tree

Vancouver's CellFor, which breeds clones of pine trees for forestry operations, has received $24.5 million in a fourth round of financing, according to VentureWire.

The company, founded after the merger of two other companies in 1999, has come up with techniques for breeding disease-resistant, uniform pine tree seedlings. The 18-inch high seedlings cost 35 cents each, more than the five cents that ordinary seedlings fetch. Still, CellFor says it can sell 100 million seedlings annually and hit profitability in two years.

Forestry is the last sector of agriculture that doesn't heavily emphasize breeding techniques to increase yield, … Read more

The goal of Tree-Nation is to plant 8 million trees in sub-Saharan Niger, Africa, the world's poorest nation.

The sunny Web site, based out of Barcelona, Spain, provides social networking for would-be huggers and planters of trees. You can donate between $14 to $106 per tree, and then track and map its growth via GPS and Google Maps.

Working with ecologists in Niger, Tree-Nation will nourish the sprouts of the baobabs, acacias and other species in a nursery before transplanting them outside. Although desertification threatens most of the land in Niger, the trees grow in places that receive enough … Read more

A representative for eco-blog TreeHugger has confirmed that the site has been acquired by Discovery Communications, parent company of the Discovery Channel, The Science Channel, Animal Planet, and several other properties. A report of the deal initially surfaced in the New York Post today.

A press release from Discovery and TreeHugger confirmed that the blog will be part of the upcoming Planet Green network, but financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The New York Post had suggested a $10 million price tag.

"TreeHugger.com is a strategic complement to our digital media portfolio, aligning perfectly with Discovery?… Read more

The New York Post is reporting that green-centric uberblog TreeHugger may have been purchased by Discovery Communications as a companion blog to its forthcoming new cable network, Planet Green. The new channel is slated for a launch in the first quarter of next year, and has already built up some buzz for its series Eco-Town, created in collaboration with actor and Prius poster boy Leonardo DiCaprio; an already-trendy eco-blog would indeed be a desirable companion for the company.

According to the Post's Peter Lauria, the price tag for TreeHugger was somewhere around $10 million.

The New York-based TreeHugger, which … Read more

Many traditional societies have partaken tree house living. And some of us had tree houses when we were kids. Now a New York-based nonprofit is promising a tree house for future high-tech, low-impact living.

The group is terreform.org. In their own words, "Terreform is a nonprofit organization and philanthropic design collaborative that integrates ecological principles in the urban environment."

Terreform says it is close to making its first sale. Zoning regulations and building codes may present a problem. Walls that grow and change shape?

Like any self-respecting tree, the Fab Tree Hab would collect rainwater. The walls … Read more

The convergence of plant and machine is upon us. The "EnergyTree" is an experimental contraption that links a computer's power levels to the health of a living thing.

It was the brainchild of U.K. product designer Ben Arent, who created the concept for Microsoft's "StartSomething" PC design competition this year. The goal, according to Yanko Design, is fairly simple: "If the user is extremely efficient with their energy use the EnergyTree will give the tree the nutrients and water it needs to survive and flourish. If the user is inefficient with their … Read more

Given the countless ways that have been devised to encase the iPod, we're surprised that it's taken so long for the latest trend to reach the ubiquitous music player: lumber.

As wood has become popular for everything from computers and laptop cases to TVs and cameras, it seems no-brainer to apply sylvan designs to iPods and MP3 players, as Tokyomango notes that Japanese toy maker Asuka Kobo has done. Then again, maybe it has something to do with the way they look. Somehow, wood just doesn't seem appropriate for the sleek design of the media player, no … Read more

Months after our mates at Crave UK got the scoop on its plans, LG is apparently ready to debut a wooden plasma TV. Akihabara News says the company will release a 60-inch model with wood casing on the Korean market in March.

But before you fly to Seoul for bragging rights, be aware that wooden plasmas have been available in Sweden for some time already. If you really want to make a statement, save a tree and get a "Yalos Diamond" LCD for only $130,000.

Geni.com just launched. It's a family-tree-making service that's easier to use than any other competing system I've seen. And it's free. It also has a straightforward way to invite other family members in the hopes that they'll put in their own data.

I covered competitor Amiglia last year. Like Geni, it has a Flash-based interface for adding people to your tree as well as for navigating it. Geni is not as snazzy as Amiglia, but it is much easier to use. Data entry is a snap, because when you're first building the tree, … Read more