NEW Artificial Leaf Super Efficient

MIT scientist, Daniel Nocera, claims he has created an artificial leaf that simulates photosynthesis to generate electricity using just sunlight and water — reputedly doing so 10 times more efficiently than a real leaf.

The artifical leaf is said to operate at 76% efficiency (compared to around 10% efficiency in existing solar panels)

Placing the artificial leaf it in a single gallon of water in bright sunlight could produce enough electricity to supply a house in developing countries with its daily electricity requirement, Nocera has claimed.

Sources:
technewsworld.com
geeksaresexy.net
M.I.T SPECTRUM

SmartBird

SmartBird is an ultralight but powerful flight model with excellent aerodynamic qualities and extreme agility. With SmartBird, Festo has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds - one of the oldest dreams of humankind.

This bionic technology-bearer, which is inspired by the herring gull, can start, fly and land autonomously -- with no additional drive mechanism. Its wings not only beat up and down, but also twist at specific angles. This is made possible by an active articulated torsional drive unit, which in combination with a complex control system attains an unprecedented level of efficiency in flight operation. Festo has thus succeeded for the first time in creating an energy-efficient technical adaptation of this model from nature.

Nanogenerators power Small Conventional Electronic Devices

"By simplifying our design, making it more robust and integrating the contributions from many more nanowires, we have successfully boosted the output of our nanogenerator enough to drive devices such as commercial liquid-crystal displays, light-emitting diodes and laser diodes," said Wang, a Regents' professor in Georgia Tech's School of Materials Science and Engineering. "If we can sustain this rate of improvement, we will reach some true applications in healthcare devices, personal electronics, or environmental monitoring."


more at... sciencemagnews.com

Biometric Eye Movement ID Tech

A small security company has developed a system which can identify people by the way they look at the world.
The system, created by the firm ID-U based in Israel, is said to be both simple and reliable. It asks the user to follow a target on a display while tracking the movement of his eyes with a low-resolution camera, reports Technology Review.
The eye movement pattern is as unique as fingerprints. At the moment the system is 97 per cent accurate, says ID-U CEO Palti-Wasserman, who holds a PhD from the faculty of biomedical engineering from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
A potential impostor would have trouble fooling the system. With a fingerprint or retina scanner it is possible to make an accurate copy of the biometrical feature and pass identification. But ID-U does a different test every time, so having a record of the rightful owner passing a test will not help.
As a bonus, the system only needs a display and a regular digital camera, both of which are already in many potential hosts like laptops or ATMs. Once the software is installed, it is ready to be used. The company is working on an iStore app using their algorithms.
However ID-U is yet to demonstrate its scalability. What works well for a small group may drop in performance significantly when hundreds or thousands of individuals are involved.

Mars Features Formed By Electric Discharge?

More info at www.thunderbolts.info

Recent articles have suggested hemp made/fueled cars are new, really??

Seriously, what the hell happened?
1930s, 1940s
Hemp body - lighter and 10x stronger than steel.
Hemp fuel - completely renewable and cleaner running

RACER DEMO 0.1 - video game mashup

RACER DEMO 0.1 - video game mashup from sputnic on Vimeo.

This thing is too cool!!!
Telepresence video racing game! Gotta play this!

Millimeter-wave Camera sees through smoke, fog & walls

"The Science & Technology Research Laboratory (STRL) of Japan’s national public broadcaster, NHK, has developed a “millimeter-wave TV camera” that operates under the same principle as radar, taking images using radio waves instead of visible light. The technology allows objects hidden behind obstacles such as smoke, fog or even plywood to be captured as live, moving images.

The system emits millimeter waves in the 60-GHz band which bounce off the subjects and are captured by a receiver beam that scans up/down and left/right at a speed of 2.3 Hz to produce a 2D image. Because the system is sending out the waves it can selectively ignore information of an obscuring foreground object (such as a wall) based on the time it takes the waves to reflect back to the antenna, instead producing a picture based on the waves bouncing off a hidden object that take longer to reflect back."
- more at Gizmag

Chinese Create 'Black Hole'

"Researchers at Southeast University in Nanjing, China have created a device that traps and absorbs electromagnetic waves coming from all directions, spiraling them inwards without any reflections, essentially creating an electromagnetic black hole. Qiang Cheng and Tie Jun Cui’s “omnidirectional electromagnetic absorber” draws in microwaves coming from any direction by spiraling radiation inwards, and converting its energy into heat. They plan on developing a device that can absorb visible light next." -via GIZMAG

First Deployed Solar Sail - IKAROS!!

