Changing Space Travel

The Finnish Meteorological Institute is currently working on the construction of what is called an electric sail, or ESAIL.  It is supposed to the be the fastest man made device ever built.  It is powered by solar radiation and requires no chemical propellant.  The craft consists of thin metallic tethers around the space craft that stay charged at a high positive potential.  The protons in the solar wind are of opposite charge and therefore force the sail away from the sun.  It is estimated that after a year in space the sail could reach a speed of 19 miles per second.

If the project goes as planned this could revolutionize space travel as we know it.  It is predicted that it would take 5 years to reach Pluto so any type of manned mission still seems a little unrealistic.  Hopefully this will lead us into a direction of real long-distance space travel.

A Really Smart Pen

A new pen is on the market.  I know this does not seem like the most exciting and latest innovation.  Well, this one is really cool.  This pen saves up to 40 pages of text that you physically write down.  You can then upload your text to a computer and reboot the memory on the pen.

This will allow users to protect information so that they will never forget or lose handwritten documents.  It is not complicated for the user and has no buttons or keys to press.  When the cap is taken off the pen, it is activated to start storing data, and when the cap is placed back on it is turned off.  Best of all, it looks, feels and writes just like a normal pen.  Inside the pen some more complicated parts are contained. The built in processor that digitizes your handwriting does so through the use of a digital camera, an advanced image-processing unit and a communication unit.

Personally, I know this pen would come in handy for keeping my various notes organized.  I am constantly losing notes, or gathering to many that I can not keep them organized.  Many times I have tried scanning my notes to get an electronic form which is an inconvenient, lengthy process that produces poor quality digital scans.  

Miracle Spray

A new spray, made of individuals own stem cells is now being used as medication.  Currently this apray has been tested on burn vistims and has shown remarkable reuslts.  The University of Utah pilot project removes red blood cells, and then takes a concentrate of platelets and progenitor, which is combined with calcium and thrombin to produce a jelly like substance.

One such example of the sprays success was healing a severe burn on the foot of a man with daibetes.  The mans burn was and open wound for many months and would heal, leaving it open to the possibility of infection.  After this spray was applied the skin rapidly improved. Another women with a severe burn and a failed skin graft.  With the second graft, and the application of the spray, the graft took and she was on her way to recovery.

The military has been keeping updated on the progress of these experiments.  They are very interested in how it could help the health of soldiers in battle.  As the project progresses we will hopefully learn more applictions for this miracle spray.

New Age Silicone Armor

A new product by Dow Corning called Deflexion will be the future of high performance protective textiles.  This silicone material remains soft and flexible under normal conditions, but when an impact occurs the material absorbs and disperses the shock.  Basically, this material provided protection with out the stiffness of conventional padding.

Currently there are a number of applications for this new silicone technology.  It is currently being used as motorcycle gear, sport's goalie pads, soccer shin guards, computer and electronics cases, reinforced luggage, skateboarding shoes and a number of other  markets.  In the future it is even possible that the military will be interested in using this technology as body armor in combat.

The Real Rocket Man

On November 5, 2010 a Swiss man, Yves Rossy, performed the world's first aerial loops by the power of a jet pack.  The idea of small compact jet packs worn on an individuals back has been seen in such movies as  "The Rocketeer", "Star Wars" and "Thunderball."  All of this movies depict the pilot flying through the air with ease with complete control of this flying machine.  Until now this has been pretty far from the truth.  

Yves Rossy and the RAUG Company have been working together to create new versions of the jet-pack  to become more aerodynamic and stable.  In 2008 Rossy flew across the English Channel but the recent advances in design have allowed him to perform his first aerial acrobatics. As seen in the picture above the jet pack is not quite as small and agile as many films depict.  As the technology of this jet propulsion advances it will definitely catch the interest on military, thrill seekers, and possibly even the transportation industry.

