Science

A Malaysian scientist has discovered a revolutionary method of producing aerogel using waste rice husks. Known for it’s ghostlike appearance, aerogel has many possible applications including insulation and as a shock absorber. The strong, light weight substance (it’s 99% air) is made of silica, which composes 20% of the weight of rice husks. Using husks as the source of silica for Aerogel drastically cuts the cost of production.

Treehugger reports:

Aerogel was invented in 1931. But at $3000 per kilogram, it’s use has been limited to visionary projects and unique structural applications like reinforcement of tennis raquets. But that could change soon. Halimaton Hamdan, a Cambridge-trained professor of chemistry at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Technical University of Malaysia), has announced the discovery of a cheap process for turning waste rice husks into aerogel. Actually into “Maerogel”, as Hamdan has dubbed the “Malaysian aerogel”.

The translucent, smoky material weighs only three times as much as air. It is, in fact, mostly air; air cleverly trapped in a silicon matrix which gives the material insulating properties 37 times better than fiberglass. The image demonstrates the insulating capability as a layer of aerogel prevents a blowtorch from burning the hand below.

Aerogel can also bear mechanical pressure of up to 2000 times its weight. The combination of low weight and strength make aerogel a multifaceted green construction material.

[via Treehugger]

German car manufacturer Volkswagen have released a site called “Volkswagen 2028″ that sketches a scenario of future automotive mobility, 20 years from now. The site kicks off with a short introductory movie set in the future, where a father takes a walk with his son talking about the old times where you had to search for a parking-lot. Future times according to VW are about smart, on-demand car delivery services, skinnable car exteriors and the death of traffic jams as we know them.

A series of interviews with VW researchers and designers unveil their visions of electric-driven Single Occupant Vehicles, holographic projections, gesture controlled dashboards, and emission free automobiles.

While the entire site is in German, it’s still worth having a look at their future scenarios.

Volkswagen 2028

Not only can you now help power the night club you’re dancing at - you can charge your electronic gadgets at the same time. The Orange Dance Charge uses motion to power up your phone, ipod or other electronics. This arm band generator captures kinetic energy created from body movement and converts it into electricity. Gotwind’s piezoelectric quartz crystal technology (usually found in watches) is what makes all this magic happen.

[via DVICE]

MIT’s Sheila Kennedy is changing the way we think about solar energy, designing panels that are flexible and mobile, like common household curtains. Moving away from the static, flat panels that we’re used to seeing, Kennedy’s “Soft House” (which she exhibited recently at the Vitra Design Museum in Essen, Germany) features energy-harvesting curtains that move in the direction of sunlight, generating more than half the daily power needs of an average American household (up to 16,000 watt-hours of electricity). Kennedy’s prototype reflects an innovative, sustainable approach to home design: “Surfaces that define space can also be producers of energy,” says Kennedy. “The boundaries between traditional walls and utilities are shifting.”

[via MIT News]

A few yeas ago, we reported about the nascent field of man made diamonds. It seems that the process has been perfected, and lab created diamonds will now be coming to market. The pioneer in the industry, Apollo Diamond has set up a diamond warehouse that’s set to start churning out diamonds soon. The lab diamonds are of the highest quality, and are indistinguishable from “real” diamonds.

Besides being worn for fashion there are a host of technological uses for diamonds. Now that they can be easily created in a lab, scientists believe this will usher in a “diamond age” where the material will become a ubiquitous electronic component.

Smithsonian Magazine reports:

With a cheap, ready supply of diamonds, engineers hope to make everything from higher-powered lasers to more durable power grids. They foresee razor-thin computers, wristwatch-size cellphones and digital recording devices that would let you hold thousands of movies in the palm of your hand. “People associate the word diamond with something singular, a stone or a gem,” says Jim Davidson, an electrical engineering professor at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. “But the real utility is going to be the fact that you can deposit diamond as a layer, making possible mass production and having implications for every technology in electronics.”

