Hasta La Gadget!

As you may know, crafting a katana is a delicate process that involves carefully constructing a razor-sharp high-carbon edge around a soft shock-absorbent core. One day though, smiths and forging fires could be replaced by electrode-wielding mad-scientists, with the technology to selectively harden and soften metal at will. At least that’s what we envisioned when we read about Jörg Weißmüller’s breakthrough research in the field of nanomaterials. The German scientist discovered that by placing precious metals in acid he could create tiny ducts through corrosion. Once those channels are flooded with a conductive liquid, electrical currents can be used to harden the material and, if you change your mind about the brittle results, the effect can easily be reversed to make it soft again. The tech could eventually lead to self-healing vehicle armor or scratch-resistant cellphones — but, really, we just want to zap our way to a high-quality samurai sword.

Scientist cooks up adjustable strength metals originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As seems to be the case each year, one or two stars show up to demonstrate new technology here at the All Things D ‘Science Fair,’ and it just so happens that a pair from the University of Pennsylvania are soaking up the limelight this go ’round. uBeam’s the company, and based on what we saw at D9, we’re guessing that you’ll be hearing an awful lot more from the duo in the coming months. The company’s mission is to provide wireless power — hardly a new concept, but it’s all sorts of refreshing to see what’s often thought of as a pipe dream get an injection of reality. The outfit is literally comprised of two people for the moment, with the prototype shown here concocted just a few weeks ago.

The goal? To get uBeam transmitters installed in as many locales as possible, and then to hit critical mass from a device standpoint. Imagine walking into a restaurant with uBeam transmitters in the ceiling, and watching your handset magically recharge as you await your appetizer. Granted, the outfit’s a long way from that — its first product will be a small charging puck that’ll connect to a bevy of USB devices. That’ll pair with an enterprise or consumer-level transmitter, a device that will ideally be situated in a ceiling. For now, things are strictly line-of-sight, but the shipping system will be able to detect a uBeam puck in the room and charge it if it’s anywhere within a 20 to 30 foot radius. We’re told that the consumer version will be suitable for piping power to just a handful of devices, whereas the enterprise build will be able to juice up an undisclosed amount more. Care to learn more? Head on past the break.

Continue reading uBeam wireless power startup shows prototype at D9 (video hands-on)

uBeam wireless power startup shows prototype at D9 (video hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve heard of turning yesterday’s lunch into tomorrow’s electricity, but a new energy converter coming out of Oak Ridge National Laboratory harnesses the power of a different type of hot waste. The as-of-yet unnamed thermal waste-heat converter has the potential to cool electronic devices, solar cells, and computers while generating electricity from excess heat. Its creators see the new conversion process being used to reduce the massive amounts of heat generated by petaflop computers. The converter employs up to one thousand tiny cantilevers attached to a one square inch surface (e.g. a computer chip) to produce between one and ten milliwatts of electricity — admittedly a very small amount of energy. However, it’s creators are quick to point out that a slew of these converters could generate enough power to perform small tasks in the heat-generating device — things like sensing when a server room gets too hot for comfort. Sure it’s a small step, but if they can get this stuff to save our future babies from cooking, we’re all in. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading ORNL energy harvester turns heat waste into electricity, converts hot machines into cool customers

ORNL energy harvester turns heat waste into electricity, converts hot machines into cool customers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Piezoelectric nanowires are the stuff that make power-generating pants a possibility, and that prodigious potential has drawn the attention of NASA. You see, self-powered spacesuits are awfully attractive to our nation’s space agency, and a few of its finest student researchers have discovered that the current-creating strands of zinc oxide can be made longer and straighter — and therefore more powerful — when freed from gravity’s unrelenting pull. That means nanowires grown in microgravity could lead to higher capacity batteries and the aforementioned juice-generating interstellar garb. Of course, there’s no such end-products yet, but let’s see if NASA can do what others have not: give pants-power to the people.

NASA makes longer, straighter piezoelectric nanowires in microgravity, no flat iron needed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, so maybe Ludovico Cademartiri will be forced to share the good news on Facebook (or ConnectU, if he’s into playing the role of rebel), but at least he’s bound to see over a couple of hundred hits. According to The Harvard Crimson, the aforesaid physicist and a smattering of other researchers have stumbled upon a novel way to extinguish flames: electricity. The idea is eventually enable firefighters to squash fires without having to douse a home or object with water and foam — if hit with a beam of juice, there’s at least a sliver of a chance that something can be salvaged. While the specifics of the project are obviously far above our heads, the gist of it is fairly simple — flames contain soot particles, which become “electrically charged during combustion.” Given that those very particles react to electrical fields, a strong enough beam can twist things until it’s extinguished completely. Quite honestly, it’s a hands-on experience we’re desperately trying to arrange, but till then, it looks like another round of Harry Potter will have to do.

Harvard physicist puts fires out with electrified wand, hopes to share on HarvardConnection originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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