indiatechnews.com » Technologies

Electricity from Thin Air!

Raats — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:06:04 +0000

Lightning to generate electricity

Its not too far away now. Harnessing electricity from thin air could possibly go live in a few years. Dr. Francesco Galembeck of Brazil’s University, joined by his colleagues confirmed that idea, using laboratory experiments that simulated water’s contact with dust particles in the air. They used tiny particles of silica and aluminum phosphate, both common airborne substances, showing that silica became more negatively charged in the presence of high humidity and aluminum phosphate became more positively charged. High humidity means high levels of water vapor in the air ― the vapor that condenses and becomes visible as “fog” on windows of air-conditioned cars and buildings on steamy summer days.

“This was clear evidence that water in the atmosphere can accumulate electrical charges and transfer them to other materials it comes into contact with,” Galembeck explained. “We are calling this ‘hygroelectricity,’ meaning ‘humidity electricity’.”

So how would this work? Appropriate collectors would be manufactured, similar to solar cells that collect the sunlight to produce electricity, these inturn would capture hygro-electricity and route it to homes and businesses. Hygroelectrical panels would work more efficiently in areas with high humidity.

Another positive point. Hygroelectricity if used on a large enough scale, that it could reduce the number of lightning strikes over a certain region by draining the atmosphere of its electrical charge, something that could potential save many lives and avoid property damages. So to think about it, it could mean greener power as well as safety from lightening strikes.

Lets hope this idea gets put into action and get a new source of Electricity.

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Gorilla Glass is tough and HDTVs may use them

Raats — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:42:57 +0000

gorilla_glass_01

First they were featured on handy devices such as Mobile phones and Laptops etc. Now Gorilla Glass will soon find its way on Large Televisions, giving them additional strength and scratch-proof capabilities.

So what exactly is Gorilla Glass?

Gorilla Glass is made by a firm called Corning Inc. This material was originally invented in 1962 in devices to protect against drop damage and scratches.Typically we are talking about glass that is 3-4 times stronger and more durable than regular glass. The best part being its ability to bend and retain its finish.

The video shows you a clear demonstration…

Here are a few key pointers from their website

Thinner form factor: Gorilla glass retains its performance advantage over standard chemically strengthened substrates even when used in thin form factors. Currently, Gorilla glass is available as-drawn in thicknesses ranging from .5 mm – 2.0 mm.
Pristine surface quality: Because it is formed using Corning’s proprietary fusion process, Gorilla glass offers the same high-quality pristine surface available with all of our high-technology display substrates. This feature offers the ability to use the glass “as drawn,” eliminating lapping and polishing processes which can introduce surface damage.
Compliance with environmental standards: Gorilla glass is compliant with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS). It contains no heavy metals, making it an ideal component for devices engineered to meet environmental standards.
Compatibility with touch screen devices: Gorilla glass can be used as a protective cover sheet for touch screen devices without impeding the functionality of the device. Reliable strength is important for these types of devices that function in response to pressure being applied to the glass.
Available with an easy-to-clean, wear-resistant coating: Customers can specify a version of Gorilla glass with a special coating, making it easier to clean than other cover glasses. This is especially useful for devices that function by touch.

gorilla-glass

So, wouldn’t you like your HDTVs protected too?

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Spring beds may pose EMR hazard

Raats — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:12:23 +0000

Spring beds and EMR (500x)

The buzz on Mobile phone radiation is one thing, but the risks of EMR (Electro Magnetic Radiation) increase and our day to day objects may be causing us harm on a regular basis. Box-springs beds may act as giant radiation antennas, filling our bodies with deadly EMR while we sleep.
The research, carried out by Hallberg Independent Research and the Karolinska Institute, both in Sweden, attempts to correlate the fact that most people tend to sleep on their right side and that the length of a box spring mattress in America is exactly the right length to make it act as an amplifier for FM and TV waves.

“Thus, as we sleep on our coil-spring mattresses, we are in effect sleeping on an antenna that amplifies the intensity of the broadcast FM/TV radiation,” writes Scientific American. “Asleep on these antennas, our bodies are exposed to the amplified electromagnetic radiation for a third of our life spans.” The radiation would be the strongest almost a meter above the surface of the box spring, which would mean that the side of your body that you’re not sleeping on would get hit the hardest.

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Intel photonics-based, 50Gbps chip! uses light

Raats — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:39:09 +0000

intelphotonicschip

The future is light, that is exactly what Intel plans to do with data speeds in the future. Using light to transmit data to significantly reduce transfer times.

Intel provided a peek at the future of processors today by revealing the first instance of a chip using complete photonics to send data. Four lasers in the prototype convert light into data at about 50Gbps, or “many” times faster than wired connections. The rate, about 6.25GB per second, would be enough to send an entire 720p movie in one second.

intelphotonicschip

Without a doubt, the technology could improve chips themselves but could be particularly useful for when large amounts of data need to be spread over a similarly large area, such as video walls or supercomputers. Intel bills the photonics chip as a “concept vehicle” that isn’t directly related to future production hardware, but promises that the technology should advance and become more mainstream. Later developments should increase the number of lasers and speed up the light-to-data conversions to where terabit-plus data rates are possible. A modern computer’s entire contents could be sent in a second by that stage, Intel said.

Remember our post about Intel’s Light Peak technology? it tops out at just 10Gbps and is intended primarily to speed up peripherals.

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Ask.com engine to be powered by humans!!!

Raats — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:38:54 +0000

ASK search

Google figured it out first, they knew it had to be fast and thats what they actually do, make your searches faster and faster every single day. Ask.com happens to be the sixth-largest Web property in the world, drawing over 90 million unique visitors monthly. Guess what, Ask.com hopes to go back to its roots by answering questions that users ask through natural, everyday English. Ask will not rely on any sort of Artificial Intelligence, or high performance servers, but will instead rely on actual humans to field customers’ queries. Now that is some serious manpower they should be looking for and prepare for.