"The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s IKAROS space yacht which launched last month has successfully unfurled its solar sail. The accomplishment marks the first time a solar sail has been successfully deployed in space.

The IKAROS (short for Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) small solar sail demonstrator began to deploy its sail using centrifugal force on June 3 and on June 10, about 7.7 million km (4.8 million miles) from Earth, JAXA confirmed the proper extension of the sail, which measures 14 meters (46 ft) along each side. JAXA also confirmed power generation by the thin film solar cells attached to the sail." -via GIZMAG

Smart Dust

"In the 1990s, a researcher named Kris Pister dreamed up a wild future in which people would sprinkle the Earth with countless tiny sensors, no larger than grains of rice.

These "smart dust" particles, as he called them, would monitor everything, acting like electronic nerve endings for the planet. Fitted with computing power, sensing equipment, wireless radios and long battery life, the smart dust would make observations and relay mountains of real-time data about people, cities and the natural environment.

Now, a version of Pister's smart dust fantasy is starting to become reality...

The latest news comes from the computer and printing company Hewlett-Packard, which recently announced it's working on a project it calls the "Central Nervous System for the Earth." In coming years, the company plans to deploy a trillion sensors all over the planet. " - CNN Tech

Yea, that is what we need, right? Tiny sensors we can't see monitoring everything around us including us. Cataloging all matter movement on the planet. Sounds like TOTAL surveillance to me. Cool Tech. WAY too much power and temptation to use for ill. What do you think? Please comment.

Superheavy element 117 discovered!!!

Scientists at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia announced internally that they had succeeded in detecting the decay of a new element in January 2010, and the results have now been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

The two-year experimental campaign began at the High Flux Isotope Reactor in Oak Ridge with a 250-day irradiation to produce 22 mg of berkelium. This was followed by 90 days of processing at Oak Ridge to separate and purify the berkelium, target preparation at the Research Institute for Advanced Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, 150 days of bombardment at one of the world’s most powerful heavy ion accelerators at Dubna, data analysis at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Dubna, and assessment and review of the results by the team. The entire process was driven by the 320-day half-life of the berkelium target material.

The experiment produced six atoms of element 117. For each atom, the team observed the alpha decay from element 117 to 115 to 113 and so on until the nucleus fissioned, splitting into two lighter elements. In total, 11 new “neutron-rich” isotopes were produced, bringing researchers closer to the presumed “island of stability” of superheavy elements.

More of this article is available at www.gizmag.com

Richard Branson's New Underwater Plane

$663,000 prototype submersible is called the Necker Nymph and can dive to depths of up to 130ft.
Do I see Virgin Oceanic on the horizon?

BMW augmented repair!!

BMW is in the midst of developing an Augmented Reality maintenance system for its mechanics. You can see how this can increase efficiency, virtually eliminate errors and reduce training even for extremely complex maintenance.

Although, I believe this is a concept video rather than an actual video of the system in action, you can see some of the key goals. A wireless lightweight headset, voice recognition, animated visual augmentation as well as verbal guidance.



via - http://www.immersivetech.org/

E.Coli Cleans up Nuclear Waste

"E. Coli does more than just make people sick — it can also be used to clean up nuclear waste, according to researchers at Birmingham University. The research team found that E. Coli bacteria effectively breaks down phytic acid (a phosphate storage material found in seeds) and releases the phosphate molecules, which bind to uranium to create a uranium phosphate precipitate. The precipitate can be harvested to recover uranium, and voila – no more nuclear waste.
The uranium recovery process isn’t new. It was discovered in 1995, but scientists used an additive that was more expensive and less efficient than phytic acid. And since the price of uranium was low at the time, scientists saw no need to look into commercializing the process. But with an uptick in the price of uranium and the discovery of phytic acid’s effectiveness, the process has become economically viable.
In addition to cleaning up nuclear waste sites, uranium recovered with the phytic acid process can be reused for nuclear energy. And for countries like the UK that lack natural uranium reserves, E. Coli could be one of the keys to a low-carbon future." -inhabitat.com

Wi-Fi signals used to see through walls

"Researchers from the University of Utah have found a way of harnessing Wi-Fi signals to see through walls.
The researchers say that the variation of radio signals in a wireless network can reveal the movements of people behind closed doors or even a wall.

Joey Wilson and Neal Patwari, from the University of Utah, have used the principle of variance-based radio tomographic imaging. The system works by measuring interference between the nodes of wireless devices. If someone passes through that field, the device registers a change in the levels of resistance, and feeds that information back to a computer."

-Telegrah.co.uk

-arXiv.org

Human sperm created from stem cells!

Haynes has Apollo.

