Almost every loaf of bread on the planet owes something to ammonia. It is the starting point for nitrogen fertiliser, and a growing number of energy planners also see it as a practical way to store and ship hydrogen. The catch is that making it is one of heavy industry's dirtiest jobs. Now a team at the Institute of Science Tokyo says it has built a catalyst that makes ammonia under noticeably milder conditions, without any precious metals, and does it faster than the benchmark catalysts it was...
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Green Hydrogen
Vortex – Bladeless Wind Turbines
A Spanish company called Vortex Bladeless is proposing a radical new way to generate wind energy .Their idea is the Vortex, a bladeless wind turbine that looks like a giant rolled joint shooting into the sky. The Vortex has the same goals as conventional wind turbines, to turn breeze into kinetic energy that can be used as electricity but it goes about it in an entirely different way. When wind passes one of the cylindrical turbines, it shears off the downwind side of the cylinder in a spinning ...
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Hand-powered Circo dishwasher
Chen Levin has designed a small dishwasher powered by human kinetic energy that can fit in even the smallest of spaces. It is estimated that 75 percent of the global population will live in urban areas by 2050. While this urbanization presents great opportunities, it will be an enormous challenge to ensure that energy and space is distributed efficiently and equitably for who will call the city their home. This Independent dishwasher will hopefully help meet the demands of a dense urban future.
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Memory and conductivity
Scientists from Stanford University and the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have made the first direct images showing that electrical currents can flow along the boundaries between tiny magnetic regions of a material that normally doesn’t conduct electricity. The results could have major implications for magnetic memory storage. "This can provide a more straightforward way to use magnetic material as memory,” said Eric Yue Ma, a graduate student in the laboratory of Z...
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Manmade Tidal Lagoon could change the future of clean energy.
The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon will be the world’s first ever plant to generate electricity using its own novel method. Should it prove successful, the plant’s template could be adopted worldwide as a way of generating green power while simultaneously providing sea wall protection to coastal communities.
Just outside the Welsh city of Swansea, the U.K. is planning one of the most innovative power plants ever constructed. It’s not the plant’s size that is striking, though it could ultimately pro...
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Pickaplant Tableau is an automatic plant watering tray.
Tableau is a work of art. It waters house plants in a wet-dry cycle using zero electricity and makes growing leafy greens, bright florals, and tasty herbs super easy to grow.
Many of us like to have houseplants in our homes, bringing a little of the outside inside. The problem is remembering to water them on a regular basis. Tableau is a new take on an automatic watering system for houseplants that aims to make it easy to avoid either over or under watering the plants.
It is the third and ...
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Life-Saving Infant Incubator That Requires No Electricity
A new portable and reusable infant incubator that requires no electricity and minimal costs was invented by Jane Chen and Rajan Patel.
These two innovators came up with an innovative infant warmer which is simple, energy-efficient, and cost-effective.
Every year 20 million babies are born premature with low birth weight and they struggle to survive because they cannot regulate their body temperature and they don't have enough fat on their tiny bodies to keep warm.
The solution is to kee...
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Powermat: The Wireless Charger
Wireless charging is already here.
Though most individuals connect their phones to a wired charger, the charging landscape may soon change as companies such as Powermat Technologies Ltd., a developer of wireless power solutions for consumers, act as pioneers in the field.
Wireless power, also known as inductive coupling and is based on magnets. The Powermat, is the first, perhaps, of many wireless chargers for hi tech gadgets. How does it work? You simply place your gadget on the mat to ch...
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Skyscraper Uses Built-In Wind Turbines for Energy
Bahrain is the home of the first skyscraper to have wind turbines integrated into the structure of the building.
The Bahrain World Trade Center is a 50-story twin tower complex containing two identical towers that rise over 240 meters in height. The sail-shaped buildings offer a visually striking image and boasts of one its very unique feature which is the 3 giant wind turbines tying the two “sails” together.
It is the first skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its desig...
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