Mechanical Insects

The United States Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding a research project at Harvard University to develop robotic insects. They have already achieved the task of making a 60 milligram robotic, with a 3 centimeter wingspan fly.  They are hopeful that one day these machines can acts as spies, surveillance robots for battle fields and urban environments, and detectors of harmful chemicals.  Recreating a fly's movements with artificial parts could not be done using existing manufacturing processes.  It was simply not possible to scale down existing mechanical parts, it would not have given them the performance needed.  

Along with help from researchers at the University of California Berkeley a new fabrication process was developed.  This involved using laser micromachining tools to cut thin sheets of carbon fiber and polymer.  The careful arrangement of these sheets allowed the team to create functional parts.  These tiny parts placed together gave the robot the ability to bend and rotate as an actual fly's body would.  It was also necessary to create parts that would respond to electrical signals.  The electro active polymers used change shape as when exposed to voltage allowing the fly's to be controlled.  The movements are still limited and are currently being worked on.  They also plan to scale down a lythium-polymer battery.  Along with the addition of chemical sensors there are many problems still yet to work out but it seems that some day soon this technology will be in full swing.

Expanding the Space Industry

A Russian company by the name of Orbital Technologies plans to launch the world's first Commercial Space Station.  They plan for this to be an orbiting hotel that will be open to private citizens, scientists and astronauts.  The space station is expected to be operational by 2016.  Once in space it will be able to hold 7 visitors at once.  There are two main markets that the company anticipates customers from.  The first is space tourism.  It is anticipated that space travel will begin to become popular in the future as a recreational activity.  The other market would be or scientific research, such as medical experimentation and earth observation.  The space station will be built to allow docking with US, European, and Russian space shuttles.

Your webcam as a heart physician?

A graduate student at MIT, Ming-Zher Poh, has discovered a way for a camera to measure your heart rate. Basically, the webcam looks at changes in the brightness of of your skin over time to figure out your pulse. The FDA has approved the pulse measuring device stating that it can produce a result with in three beats per minute of the actual pulse.  As the system is still in development the accuracy is expected to increase.  The camera also has been programmed to recognize and distinguish different people and save their data.  The same science behind this technology should make it possible to monitor respiration rate, blood-oxygen levels, and blood pressure.

Ming-Zher Poh plans for this technology to be installed in bathroom mirrors.  Your mirror will give you daily check ups saving the results every day.  If the camera interprets the numbers as dangerous to your health you will be given an alert to see the doctor.   It is even possible that the results will be sent to your phone daily.

Imagine a mirror that could urge you to see the doctor that day to avoid a heart attack.  We will now have access to inexpensive electronics in the home that will begin to possibly increase our life spans.

Cars That Drive Themselves

When you hear Google, what do you think of?  Most likely you think of a company that runs a popular internet search engine.  Well, Google has been expanding its markets.  The company hired engineers participating in the DARPA Challenges (autonomous vehicle races organized by the US Government) to contruct.  Since then they have had great amounts of success.  The robot driven cars have logged over 140,000 miles on California roads.  The cars have done so well, that the only accident was when a Google car was rear-ended while stopped at a red light.

The inspiration for working on this project is to make roads safer, and cars more efficient.  The video cameras, radar sensors and laser range finders have 360 degree perception, something a human driver can not accomplish.  Google engineers claim that this could nearly double road capacity by allowing cars to be driven more safely and closer together.  If this is accomplished, cars can be made lighter, as the passengers would need less protection.  This would then result in a cut back of fuel consumption.

Google has a high tech database that stores maps of roads as well important details like speed limits.  The computer also warns the passengers of anything that might be going wrong.  If need be, it is very simple for  a human to take control of the car.

Although this technology may be a few years off from mass production it is exciting to learn about this work in progress.  Google has been careful to not break any motor-vehicle laws in the state of California thus far.   Perhaps certain states will enact laws making the use of this technology even stricter as they get closer to perfecting the computer systems.  Currently, it is legal as long as there is a human in the drivers seat who is able to gain control of the vehicle.  Google also suggests the possibility of summoning cars electronically to your location in the future.

A quick video clip if you are interested.

