Category Archives: Gadgets and Tech
We all have that moment where our heart pops into our throats during blackouts, scared that all the food in our refrigerators might just go bad. It’s the same with expensive medicines and vaccines too that could cause losses due to blackouts at times. So, True Energy has developed a unique Vaccine Refrigerator that keeps the temperature well below 10 degrees Celsius for a good 10 days, after plugging it out of the grid-socket. Regardless of the temperatures outside, the refrigerator keeps a steady temperature inside using a combination of a built-in rechargeable battery powered either by the grid, a solar panel, or a combination of the two and some heavy-duty insulation.
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Rechargeable batteries work great, and make sure you don’t need to keep visiting the store to pick up fresh batteries every time your old one’s run out. Also, using these helps save out on batteries ending up in the waste too. But then again, rechargeable batteries need their juice, and need to be plugged in from time to time. Designers Yeon Kyeong Hwang & Mieong Ho Kang have come up with a fantastic alternative, with the Charge Battery. This one’s basically a self-sufficient battery and to charge it, all you do is turn it around in the clock-wise direction, functioning like a wind-up toy. Turning around the positive end winds up the spiral spring and in turn powers up the battery.
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We human shave polluted the earth. We’ve cut down trees. We’ve stabbed nature in its throat a thousand times. It’s up to us humans to now give back something to mother earth. And so, designers Mario Caceres and Cristian Canonico have come up with these beautiful artificial trees that filter the air, just like the real one’s do. Somewhat reminding us of the forest trees in the movie Avatar, the TreePods were designed for the SHIFTboston urban intervention contest. Using biomimicry to replicate the carbon filtration qualities of trees, the beautiful TreePods have branches that work as Co2 filters. During the night time, they light up with some pretty dazzling colors that’ll have you stop and stare.
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Fuel cells and biogas in the future might just be a lot more efficient and cheaper on large-scale grid connections, with the VTT solid oxide fuel cell that the Technical Research Center of Finland is testing currently. The SOFC hopes that this one will help provide efficient, cheap grid power from natural gas and biogas using the VTT system that uses a single 10 kW planar SOFC stack. This can help generate a year’s power supply for a usual apartment block. This is the first time a 10 kW power class planar SOFC fuel stack will operate s part of a complete fuel cell system and uses an electrochemical conversion to produce electricity from the oxidizing of a fuel.
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Easyjet, a low-cost aircraft, is now drawing up plans to spice up their aircraft with nano technology that might just help reduce the amount of debris that build up on the structure. This can help reduce drags owing to lesser debris collecting on the leading edge and other surfaces too. The process involves the use of an ultra-thin coating that is currently being used by US aircrafts. The coat measuring less than a micron in thickness known as the tripleO will be used for the first time on a commercial aircraft and suppliers claim it to help reduce an aircraft’s fuel burn and carbon emissions by between one and two per cent. Currently Easyjet has 8 of its airplanes coated, and consumptions and emissions will be compared with the rest of the 194-strong fleet.
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The Android operating system by Google is quickly catching on in the mobile phone industry today, given that its highly versatile, supports thousands of useful applications and is quickly developing. Here’s an Android that’s green and eco-friendly, powered by solar energy. Developed by a Chinese company Umeox, together with a Dutch firm, the Umeox Apollo phone has an integrated solar panel that soaks in solar juice to power up the hand-held device. Using the SunBoost3 Smart Cell solar module by Intivation, this one charges up in low-light too. With a 3.2 inch HVGA touch screen, 3 megapixel camera, FM, a 512MB RAM, Bluetooth, HSDPA, and WiFi, Bluetooth, HSDPA, WiFi, this phone’s just the perfect device to stay connected!
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While most tanks are meant to cause a load of destruction, bombing out enemies at wars and such, we came across a tank that simply plays music, to kick in the vibe at outdoor parties! This Solar Powered 2.0 stereo system rolled out, snug in a shell of a tank. Known as the Music Tank, the contraption makes music portable and is ideal for use outdoors. So be it a barbeque party, a lawn sprinkler party or some fun at the pool side, lug this one around to play your favorite tunes for you, powered by energy from the sun. We aren’t sure what the gun really shoots out, though we’d be all happy if some hotdogs shot out of there!
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LEDs help save up on energy, and at the same time, light up just as bright as those energy sucking bulbs do, which is why today, LED technology is quickly catching on, with more and more companies developing better lighting. Recently, Sharp Corp unveiled an LED device with a luminous efficiency of 91lm/W with an input power of 25W to be used for lighting purposes. This one has the highest luminous efficiency, 91lm/W for a power input of 25W, in the industry. With a general color rendering index (Ra) of 83, the LED device emits an incandescent color light and comes in two models, one with a color temperature of 3,000K and the other with 2,700K. Later, Sharp will develop models with a 15W power input.
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Here’s a portable USB charger to have your gadgets juiced up, powered by fuel cells. MyFC’s Powertrekk can be refilled easily, doesn’t burn a hole in your wallet, and has just the right amount of juice in it. Also, it looks just great, with a disposable sodium silicide container that generates hydrogen gas that generates electricity with oxygen in a proton exchange membrane. The Powertrekk can generate a good 1000mAh of power. This one also packs a 1600mAh lithium-ion battery that generates one amp of electricity. So, the Powertrekk makes sure your devices stay juiced up and ready for use in the outdoors, and just about anywhere you go!
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Kids studying at the Senegalese elementary school of Ecole Sinthiou Mbadane1 will have a unique classroom environment. The usual blackboard and chalk have been tossed away for a more sophisticated interactive whiteboard, powered by solar energy! The area is cut of electricity grids and the whiteboard, by CyberSmart will just kick-start a long journey of providing better educational facilities to rural areas around the globe, powered by renewable energy like the sun. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) helped
CyberSmart with a grant for this initiative in Senegal that will help widen the scope of the Senegalese national curriculum, particularly in subjects like math, science, and social studies.
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