Analysis, Fashion, Science & Technology News

Solar-powered batteries woven into fabric boost wearable technology

battery

flexible polymer solar cells are integrated into the textile battery eliminating the need for connecting the battery to a power outlet for recharging.

Google Glass and a wave of smartwatches are just some of the choices in wearable electronics, and they are quickly multiplying. But the batteries still need to be plugged into something to charge up. What if your watch strap could contain the battery components, along with a flexible solar cell? Voilà: No more plugging in.

 

 

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Energy, New Inventions, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Solar thermophotovoltaic device has potential to tap the sun’s energy through heat as well as light

sun-energy

A nanophotonic solar thermophotovoltaic device.

Traditional photovoltaic solar cells have an inherent limit on the efficiency at which they can convert sunlight into energy. This limit—based on the bandgap of the material used and known as the Shockley-Queisser limit—is about 33.7 percent for standard solar cells. It is essentially due to any material’s inability to respond to all wavelengths of sunlight; so what if there was a way to change the wavelengths that actually reach the cell to those it converts best? MIT researchers have unveiled the best-yet version of that idea, known as solar thermophotovoltaics.

 

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Health & Fitness, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Plastic surgery in South Korea is so good patients need certificates to prove who they really are

plastic surgery

A young woman celebrates after winning China’s first Miss Plastic Surgery pageant on December 18, 2004 in Beijing, China.

In South Korea, plastic surgery has become so crazy that some surgeons are now issuing out special certificates to prove that patients are who they say they are.

 

 

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Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Simple device designed to pull sunlight down to dark city streets

urban lighting

A plastic panel that can harvest light when it hangs off the edge of a rooftop, redirecting sunshine down into dark urban streets below.

Cities keep getting taller as they run out of buildable space.  A record number of skyscrapers are planned in London, places like Bangkok and Panama City have dozens of new towers under construction, and Mumbai is building more skyscrapers than anywhere else in the world.

 

 

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Analysis, Energy, Science & Technology News, Solar Power, Wind Power

They sound like science fiction, but these 5 energy technologies are getting close to reality

space-solar

Space-based solar

Some newer clean energy sources are becoming mainstream industries with low prices and established financing models like solar panels and wind turbines. But even in this era of emerging predictable clean energy, there are some pretty weird, experimental and ambitious energy projects under development. And they’re trying to move out of the lab and off of research papers, and into actual production.

 

 

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Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Space

Commercial space travel revs up

SpaceShip2 Rockets Ahead

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two

NASA has lost the urgency of the space race years of the 1960’s, but today’s commercial space sector looks to be recapturing some of that fervor. On Friday, May 2nd at New York City’s historic Explorer’s Club the players in America’s private space race were out in force at this event, each one promising major breakthroughs that will arrive within the next year or two.

 

 

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Agriculture, Analysis, Latest Trend, Plant Life, Science & Technology News

Top 15 emerging agriculture technologies that will change the world

drone

Automation will help agriculture via large-scale robotic and microrobots.

Below are 15 emerging technologies related to agricultural and natural manufacturing under four key areas of accelerating change: Sensors, Food, Automation and Engineering.

 

 

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Analysis, Business, government, Science & Technology News

Creative Commons founder launches crowdfunding project to end America’s political corruption

voting_by_income

Larry Lessig, Creative Commons co-founder, believes the Internet masses can overcome political corruption in America. Lessig is crowdfunding political races in five congressional districts to elect representatives who will make campaign finance reform their political priority. His idea has already raked in $447,546 in 4 days.

 

 

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