Hasta La Gadget!

Leave it to a gaggle of brilliant wood science researchers at Oregon State University to figure out that we’ve been doing this whole “tire” thing wrong for generations now. While studying some uses of microcrystalline cellulose, which can be made easily from practically any type of plant fiber, these Earth-loving gurus discovered that said material could actually improve the efficiency of vehicle tires when used in place of silica. Granted, only about 12 percent of the silica — which is used as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture of rubber tires — was swapped out, but the resulting tires gripped just as well in wet weather while decreasing the rolling resistance during those dry summer months. Furthermore, tires constructed with these fibers could be made with less energy, though long-term durability studies are still needed to prove that this whole plan is viable for more than a few thousand miles.

[Via Gizmag]

Filed under: Transportation, Science

OSU foresters swap tree fibers for rubber in fuel efficient tires originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a Scosche reviveLITE on offer, perfect for keeping your iPhone charged and the Boogie Monster at bay. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

Big thanks to Scosche for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) Scosche reviveLITE. Approximate retail value is $39.99.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Thursday, July 16th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Scosche reviveLITE! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Transforming kinetic energy into electricity doesn’t often get taken seriously, but at least one Burger King joint has been hooked on to the idea. The New Jersey-based outlet is set to give the first roadtest to MotionPower strips produced by New Energy, which harness energy from vehicles passing over them. Based on the thinking behind regenerative braking in hybrids, the energy absorbers are made up of small plates moving up and down. UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s recently introduced similar “kinetic road plates” in its car parks, and hopes are they’ll generate 30 kW per hour from the energy and weight of cars overhead. Sainsbury’s plans to power store checkouts through the scheme, whereas Burger King will just exploit your energy to power various appliances. Provided someone doesn’t sue for unlawful energy appropriation and the roadtest is successful, New Energy hopes to expand the use of its power strips to other high-traffic, low-speed locations like toll booths and intersections. Video after the break.

[Via Jalopnik]

Read – New Energy PR
Read – Sainsbury’s PR

Continue reading Video: Burger King tests MotionPower kinetic energy harvester

Filed under: Science

Video: Burger King tests MotionPower kinetic energy harvester originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Envious of your Pre toting pals and that Touchstone charging rig? Don’t sweat it — WildCharge is coming through in the clutch to bring similar wireless charging technology to Apple’s own handset. Starting today, iPhone (3G and 3GS included) and iPod touch users can order up a WildCharge Skin along with a WildCharger Pad in order to bring wire-free charging to their smartphone. Just slap the skin on, plug the pad in and toss the handset down on said pad. Just like that, you’ve got fresh energy flowing without having to scour the house for that little AC adapter. The pain? $34.99 for the skin, or $79.99 for the skin and pad.

Filed under: Cellphones

Wireless charging comes to Apple’s iPhone 3GS, thanks to WildCharge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Looks like things are going smashingly well: the world’s most powerful laser, dubbed the National Ignition Facility, was unveiled Friday at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California near San Francisco, according to the Associated Press.

As we reported in April, the NIF consists of 192 separate beams, each one capable of traveling 1,000 feet per thousandth of a second and converging on a single target “the size of a pencil eraser.”

The report said that federal officials plan to use the super laser to maintain aging nuclear weapons without having to test them underground. Other applications will include astrophysics (including simulations of new planet and solar system formations), green energy development, and–here’s the one I always find fun–creating “controlled fusion reactions similar to those found in the sun.”