Picture and information from nytimes.com

Convenient and Eco-friendly Cell Phone Chargers

Turns out many companies are creating greener and more convenient cell phone chargers.  How many times have you forgotten to charge your phone at night, and the charge does not make it through the day?  Many of these new chargers rely on solar energy, so as long as you are outside or near a window during the day, you can receive a cell phone charge.  Here is a link to the charger for the iPhone, the Solar iPhone glove.  There are a number of different companies producing chargers to fit many popular model phones.  Solar chargers would come in handy at tailgates, at the beach, at a baseball games and many other events, even just walking down the street.  The better models can fully charge a phone in as little as 30 minutes.

Picture from: http://www.solio.com/charger/solio-charger-classic.html

Coming out later this year will be a bike charger kit built by Nokia.  Although a bike charger might not be as relative for the U.S. there are many other countries where bikes are a common form of transportation and could be the primary energy source for charging.   Charging cell phones may not be a large proportion of energy consumption, but every little bit will help.  Little innovations such as eco-friendly cell phone chargers will lead us in the direction of making even greater advances of renewable energy in the future.

Clean Water in Disaster Relief

After talking about water purification methods to help people in the developing world this week I remembered a video I saw a few months ago.  I looked it up and found the presentation by Michael Pritchard on the TED website.

After learning about the aftermath of the Asian tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Catrina in 2005, Michael Pritchard was inspired to create the LifeSaver water bottle.   It took the United States of America five days to get clean drinking water to the Super Dome for survivors.  Prior to this bottle, the best hand filters could only strain out particles of about 200 nm or larger.   Many bacteria, and viruses are smaller than this and would therefore not be filtered out.  The pores of the newly created LifeSaver bottle are 15nm wide.  This means that even the smallest bacteria and virus cannot get through.

The black base in the above is removable and dirty water is placed in the chamber.  The pump at the bottom is pumped, and when the yellow cap is removed clean water comes out.  This bottle can be used for 6,000 liters and when the purification technology is expired the system will shut itself off.

Pritchard sees this as a life saving device that can be used in disaster relief. When a disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake, or tsunami happen clean water is shipped in and people set up camps.  With the congregration of people comes the spread of disease and the need for more resources rises.  Instead of shipping water bottles, Pritchard wants LifeSaver bottles to be used.  If given to people in crisis, it will allow them to stay put.  This will help them get on with the rebuilding of their lives and homes.  The same technology can be used in larger canisters to be more convenient for families.  The cost of using this technology is only half a cent per day.  Although this is not a solution for providing a water source, but if a water source is available, it is a great way to provide potable water for billions of people around the world.

The Future of Radio Frequency Identification Tags

In the past RFID tags have been used for such things as the tracking of goods, vehicles, airliners and even Alzheimer's patients.  The basics of an RFID tag are that there are two parts: and integrated circuit, and an antenna.  The integrated circuit is used for storing and processing information, and the antenna is used to transmit the signal.

www.gereports.com

GE has been developing RFID tags that can also detect the presence of harmful chemical agents in the air.  These tags will potentially record and transmit information regarding a persons health and the environment in which they live in.  According to a principal scientist at GE Global Research this technology could be used with a number of interesting applications.  One such example would be for analyzing a person's breath.  Based on the chemicals in a persons breath, the sensor could potentially pick up on the early warning signs of certain diseases such as diabetes and cancer.  The sensors could also be useful in occupational health monitoring as well as physiological and metabolic studies.  Late last year GE received an award from the National Institutes of Health to help them further develop a real-time, wearable sensor.

GE has also been working on RFID tags that detect and report back food spoilage.  An RFID sticker attached to the outside of a milk carton can smell the milk through the packaging and send a wireless alert when the milk goes bad.  This could very helpful in preventing the consumption of spoiled food as well as supporting much more efficient food recalls than we have seen in the past. The possibilities for the applications of RFID tags are endless and I am sure that we will be hearing a lot about them in the future.



http://www.gereports.com/wearable-airborne-chemical-sensor-wins-nih-award/

http://www.printedelectronicsworld.com/articles/wearable_rfid_sensors_to_detect_airborne_toxins_00002050.asp