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Nike's 'Making' app: helping designers choose most sustainable materials

As we're told more and more frequently about the impact of our environmental footprint on the world, it's no surprise that companies of all disciplines are examining their processes to cut emissions and waste. Now Nike has entered the fray by developing a free app giving designers a deeper insight of how green their material choices are. The sportswear giant's new free ‘Making' app allows designers to examine the sustainability of 22 different product materials such as cotton, silk and grass-fed leather.

Volvo creates Inflatable Child Seat

Volvo is a brand famously associated with safety, so let’s hope its latest effort doesn’t turn out to be a load of hot air: the Swedish brand has come up with a concept for an inflatable children’s car seat. Called the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept, this does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a child seat that instead of being made of rigid material can be deflated and folded away for easy carriage when not required. On Bing: see pictures of the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept Find out how much a used Volvo costs on Auto Trader Noting that “children’s car seats are historically bulky, hard to move and tedious to mount,” Volvo says its new rear-facing inflatable alternative weighs just 5kg – half the weight of an equivalent conventional model.

Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys' car songs

Brian Wilson, the musical giant behind so much of the Beach Boys great music, sang at the Petersen gala in Los Angeles last week, and there were plenty of songs about cars and drag racing in the mix. "We're going to do a series of car songs because this place has a lot of cars," Wilson announced before leading his 10-piece band into "Little Deuce Coupe," "409," "All Summer Long" and "Shut Down." The band played to a packed house at the museum's annual fundraiser. Wilson's set was surely the most entertaining in the Petersen's 15 years of fundraising galas.