First of all, I’d like to point out that the picture above is absolutely not a photo of what I’m talking about. I just couldn’t figure how to get these images off of the ADDI Concepts webpage (I’m guessing that maybe they frown on "borrowing"?)

Anyway, here’s the deal: we all know that global warming is seriously affecting our friends, the polar bears. Because the ice in the ocean is slowly melting, when they go out hunting they’re forced to swim longer and longer distances between floating ice caps, where they can rest. In fact, as it stands now, some are forced to swim Michael-Phelps style for up to 10,000 kilometers. Many are drowning, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Enter the design masters at ADDI. They’ve created a concept that will keep the bears afloat…a polar bear life jacket! Essentially, they just did it for fun. They seem to believe that it’ll never leave the concept phase, because a life preserver will keep them afloat—long enough to starve from not being able to catch delicious sea creatures underwater.

However, with technology advancing the way that it is, it makes me wonder if the idea is so far-fetched after all. I mean, my iPhone knows to turn the picture horizontal when I put the phone on its side. What’s to keep the same kind of gadgetry from knowing when they want to dive for food, deflating the flotation device for a half hour or so?