By Jasmine | May 27, 2010
Who says that wind turbines have to be thirty feet tall and extremely expensive? Last year Google hosted a wind turbine design contest and the winner was Clarian’s Jellyfish.
The Jellyfish is a 36 inch vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) that can be plugged in directly into your electrical sockets and can generate roughly 40kWh a month on a moderately windy day. There is no fancy setup necessary and with only one moving part, maintaining the turbine is easy enough for regular home owners. It is also comes equipped with WiFi and WiMax in order to create a point-to-grid system.
The power that these small turbines generate is not much (40kWh a month can power a room that contains CFL bulbs), but harnessed collectively and tied interactively with the local utility grid there can be significant environmental and system reliability benefits. Chad Maglaque, the creative genius behind Jellyfish, states that these turbines are the PC of renewable energy stating “We could have 10,000 of these sitting in a city, networked—it’s like a virtual utility…”
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The Walkman has certainly come a long way since that bulky cassette player. Yes, I still have one on the back of my closet, but it probably won’t get as much play as the NWZ-W252, which is Sony’s newest entry into the classic line.
This one-piece MP3 player is part of the W series, which means it’s water-resistant. However, this is the first MP3 player in that series (the rest are headphones). In other words, you have absolutely no excuse not to do five miles in the rain — unless you consider laziness to be a valid excuse.
Aside from technology, Walkman design has also really evolved. The NWZ-W252 features a wrap-around neck design not just for the headphones, but for the entire device. The whole thing wraps around your head!
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South Korean scientists have introduced the new MetalCell, a battery that is modeled after a design created 2,000 years ago in Baghdad, now called Baghdad Batteries. The original design used terracotta jars, copper cylinders and an iron rod. When an acidic solution was added it could have generated low-level voltage.
The MetalCell is a unlike other rechargeable batteries in that it is: 1. refuelable 2. takes seconds to recharge. According to a S.E.G. Inc. report, The battery contains either magnesium or aluminum plates. Addition of salt water, creates a chemical reaction and generates electricity. Adding extra salt water will recharge the battery until the magnesium dissipates. The battery can charge anything from flashlights to night vision goggles to laptops. While saltwater creates the preferred chemical reaction, addition of urine can also help charge and power the cells.
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Whether you travel for business or pleasure, you probably spend a good deal of time in the hotel room channel surfing. Little do you know, you’re probably catching a lot more than weather info or a movie.
While many think the hotel bedspread is a hotbed for germs, the remote control is one of the dirtiest items in any hotel room. In fact, Dr. Charles Gerba, professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona, says the remote is worse than that comforter, the sink handles, and even the toilet.
Instead of changing the channel with your shoe, you could request the Clean Remote. This universal remote control is starting to pop up in hotels and motels throughout the country. Designed to resist germs and bacteria, this remote has been clinically tested to be 99 percent cleaner than most other remotes with the same usage. Basically, it has a nonporous flat surface, which is where most of the funk goes to hide and even incubate. Ew.
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Butterfingers could cost you a cell phone. Even though common sense and every product manual will tell you that electronics and water don’t mix, some of those devices are just drawn to the wet stuff. The toilet, the sink, the pool; all are all sworn enemies to that portable. Well, maybe not so much anymore, thanks to DRY-ALL’s Wet Cellular Phone Emergency. This simple product should be able to salvage your trusty cell phone after any water mishap.
The name says it all and the kit does it all — well, at least dries it all. Just unzip the bag, insert your wet phone, and zip it closed. Then, after 48 hours, your cell phone should be almost as good as new.
The secret ingredient is Dry-All, which is a drying agent that uses blue and white beads. They look like gumballs, but we’re guessing they aren’t very tasty at all. Instead, these weird little chemicals suck all of the moisture out of the bag. Once they’ve turned white/tan, they are done.
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By Jasmine | Apr 27, 2010
It’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s…environmentally friendly. The latest Suzuki prototype, the Crosscage, is an air-cooled fuel cell motorcycle combined with a powerful secondary battery to realize optimum power control. The fuel-cell unit is made by a British specialist company Intelligent Energy and delivers quick activation with low fuel consumption, and a lithium-ion battery that is safe with a low environmental burden.
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Flying, X-ray vision, cool weapons, and awesome strength; when people think about superpowers, “high definition” isn’t usually on the list.
Now it looks like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and others can add it to their list of incredible achievements. Roundtable Concepts just announced a new line of officially licensed Marvel Comic LCD and LED HDTVs.
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It’s easy to take movies on the go. How about 200 movies? Well, that’s not that easy — yet.
Paramount says they plan to stuff movies into the new Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB hard drive for easy transport. Just don’t expect to get every Paramount movie ever made — or even all of your favorites. Instead, the device will come preloaded with options for 21 specific movies, as well as a free offer to get the recent Star Trek reboot.
Now the bad news: Star Trek will be a freebie, but you’ll have to pay for a license key to unlock the rest. Once they hook you with the magical powers and special effects of Star Trek, you can choose from other titles including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, GI Joe, Ghost, Jackass 2.5, and The Italian Job, among others. Pay between $9.99 to $14.99 per title, and each purchased movie will be licensed for use multiple devices.
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Do you have an ugly TV? I’m not talking about one that distorts Evangeline Lilly or makes Christina Hendricks look flat chested. If that sounds like your TV, you might have a Poltergeist issue. Instead, I mean those ones that look like a severe wire hazard, ones that could catch ablaze at a moment’s notice and take out three surrounding neighborhoods.
If that sounds like your hot mess, ZVOX may actually have a prize for you. The company just kicked off an “Ugly TV” contest.
In case you aren’t familiar with ZVOX, the company has made quite a name for itself creating single-wire products. Get it? So if you’ve got a nest that could be housing a family of squirrels, ZVOX wants to see it and possibly give you a ZVOX Z-Base 550 home theater system to solve your cable clutter problem.
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The Titan collar stays from Exuvius might not be your typical “gadget” since they don’t fly or have HDMI inputs but in my mind, anything that you can wear to a business meeting and doubles as a tool, is welcome in my book.
These titanium laser cut collar stays are 3 times stronger than stainless steel and feature a thread cutter, bottle opener, and both Phillips and Flathead screwdrivers. Not bad considering the alternative is walking out the door in the morning with a sliver of plastic that doesn’t have a chance of coming in handy.
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