"NASA Apollo 11 Manual
An insight into the hardware from the first manned mission to land on the moon
By: Christopher Riley & Philip Dolling

On 20 July 1969, US astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. This is the story of the Apollo 11 mission and the 'space hardware' that made it all possible. This manual looks at the evolution and design of the mighty Saturn V rocket, the Command and Service Modules, and the Lunar Module. It describes the space suits worn by the crew and their special life support and communications systems. We learn about how the Apollo 11 mission was flown - from launch procedures to 'flying' the Saturn V and the 'LEM', and from moon walking to the earth re-entry procedure.
Hardback, 270 x 210mm, 176 pages, 220 colour & 125 b&w illustrations"



HAYNES APOLLO MANUAL HERE

LikeAFish extracts air from water!

"Like-A-Fish Technologies revolutionizes diving technology and marks a breakthrough in the history of diving. The company introduces for the first time in history scuba equipment that extracts air from water."
- LikeAFish Tech

“Peugeot Capsule”

Designer Alp Germaner creates The “Peugeot Capsule;” a one person, off-road, electric vehicle inspired by the KLR 650 motorcycle. Complete with integrated GPS, LCD screens that double as rear-view mirrors & full time internet connectivity.
-yankodesign

NuVinci Continuously Variable Transmission

Very facinating transmission hub design. Very fluid movement. I really want to try one of these!

SEGWAY + GM = PUMA

P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility & Accessibility)

WiiSpray virtual graffitti,

WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

Next Gen Carbon Nanotube Muscles

"Baughman and his colleagues have produced a formulation that's stronger than steel, as light as air and more flexible than rubber — a truly 21st century muscle. It could be used to make artificial limbs, "smart" skins, shape-changing structures, ultra-strong robots and — in the immediate future — highly-efficient solar cells."
Source - wired.com

Homemade Robots

Check this out!

3-D Scanner / Printer Combo

Featured at Jay's Garage

Latest Spray-on Solar panels

"Researchers in Australia have started a three-year project to develop a spray-on coating for solar panels and more efficient cells that are less costly than today's PV. Australian National University (ANU) is working with new Australian solar company Spark Solar and Finnish materials company Braggone Oy on the method, which could be commercially available by 2011." - gizmag.com

MIT's energy-harvesting shock absorbers

A team of MIT undergraduate students has invented a shock absorber that harnesses energy from small bumps in the road, generating electricity while it smoothes the ride more effectively than conventional shocks. - MIT news

WHE - Waste Heat Engine

"Cyclone’s Waste Heat Engine (WHE, pronounced “we”) is a low temperature, low pressure, self-starting model of the Cyclone Engine.

Because the WHE runs on heat as low as 225 degrees, it can pull its power from many different sources of “wasted” heat or renewable fuels..." - www.cyclonepower.com

I have been saying for many years now this type of technology should be standard in kitchen ovens.

Ford's Transit EV will be available in U.S. Ford dealerships in 2010.

Scientists Deactivate Malaria Parasite's Digestive Machinery

A team of Monash University researchers led by Professor James Whisstock has made a major breakthrough in the international fight against malaria, which claims the life of a child across the world every 30 seconds.

full story at sciencedaily.com

Earth's Only Immortal Species

"... Turritopsis reverts to a sexually immature stage after reaching adulthood and is capable of rejuvenating itself.
The 4-5mm diameter creature, technically known as a hydrozoan, is the only known animal that is capable of reverting to its juvenile polyp state.
Theoretically, this cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it potentially immortal. " -TimesOnline

Lithium Nanowire - 10x battery Capacity

"Researchers at the Stanford University Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed a technique for making lithium ion batteries that hold ten times more charge than current models. This could extend the driving time of electric cars and the life of mobile devices such as cell phones, music players and cameras by the same amount, making a typical laptop battery last 40 hours instead of four.." - naturalnews.com

Dean Kamen does it again!

"The invention, known as Slingshot, is basically a distiller. Distilling technology is not new. In fact, distillers have been around for decades. What makes this distiller unique is the low price and the large amount of water that can be produced. Other machines like the Slingshot can cost as much as $200,000 to $1 million. The Slingshot is expected to cost only $1,500. And it can filter 1,000 liters a day, using only 500 watts of electricity per hour. To put that into perspective, a toaster uses about 1,000 watts every time you make toast.

Possibly even more exciting than the cost-effectiveness and simplicity of the technology is its power. It can purify any source of moisture, whether ocean water, urine, or mud. And it does it all without filters, charcoal, or any other parts that must be replaced each time you use it.

The Slingshot has been slated for release within the next 12-18 months." - Naturalnews.com