A new “Ask the Community” tool allows users to pose questions to a group of self-proclaimed “experts”, where there is a wide variety of fields to choose from. All responses will be delivered via e-mail, where the wait time shouldn’t be more than 10 minutes.

Sounds interesting? Wonder what folks at Google think about this.

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Brother Unveils AA Batteries That Recharge From Shaking

Raats — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:11:45 +0000

Brother batteries

There are a lot of ways to charge a regular battery, however, sometimes it is not easy finding the Charging source. Brother technologies has found a great way to recharge batteries without being hooked up to another power source. It is indeed a brilliant concept and it makes use of vibrations. Heres more on these Vibration-Powered Generating Batteries.

Essentially the technology inside these batteries is similar to the flashlights that can be powered by shaking them. Since both the battery and generator are both packed into a AA-sized enclosure, the output is very minimal. Currently they can only produce around 100mW of unsustainable power. While that may not seem like much, it would be perfect for TV remotes, which generally use less than 100mW. How about LED flashlights? they wouldn’t need too much power too, This could mean having a flashlight or a TV mote that never needs the batteries changed!

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Flexible solar panels on your rooftop soon

Raats — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:06:58 +0000

Flexible solar panels on roof

Yeah it is the future. First it was rain water harvesting and now it may soon be Solar power supply too. Some companies have introduced flexible solar panels for use on commercial rooftops. The panels are made out of thin-film solar cells from a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS), which will subsequently be placed on a flexible foil. This set of solar panels are deemed to see action on flat roofs of commercial buildings.

solar roofs

These are lighter compared to glass-encased panels which can be installed a whole lot quicker compared to other technologies. These panels can be laminated onto rooftops if you want, or mounted mounted on racks to tilt the panels. Considering the amount of solar panels that would fit the roof it will be nice to know whats the ROI on such fixtures!

But the technology seems interesting and everyone’s always happy to get free Green and Clean power!

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Future Roads could purify air

Raats — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:06:49 +0000

Roads to clean air

Have you ever heard of roads being able to clear up the air? How about roads that will help purify the air? The Eindhoven University of Technology from the Netherlands recently resurfaced around 1,000 square meters of the busy Castorweg Road with air-purifying concrete paving stones, where this is made possible thanks to titanium dioxide in said paving stones. Titanium dioxide is a kind of photocatalytic material which removes the nitrogen oxides from the air and converts them into harmless nitrate with the aid of sunlight, where the nitrate will then rinsed away by rain. While the stones themselves are 50% more expensive than normal concrete stones, the total road-building costs are in total a mere 10% higher, making this the ideal material for a greener earth.

Road surfaces can make a big contribution to local air purity. This conclusion can be drawn from the first test results on a road surface of air-purifying concrete. This material reduces the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) by 25 to 45 per cent, said prof. Jos Brouwers in a recent inaugural lecture at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.

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HDBaseT gives more competition to HDMI

Raats — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 10:06:26 +0000

Did you just buy that expensive HDMI cable? Oops! Looks like HDMI will need to do a lot more to stay in the market. LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony all backed the HDBaseT Alliance this week, a new wired standard known as HDBaseT for the living room, that hopes to replace the current set HDMI cable standard. This known adoption could take place in early 2011.

hdbaset1

Unlike HDMI, which merely transfers uncompressed audio and video data, HDBaseT uses what it calls 5Play: the transfer of audio and video data, plus 100BaseT Ethernet, and even power, plus control signals.
The underlying technology is supplied by Valens Semiconductor. The Comparison chart below gives you an idea of how different this cable is.

HDMI vs HDBaseT

So its definitely much better than the existing cable standards, It even can sustain the quality of data transfers over longer distances, and carry power!

“HDBaseT Alliance’s creation of a unified specification based on HDBaseT technology will raise the bar as the most technologically advanced, unmatched solution for optimum digital media distribution,” said Ariel Sobelman, president and chairman of the HDBaseT Alliance and vice president of corporate alliances for Valens, in a statement. “HDBaseT technology is poised to become the unrivaled next-generation home networking transport to meet the ever-changing trends in the digital media market.”

HDMI, however, is virtually ubiquitous, with nearly all of today’s television sets shipping with the technology. Steve Venuti, president of HDMI licensing, told PCMag.com that HDMI was prepping for 3D TV, with a new 1.4 specification covering 3D transmission. HDMI even has made it to phones, with mini HDMI cables shipped for the HTC EVO 4G.

Wireless technologies such as WirelessHD, WiGig or WHDI provide additional options, although the wireless solutions can’t transfer power.

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Fight Electro Magnetic Radiation

Raats — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 09:58:11 +0000

qlink-mini

Are cellphones really dangerous? Why take a chance? it is invisible electromagnetic fields (EMFs) generated by the electronics which surround us daily. Lucky for you, The Q-Link Mini is a thin, lightweight button designed to attach easily to any personal electronic device, from cell phones and Bluetooth headsets, to portable game consoles and MP3 players.

The button is programmed with over 100 natural frequencies known to support the biofield and claims to naturally enhance the human body’s defenses against a variety of life’s stressors, including harmful electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which research increasingly suggests can lead to serious health risks, including possible brain tumors, especially in children and adolescents.

Priced at $24.95 or ~INR 1,250

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indiatechnews.com » Technologies

Electricity from Thin Air!

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Gorilla Glass is tough and HDTVs may use them

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Intel photonics-based, 50Gbps chip! uses light

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Flexible solar panels on your rooftop soon

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