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New batteries use oxygen from the air to generate power
Traditional batteries contain multiple chemicals that are made to react when necessary and generate power in the process. To recharge them the chemicals are then divided again. But STAIR (St Andrews Air) batteries are different. Containing only lithium as an active chemical, it draws oxygen from the air when discharged and uses that reaction to... »
UNWRA educated Palestinian girls win international science prize
UNWRA or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency offers education programs in Palestinian refugee camps. Three Palestinian girls educated there have just made history by winning a top spot in an international science fair in Silicon Valley. Only 14-years old, they designed a walking cane for the blind that beeps when it detects bumps... »
Replicating spider silk
Spider silk is a wondrous material. I’m sure we’ve all accidentally broken up a spider’s web or a few strands of the silk at some point and not given it too much thought. But as you will then have noticed, the silk is extremely flexible and stretchable. What you may not have known is that... »
Control your DNA
Ever use your genes as an excuse? Do you have “fat genes”? Did you inherit an “addictive personality” or bad skin? I’m afraid you will have to come up with a whole new set of excuses now with the advent of epigenetics. Epigenetics is a field established around the newly discovered fact that the effect of... »
Plastisoil: The recycled, self-draining sidewalk
Naji Khoury of Temple University has invented a new type of cementing agent. By mixing soil and recyclable bottles he has created what he calls “Plastisoil”. When mixed with some additives and heated it creates what he calls “porous Plastisoil”. The chief benefit of Plastisoil is that rainwater can run through it, greatly reducing the need... »
Robot that requires no batteries and no fuel
The SOLO-TREC underwater robot can in theory run forever. Developed, and reported on, by NASA, in cooperation with the US Navy and university researchers, it is made to explore the ocean floor and it’s inhabitants. The SOLO-TREC uses differences in temperature between different depths of the ocean to produce it’s power. The power thus generated is... »
Why experience brings more happiness than new possessions
It has been anecdotally known for centuries and has now been demonstrated through studies that people are happier when they spend money on experiences than when they spend it on buying more “stuff”. Physorg reports on a study done by Cornell university that indicates that the happiness we get from new material possessions fades off... »
Coconut car parts
Coconut farmers sell the oil from each coconut for about 10 cents (USD) a piece and throw away most of the coconut itself; there are around 11 million poor coconut farmers near the equator. DiscoveriesAndBreakthroughs.com reports on a group of scientists and engineers at Baylor university wanted to help the farmers by finding efficient use... »
Turning street noise into Hydrogen
For years we have known how to turn vibration into electricity through what they call Piezoelectric crystals. This is a crystal material structure which creates electricity when flexed and stressed. As New Scientist reports, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have just taken it a step further. They made a new version of these crystal... »
Thorium reactors: Cleaner, safer, easier nuclear energy
Nuclear reactors that use Thorium instead of Uranium as a fuel have been under some discussion lately, and for a good reason. Thorium reactors need less fuel, produce less waste; and less dangerous waste, they can’t melt down and they produce no materials that can be reliably used to make nuclear bombs. Dispatch.com had a very... »
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