Inflatable seat belt could help save lives

Michael Barkoviak - November 6, 2009 9:53 AM

U.S. automaker Ford announced it will introduce a new seatbelt airbag that will first find its way into automobiles starting with the 2011 Ford Explorer SUV.



The Ford system operates by placing a small cylinder of cold compressed gas that sits underneath the rear seats, with an inflatable bag located in the seatbelts. After a vehicle impact occurs, this new system is designed to spread the force of impact over more parts of the human body, which helps reduce the amount of impact felt by the human chest.

Eric Layton 8 Nov 2009

Give these scientists a hand

Posted: Jeremy Kerbs

Artficial hand gets us one step closer to cyborg-dom

"Scientists have successfully wired a state-of-the-art artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm."

Posted: Jeremy Kerbs

Sharp LR0GC02 Solar Panel Mobile Phone Charging Device Gets BIG Thumbs Ups

Sharp Corporation has developed industry’s thinnest solar module which can power up mobile devices other than its residential uses. The LR0GC02 Solar module can find its use on mobile phones like Samsung Blue Earth for its incredibly slim thickness of just 0.8mm.

The usage of solar module is drawing attraction as it proves to be the cleanest energy of all. The maximum power generated by the module is 300mW which is sufficient to be used as an auxiliary power source for the mobile phones. Device Manufacturers have the facility of changing the electrode pattern on the cell surface which leads to design flexibility of the devices. Hope we will see some solar powered in near future.


posted by Helen Ice

Days Look Brighter with Lithium

Boliva is the poorest country in South America, but that could all change as it is now found to be the worlds largest source of lithium; not a bad place to be with the environmental steps going forward.

Lara

Flower Power

The manufacturing of Toyota's Prius hasn't been the brightest green in the Crayola box, but is making bolder marks for it's future and ours. Toyota has created two new species of flowers that offset carbons...

Lara

Could Worm glue repair broken bones?

bioengineers have looked beyond metal hardware and have now duplicated a natural glue secreted by the tiny sandcastle worm.

Posted: Jeremy Kerbs

Xerox develops silver ink to print low cost circuit boards

What does this mean? everything!

Soon we may print stuff for electronics inexpensively for prototyping.

Posted: By Jeremy Kerbs

I am going to start packing one of these and charging $1 a shot

Handpresso Wild is at the core of the NOMADIC ESPRESSO. Simple, light, elegant and compact, it works without electricity. It has all the basic qualities to make a premium quality coffee anywhere.

Travels with you
Small and handy, it travels with you on holiday, at weekends, on trips… With Handpresso Wild, you can enjoy your espresso inside as well as outside, thus creating a recreational and friendly moment wherever you want.

Makes perfect coffee
Handpresso Wild prepares a tasty espresso with a perfect crema. An outstanding quality obtained by a high-pressure extraction, a patented Handpresso system. “ A fine and smooth crema, subtle aromas, a structured body, a lengthy finish: a “vintage” coffee!”


Packs away
Light and well-made, Handpresso can be stored easily in a drawer or hung with the kitchenware. It requires no maintenance and guarantees a premium quality in every cup.

How does it work?
Nothing is easier! Just pump the machine to 16 bar, add hot water from a kettle or a thermo insulated bottle and an E.S.E. pod. Then, serve a premium quality coffee in your cup by pushing the button.

Eric Collins

Neat packaging

Unique tea packaging!




posted by Helen Ice

Oil Rig Hotels

Jetson Green published an article back in February talking about an innovative reuse for oil rigs; convert them to luxury eco-hotels. The "green-ness" of the idea becomes a little more apparent when you read the article and find out that the standard disposal method for abandoned oil rigs is to blow them up. When you consider that in the Gulf of Mexico alone there are about 4,000 of these bad boys, the concept starts to have some green merit.

It's an interesting thought. I don't exactly know what your demand generators would be, but I suppose it could be neat. Maybe it's the trendy rooms, or if not, it's definitely the water ski performers that would push me over the edge. You just don't see too many good water ski performers these days...

Better Batteries

Venom introduces world's first carbon neutral alkaline battery

Posted: Jeremy Kerbs

CO2-neutral transport is on the horizon

Much of our consumption that produces greenhouse gases can be blamed from transportation of goods. An initiative in Sweden is working towards a co2 neutral alternative.


Posted: Jeremy Kerbs

Plastic Concrete: Building Bricks Made From Landfill Waste

Recent RPI Masters of Architecture graduate Henry Miller has devised a way to reuse waste plastic as an aggregate in cement, circumventing the energy-intensive process of plastic recycling. By grinding up landfill-bound plastic and mixing it with portland cement, Miller was able to create a material just as strong as traditional concrete made with mined aggregate. The ingenious solution netted miller first place in the “Component Category” of the second annual Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World competition.

Using recycled materials is so hot right now, but using them as aggregate is hotter than Hansel in a black shirt on a summer Sunday. While living in Albany, Miller saw many areas cut their plastic recycling programs for the cheaper (now) solution of landfills, and noticed the astounding number of brownfield sites that were simply being abandoned. Miller’s idea: Why not use plastic waste as an aggregate in concrete and create a more sensible product. By mixing together ground-up plastic with cement and soil reclaimed from the brownfields, Miller was able to create a material just as strong as conventional concrete.

The Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World competition only asked students to conceptualize a design, but Miller he was not satisfied with a mere idea. He actually used his plastic concrete to build a screen and a wall. In doing so he showed that his ideas were viable alternatives to the status quo and that there was no excuse to merely fall in line.

Describing his project, Henry Louis Miller states: “Recycling plastics is a difficult, energy intensive process, and yields a product that is inferior to the virgin material. I have researched the possibility of using granulated, post consumer waste plastics as the aggregate in concrete. In this application, unlike plastics can be universally mixed with no adverse affects, heat driven re-amalgamation is not required, and my early test results show the resulting product is as strong as conventional concrete mixes (between 3000 and 5000psi.) As a result of using plastic rather than conventional aggregate, the mining of new material to serve as aggregate is not necessary.”

posted by Helen Ice