, you should feel good about choosing one for your own use.

The list:

Loving Naturals Organic SPF 30 > $20
Heiko 40 SPF Kids > $35
Goddess Garden Natural Facial Sunscreen > $15
Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby Sunblock Stick > $8
Caribbean Solutions Sol Guard > $25

Again, as the song says, wear sunscreen.

It has been a while since I posted a vehicle here. Mainly because most of them are concept only and there are no prototypes. I prefer to include vehicles that have a real world version as it is more likely that some of the technology will work its way in to our next cars. However, this is a work of art and not unrealistic.

Deriving inspiration from kite boarding, the TEN11 has a motor placed in each wheel. The concept car derives its name from Bentley's logo itself, which sports ten feathers on the left and eleven on the right, Ten11. As this is designed to be an all electric vehicle, it is as environmentally friendly as the power source.

Follow the related link for more photos.

Ok, I couldn't quite come up with a headline on this one. The thing is, in order to make bricks we cut down trees. This new recipe uses sand, bacteria, calcium chloride and urea, all easy-to-come-by materials. The process does not require an outside heat source, so the trees are protected.

It seems like urea, is becoming quite a sustainable ingredient. Beyond being tapped as a good source of hydrogen used in fuel cell batteries it is now being used to make sustainable bricks.

Architect Ginger Krieg Dosier has designed a process to "grow" bricks by combining the materials listed above. Traditional brick-making is very energy-intensive, producing more pollution than global air travel each year. It also consumes a lot of resources: 400 trees are burned to make 25,000 bricks.

The new sustainable bricks are as strong as traditional bricks, maybe stronger depending on the recipe used for the traditional bricks. We need to keep an open mind about resources, I know some people will have a hard time with the idea of handling a brick made with urea, but keep in mind in chemistry it is just an acid.

For more information, and the recipe, follow the related link below:

Please take this statement to heart. I have two small children myself and I know it is difficult at times to sift through alarmist information to really know what is a potential hazard. One thing we know for certain is Lead poisoning is very real. We also know that Cadmium is a neurotoxin that can cause permanent brain damage if young children are exposed.

It took the CPSC nearly five months to act on AP tests, which identified the Claire's children's jewelry as a concern, since they are made with as much as 90% Cadmium. With this information, a ban on Cadmium in children's jewelry has been made. However, we can not be too careful because the damage is permanent. Please recycle any metal jewelry fitting this description if you are not 100% positive it is safe.

You can check recall information on the CPSC website.

CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum warned manufacturers against using cadmium in January, while speaking in Hong Kong, but she had a more direct warning for parents:

"Because of these recent developments, I have a message for parents, grandparents and caregivers: Do not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised," she wrote. "We have proof that lead in children's jewelry is dangerous and was pervasive in the marketplace. To prevent young children from possibly being exposed to lead, cadmium or any other hazardous heavy metal, take the jewelry away.... The key message that I want parents to know is: We will act to protect young children, but take the metal jewelry away from children who will swallow, suck or chew on it while our work continues."