Sun power

I got a little sunburnt last week after a short time in the sun. Here are 7 solar powered creations that are better for harnessing the power of the sun.

Best science museum visit yet: Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris

In July we spent 10 nights in Paris and visited many of the touristic sites as well as sites that our science loving kids would enjoy. The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (City of Science and Industry) was so amazing and so big that we spent two full days there.

Full of interactive exhibits on: Mathematics, Sounds, Space Travel, Communication, Genetics, Light, Images, Energy, Design and Innovation, Transportation, the Universe as well as temporary exhibits: Economics, Futurotextiles, Housing for tomorrow, and Leonaro da Vinci's projects, designs and machines; the Cité des Sciences is the largest science museum in Europe and France's fifth most popular museum.

All of the exhibits were top quality. Almost all were in multiple languages (including Braille). The depth of science was amazing - nothing was dumbed down and with so many exhibits there was something for everyone. I was impressed by the use of four synchronized projectors on a hanging sphere in an Earthwatch: the satellite revolution exhibit that gave a realistic impression of the revolving and changing world while the story of the exhibit was being told.

Our children enjoyed the 5-12 years activity area which featured a TV studio, an ant colony, communication, fun with water and a factory - they produced their own robot cut personalized cardboard boxes.

Outside, we visited the Argonaute submarine that hunted submarines in the 1950s and watched a 3D movie about dragons at the Geode hemispherical cinema.

Futurotextiles was closed and being packed up on our second visit. We didn't have time to see the Multimedia Library or the Planetarium and the Aquarium was under renovation. Perhaps next time!

Visionary projects

Engineer and entrepreneur, Elon Musk is building electric cars, ubiquitous solar and reuseable rockets. See more in this engaging video.

Solar panels from grass clippings

Plants naturally convert solar energy and now scientists at MIT have found a way to extract the molecules responsible for photosynthesis and use them with a stabilizer to keep them "alive" and harvest electricity.
This video describes how the process could be used to provide very low cost energy to remote and developing places.

As seen on Inhabitat via DesignTaxi.

Smart lighting

NXP Semiconductors has developed wifi technology for lightbulbs allowing them to be controlled from any internet connected device.




As seen on Springwise.

After seeing one of the MuzGadget bro's remote controlled light switch, I had ideas about smart lighting similar to this about 10 years ago, but without the electronics and engineering skills I was unable to do anything about it.

The power of the sun

Watch these 2 amazing videos of Markus Kayser, who uses the sun to cut and print in 3D. 



Markus Kayser - Sun Cutter Project from Markus Kayser on Vimeo.

The sun cutter project explores the potential of harnessing sunlight directly to produce objects. The machine is a low-tech, low energy version of a laser cutter. It uses pure sunlight, focused by a ball lens, to repeatedly cut programmed shapes in up to 0.4mm thick plywood as well as paper and card. 

The project also explores the merit of analogue mechanized production that draws on the machine technology found in pre-digital machinery and automaton. It uses a cam system, moving an x & y- board to control the shape of the cut. the cams are set into synchronized motion by a small solar-powered motor driving a timing belt. 

Each pair of sunglasses made, even though very similar in shape, is still unique, creating a juxtaposition between the machine-made, repetitive and individual, unique object.

Markus Kayser - Solar Sinter Project from Markus Kayser on Vimeo.

In a world increasingly concerned with questions of energy production and raw material shortages, this project explores the potential of desert manufacturing, where energy and material occur in abundance. 

In this experiment sunlight and sand are used as raw energy and material to produce glass objects using a 3D printing process, that combines natural energy and material with high-tech production technology. 

Solar-sintering aims to raise questions about the future of manufacturing and trigger dreams of the full utilisation of the production potential of the world's most efficient energy resource - the sun. Whilst not providing definitive answers this experiment aims to provide a point of departure for fresh thinking.

www.markuskayser.com

Growing nanotechnology like nature does

In this TED talk, Angela Belcher describes programming bacteria and viruses to grow batteries, solar cells and other nano technology at room temperature and pressure. Emulating the way abalone and other animals create shells using calcium, carbonate and proteins, the different virus-infected bacteria can produce nano structures and join them together.

This talk reminds me of this part in the Life, The Universe and Everything:The Cosmic Conclusion to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams:

It was a large mattress, and probably one of quite high quality. Very few things actually get manufactured these days, because in an infinitely large Universe such as, for instance, the one in which we live, most things one could possibly imagine, and a lot of things one would rather not, grow somewhere. A forest was discovered recently in which most of the trees grew ratchet screwdrivers as fruit. The life cycle of ratchet screwdriver fruit it quite interesting. Once picked it needs a dark dusty drawer in which it can lie undisturbed for years. Then one night it suddenly hatches, discards its outer skin which crumbles into dust, and emerges as a totally unidentifiable little metal object with flanges at both ends and a sort of ridge and a sort of hole for a screw. This, when found, will get thrown away. No one knows what it is supposed to gain from this. Nature, in her infinite wisdom, is presumably working on it.

No one really knows what mattresses are meant to gain from their lives either. They are large, friendly, pocket-sprung creatures which live quiet private lives in the marshes of Squornshellous Zeta. Many of them get caught, slaughtered, dried out, shipped out and slept on. None of them seem to mind and all of them are called Zem. 

Electric Extinguisher

Zapping out a fire with blasts of electricity is one of the latest discoveries in firefighting. Scientists at Harvard University observing how electric fields interact with flames have discovered a way to direct an amplified electrical "beam" to snuff out fires. Read the full story at ACS Chemistry for Life.

Perpeptual motion? free Electricity?

How about some free energy or some perpetual motion?
this could be powering my next car?

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/300042#t

Lets hope the powers that be make it open source.

Robin

Solar Trees

Designed by Ross Lovegrove, these streetlights could soon light up Europe and save energy and money. Solar panels charge built-in batteries that power LEDs turned on at sunset and off at sunrise by light detectors.

Full story.