Hasta La Gadget!

The PowerPot and the BioLite stove seem like great ways to harness the heat from fire and turn it into electricity. But what if you already have a pot and a stove? A company called Point Source Power might have a solution for you. The only thing that the company’s VOTO chargers need is a fire.

VOTO chargers look like one of those portable water heaters. But instead of a metal coil at the end, the chargers have a stack of replaceable fuel cells made from biomass. You stick this end into the bottom of your stove or bonfire and it will generate electricity over time. The electricity will be sent to its handle. There are a variety of handles, but the most useful one is shown in the video below. It’s a battery that can be used to charge devices via USB but it can also use its stored energy to power its built-in LEDs.

These chargers will be useful not only for campers and field workers but also for people who live in places that don’t have access to electricity. You can check out Point Source Power’s website for more info on their products, although the site seems to be down as of this writing.

[via Inhabitat]

A group of researchers from both Taiwan and Mexico have developed a new design for an LED streetlamp that will limit light pollution all the way down to 2%. Currently, LED streetlamps can leak as high as 20% of their light into areas they weren’t intending to target. These new streetlamps will only shine light in areas they are configured to light up, and will only leak a tiny amount of light into the night sky or surrounding objects.

According to the New Jersey Astronomical Association, around 30% of electricity generated from out door lights is being wasted illuminating areas that aren’t meant to receive the lighting. This light leakage also has adverse affects on nature as well. Birds are confused and sent off course, turtles who require the night sky to navigate become lost on their way towards the ocean, and many other animals have their sleeping patterns disrupted.

These new LED streetlamps would combat those adverse affects. The streetlamps’ design is also very adaptable, meaning that it can be adjusted to fit various environments. Ching-Cherng Sun, a member of the team behind the LED streetlamps, stated that current streetlamps either lean into the middle of a road or are posted in a zig-zag formation on different sides of a street. Those current designs are good for high-traffic areas, but not for other areas. Sun says that the new streetlight design is flexible enough to be used in a variety of situations and can be used to maintain a high efficiency in lighting.

The lamp is based on a 3-part fixture. The first part holds a cluster of LEDs, each fitted into a TIR (Total Internal Reflection) lens that helps focus the light making the rays parallel to each other instead of intersecting. The TIR lens-covered LED lights are then mounted inside a reflecting cavity, which recycles the light and makes sure that most of it is used to illuminate its target area. Lastly, the light leaves the lamp through a microlens sheet that reduces unwanted glare.

The new LED streetlight would reduce the amount of light pollution around the globe, and also reduce the amount of electricity used up by wasted light. It would also be beneficial to homes that have to deal with the unwanted glare produced by a nearby streetlight. Sun and his team are working diligently on their streetlamp prototype, and may finish it within 3-6 months. They hope to have these new streetlamps available by next year.

[via Nature World News]

LED streetlamp innovation aims to reduce light pollution is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
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It’s the middle of the night and you’re in the middle of nowhere when—whumpa, whumpa, whumpa—you get a flat. Rather than fumble through the tire change in the dark, why not keep this portable LED lantern in the boot should the need arise? More »

I’m a sucker for the warm orange glow of Nixie tubes. There’s just something just so retro-modern about the way they look – all I can think of is the technology in the movie Brazil. I just stumbled across a really cool Nixie tube clock which accents the tubes with modern LEDs, adding even more to the look.

This six-digit Nixie clock has a RGB LEDs under the base of each Nixie vacuum tube, allowing it to change accent colors on demand. Just press the buttons in the included wireless remote to select your color, and the LEDs will adjust to your liking. The remote works like many other color-changing LEDs, letting you fade colors as well. Just keep in mind that the Nixie tubes will always have their distinct orange glow to them.

The clock offers 12/24-hour modes, the ability to change the digit cross-fade, and it can also display to date and work as an alarm clock. The whole thing looks really awesome when illuminated, using some of the best looking Nixie tubes I’ve seen as well.

Unfortunately, all of these good looks don’t come cheap. The Nixie/LED clock retails for $599.99(USD) over on eBay. That said, there’s a cheaper version that comes with smaller Nixie tubes that I don’t think look quite as cool – but it sells for just $199.00.

Patrick Rochon, a photographer and light painter for the Red Bull Illume international action and adventure sports photo contest, has managed to come up with a rather impressive photo shoot which should see jaws drop along the way. Rochon impresses as he not only managed to successfully capture expert wakeboarders in action, but he also worked alongside Evan Jones in order to come up with custom LED wakeboards that were meant for the competition especially.

Once the LED wakeboards were constructed, he managed to obtain footage of wakeboard riders Adam Errington, Dallas Friday, and Mike Dowdy, and had them make use of these modified wakeboards at Orlando’s OWC Cable Park for three nights running, which would translate to sunset to sunrise. Rochon said concerning the project, “The boundaries dividing sport and art are blurred in this collaboration in an effort to capture the inherent emotion and creativity of athleticism.” What do you think of this work of art? It is certainly unique, and if LED wakeboards were to be sold commercially, would you want to pick it up? Granted, going wakeboarding in the middle of the night is not the safest thing to do, but what’s life without a little bit of adrenaline rush, right?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Mini Brick Van And Cars Can Be Reconfigured And Remotely Controlled Via The iPhone, Boosted Boards Is Lightest Electric Ride In The World,