Hasta La Gadget!

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon may be forgotten to many, but remnants of its destruction still remain in the Gulf of Mexico. Mercifully, it appears that researchers at Texas A&M University “have developed a non-toxic sequestering agent-iron oxide nanoparticles coated in a polymer mesh that can hold up to 10 times their weight in crude oil.” In layman’s terms, they’ve engineered a material that can safely soak up oil. As the story goes, the nanoparticles “consist of an iron oxide core surrounded by a shell of polymeric material,” with the goal being to soak up leftover oil that isn’t captured using conventional mechanical means. The next step? Creating an enhanced version that’s biodegradable; as it stands, the existing particles could pose a threat if not collected once they’ve accomplished their duties.

Filed under: Misc, Alt

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Source: Materials 360 Online, Inside Science, ACS Nano

The judges of the 2013 James Dyson Award have selected the best inventions from each of the 18 nations participating in the competition, and although I’m pulling for team USA, they’ve got some serious competition for the grand prize!

Google has the noble ambition of wanting to power all of its operations with renewable energy, such as what you get from wind mills. Such has been furthered today, with the announcement that the Internet giant has purchased a wind farm located outside of Amarillo, Texas. Such is not a first for Google, but it […]

Proof that beauty and brains are not mutually exclusive recently came in the form of a 16-year-old Turkish woman, Elif Bilgin. Over the summer she won the 2013 Science in Action award, part of the third annual Google Science Fair. The invention that garnered the resident of Istanbul, Turkey, the $50,000 prize was a method for turning banana peels into bioplastic.

The bathroom renovation of the future will include more than just new
technology. New innovations will include more customizable and
programmable features than ever. Connected bathrooms will be the norm,
as toilets automatically open and shut or clean themselves. Potentially
offensive or embarrassing odors and noises will be a thing of the past.
Your connected scale and toothbrush might monitor your hygiene habits or
send reports straight to your doctor and dentist. Nope, not creepy at
all. So take a look at what’s coming soon: