Category: New Inventions

Impact Lab > New Inventions
Breakthrough Thinking, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Inventions

Low-Cost nanosheet catalyst discovered to split hydrogen from water

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This magnified image from a transmission electron microscope reveals details of the unexpected nanosheet structure of the nickel-molybdenum-nitride catalyst, seen here as dark, straight lines.

Hydrogen gas offers one of the most promising sustainable energy alternatives to limited fossil fuels. But traditional methods of producing pure hydrogen face significant challenges in unlocking its full potential, either by releasing harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or requiring rare and expensive chemical elements such as platinum…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Inventions

Proof that even a screwdriver becomes obsolete

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Time to change your screwdriver.

Stanley Works has been making hand tools in New Britain, Connecticut, since the middle of the 19th century. Some time in the 20th, the company came up with this terrible screwdriver. It has a handle with rigid, jagged plastic edges that gouge your palms at every inch-pound of torque. Yet the handle is somehow always slick, requiring a firm, skin-sacrificing grip. The screwdriver is downright painful to use. It is, as far as toolbox technology goes, obsolete…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, New Inventions

The World’s Loudest Bike Horn Is More Deafening Than a 747 Taking Off

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Get out of the way!

A UK insurance company has found the perfect way for pedestrians and drivers to resent cyclists even more. It’s created the Hornster bicycle which features a triumvirate of horns on the handle bars capable of blasting out a deafening 178 decibel honk…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, New Inventions

What if syncing a smartphone was as simple as a tap?

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/40117938[/vimeo]

Tired of the near-impossiblehassle of figuring out how to sideload web content onto his ereader, designer Ishac Bertran conceived of a UI design—inspired by spatially-aware objects such as Sifteo cubes—which would allow him to easily transfer content to devices.

This obviously isn’t for the mass offloading of files (you’d be holding your hand up for what would seem like an eternity), but rather for a quick bit of info—a photo, a map, a song…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Humor, New Inventions

The USB Typewriter Keyboard

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“Clickety clack” goes the USB typwriter keyboard.

If you’re tired of how calm and quiet your office has become, bring a taste of the good old days to work with the USB typewriter keyboard.

Full of noisy key clacking and an undeniable charm, this stylish computer accessory is sure to get your co-workers talking about you, even if what they’re saying is “shut that thing up!”

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Breakthrough Thinking, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Nanotechnology, New Discoveries, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

Self-Assembling Highly Conductive Plastic Nanofibers

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Artist’s impression based on a real atomic force microscopy (AFM) image showing conductive supramolecular fibers trapped between two gold electrodes spaced 100 nm apart. Each plastic fiber is composed of several short fibers and is capable of transporting electrical charges with the same efficiency as a metal.

Researchers from CNRS and the Université de Strasbourg, headed by Nicolas Giuseppone (1) and Bernard Doudin (2), have succeeded in making highly conductive plastic fibers that are only several nanometers thick. These nanowires, for which CNRS has filed a patent, “self-assemble” when triggered by a flash of light. Inexpensive and easy to handle, unlike carbon nanotubes (3), they combine the advantages of the two materials currently used to conduct electric current: metals and plastic organic polymers (4). In fact, their remarkable electrical properties are similar to those of metals.

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Great New Product, New Inventions, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

‘Blackest’ solar cell ever absorbs 99.7% of all light

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Scientists create blackest silicon solar cell.

Scientists at Natcore Technology have created a black silicon solar cell with an average reflectance of 0.3%, making it the “blackest” solar cell ever designed. Natcore’s development offers a tenfold decrease in reflectance over the solar spectrum. The result is an increase in energy efficiency that could help solar power compete even more effectively with traditional fossil fuels.

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