Smithsonian Magazine: “Diamonds On Demand”

[via Boing Boing]

Man made

When we were in SF a couple of months ago, we visited with Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail. One topic he brought up during our conversation is something that we’ve been thinking about - and seeing a lot of - ever since: open source innovation. We caught up with Chris to hear more of his thoughts on open source, DIY hardware, and the people and organizations leading the way in this brave (relatively) new world.

When we were last looking at your Longtail site, we noticed the link to your personal project - the DIY drones. One moment you’re developing economic theory, the next you’re hacking flying technology together. What got you into this? Is there a big community?

This started as something to do with the kids with Lego and toy planes, and then spiraled wildly out of control. Now it’s a global open source aerial robotics community. Big? No. But we get a couple thousand people to the site every day and around 150k page views a month. Super niche, but super focused—you either totally get it or you don’t have any interest at all. It’s the Long Tail of social networks!

Isn’t creating something that flies, kind of hard to do? How do you create parts like the circuit boards?

By and large, we don’t make planes—we just buy pre-made RC planes and do a “brain transplant”, adding onboard computers and sensors to make them autonomous. We create circuit boards using free PCB-design software and upload the files to Chinese fabs that send us back the finished boards in a week for the price of two cups of coffee. It’s AMAZING. Here’s more: [link].

What do you think the impact of open source technology could be?

We don’t yet know. It feels like open source software in the early 90s, before Linux, Firefox and the other killer apps that showed how powerful that model is. Is the Firefox of open source hardware going to emerge from Google’s Android phone? The Arduino processor project (which we’re contributing to)? Something like the OLPC? It’s too soon to say.

Who is inspiring you in this space right now?

I think that Tim O’Reilly and the crew at Make Magazine/Maker Faire/Makezine are leading the way with a great energy and a spirit of adventure. They’ve made open source/DIY hardware seem as cool and subversive as the punk movement of the early 80s. Soldering irons are the new electric guitars!

Thanks, Chris!

One of the most talked about features of the new iPhone is the addition of geolocation capabilities. There are a host of GPS based services coming down the line: connecting with nearby friends, finding restaurants, getting directions - all standard stuff. But what else is possible?

Wired has suggested that the combination of the iPhone’s accurate location data and cheap environmental sensors could lay the foundation for a crowd sourced scientific revolution.  Imagine “citizen scientists,” iPhones in hand, taking air quality readings and rainfall measurements. If such a system was set up, scientists back in the lab would have access to a rich set of information, enabling a real-time environmental pulse to be taken and shared.

Wired Science: GPS-Equipped iPhone Could Enable New Citizen Science

Philips ‘far-future’ research department is exploring current trends that may have effects on culture, politics, environments, economies and technology in the future and what effects future technology could have on todays trends. Possibilities include morphing body art, functional, electronic sensing jewelry and even a sustainable habitat for urban megalopolis’ in China.

Much of the technologies being dreamed up aren’t for us geeks however. They’re being developed in tandem with Philips’ innovation model to garner a better handle on their return on investment.

Philips Design Probes

We checked out “Dance Robot Dance” last night, Saatchi & Saatchi and Make Magazine’s Internet Week party at the Saatchi Gallery in NYC, a mini-Maker Faire celebrating DIY crafts, innovative hacks and technology. Makers from around the world came to exhibit their latest inventions and concepts, from Gak-like slime that conducts electricity (and produces music!) to Bug Labs’ modular gadget platform. It was like a county science fair for grown-ups and we were wowed by nearly everything we saw - but one of our favorites was Amy Parness and Ariel Churi’s DIY Electronics Kit, a starter pack to help kids (and amateur geeks like myself!) learn about switches, diodes, transistors, regulators, and more in a safe, simple way. The kit features small packets, neatly labeled with all the equipment you need to start tinkering with LEDs and other basic electronics. You can purchase the $50 set at the Makershed store.