Brought to us by Google and Specialized Bicycle Components, the Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest was a contest designed to inspire innovation and environmental change by highlighting the benefits of cycling.

The Challenge: Invent and put together machines that transform zero-emission human energy into new and useful purposes.

The Result: Success- hundred folds. Entries from all around presented their own ideas, the winner however, took a Playpumps-esque idea and made it mobile. The Aquaduct:  Mobile Filtration Vehicle, a bicycle that not only provides an environmentally friendly transportation, but also provides a means to create and move clean filtered water long-distances. It was designed to target problems in areas where clean water is not readily available, and as a result, leads to millions of deaths every year.

I present to you the winner the Innovate or Die contest, The Aquaduct:  Mobile Filtration Vehicle...

Be sure to also check out the other entries on their YouTube page here.

Sources:

• Google Blog
• Innovate or Die Contest Page

On YouTube, Google reaches out to viewers by broadcasting videos of influential individuals coming by to discuss topics of their respective fields.

Within the channel, located at www.youtube.com/atgoogletalks, you will find videos with presidential candidates who have visited Google, powerful and influential women, well-known filmmakers, and esteemed authors.

Recently, Heather McLeod Grant, the co-author of Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, (voted a top 10 book for 2007 by The Economist), dropped by to discuss what makes a non-profit great. (Also see onPhilanthropy's recent article by Julie Fagnani on Google, "Google: Better at Doing Good?")

To find out more about Heather's book, or hear more about her views on measuring non-profit impact, check out Sean Stannard-Stockton's (onPhilanthropy guest writer) podcast at his website Tactical Philanthropy. There, he interviews Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie Crutchfield about their book, but also on several topics including the potential Web 2.0 brings non-profits.

Click here to listen. (A transcript of the interview is available here.)