Self-inflating bike tire
PumpTire is commercializing the first self-pressurizing bicycle tire. Imagine taking your bicycle out of the garage and never having to fill up the tires or even check the pressure. Or imagine yourself being able to change your tire pressure on-the-fly with a simple adjustment from the handlebars. PumpTire is developing both of these systems. The self-inflating, self-adjusting technology is incorporated directly into the tire and is compatible with current rims, making it a simple addition to any bicycle. PumpTire is promoting the project on Kickstarter.
http://pumptire.com/
Driving Force of Internet Development
In the next five years, 3D interfaces will let you interact with 3D holograms of your friends in real time. Scientists are working to improve video chat to become holography chat -- or "3D telepresence." The technique uses light beams scattered from objects and reconstructs a picture of that object, a similar technique to the one human eyes use to visualize our surroundings.
"Friends". Sure.
Pee Power to the People
Researchers have figured out a way to make the world's first urine-powered fuel cells. Chemistry postdocs Shanwen Tao and Rong Lan at Heriot-Watt University's School of Engineering and Physical Sciences in Edinburgh are turning pee into electricity and clean water with a prototype fuel cell system. The Carbamide Power System prototype can break urea or urine from humans or animals down into water, nitrogen, and CO2, and also produce electricity. Municipalities currently spending a ton of money and energy removing urea from wastewater, could help reduce those costs by incorporating a system like this.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100827/981/tsc-urine-powered-fuel-cells-to-offer-pe_1.html
Low-price super discs
A Japanese university research team has found a material that could be used to make a low-price super disc with data storage capacity thousands of times greater than a DVD, the lead scientist said Monday. The material transforms from a black-colour metal state that conducts electricity into a brown semiconductor when hit by light, according to Shin-ichi Ohkoshi, chemistry professor at the University of Tokyo.The material, a new crystal form of titanium oxide, can switch back and forth between the metal and semiconductor states at room temperature when exposed to light, creating an effective on-off function.
World's first air-fuelled battery
The world's first battery fuelled by air -- with ten times the storage capacity of conventional cells -- has been unveiled. Scientists say the revolutionary STAIR (St Andrews Air) battery could pave the way for a new generation of electric cars, laptops, and mobile phones. The cell is much lighter than current batteries. The cells are charged in a traditional way but as power is used or "discharged" an open mesh section of battery draws in oxygen from the surrounding air. As the cycle of air helps recharge the battery as it is used, it has a greater storage capacity than other similar-sized cells and can emit power up to ten times longer. http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_articles/airfuelled_battery_lasts_ten_times_long_yes_pleaseHow To Make Oil in Minutes
Chemical engineers at the University of Michigan hope to make fuel in minutes. They are applying heat and pressure on microalgae, exploring a method to create affordable biofuel that could replace fossil fuels. They also hope to use the byproducts of bio-oil production as feedstock for more biofuel. "The vision is that nothing would leave the refinery except oil. Everything would get reused," chemical engineering professor Phillip Savage said in a statement. "That is one of the things that makes this project novel. It’s an integrated process. We are combining hydrothermal, catalytic and biological approaches." "We make an algae soup," Savage said. "We heat it to about 300 degrees and keep the water at high enough pressure to keep it liquid as opposed to steam. We cook it for 30 minutes to an hour and we get a crude bio-oil. We are trying to do what nature does when it creates oil, but we do not want to wait millions of years."
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/04/university-of-michigan-bio-oil/
Latvian Innovation: Disposable Cardboard Potty
The Latvian company, SIA Inovativas Konstrukcijas, has developed a product that will delight family travellers: disposable toilet seats. Latvian business daily Dienas Bizness reports that the company will market the cardboard potties under the brand name Pipin.
Liga Braslina, owner of SIA Inovativas Konstrukcijas, developed the potty in cooperation with the local cardboard plant, Austra Pak. The cardboard potty can withstand a weight of up to 20 kg. Pipin's retail price in Latvia will be around LVL 0.50 (EUR 0.70) per potty. The company is looking for export markets as well. Ms Braslina has big hopes for her business. "We want to sell these products throughout the world. We believe that in 5-10 years, Pipin will become just as familiar as pampers," she told Latvia's Diena daily. http://nekrize.lv/jauns-bizness-jauna-tirgus-nisa/
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