Inspirational and good news.
MIT researchers have found a way to incorporate virus into batteries. Using methods that elude me, they have essentially trained viruses to produce an electric current when accompanied by some nanotechnology.
“They modified the M13 virus’ genes so its outside layer, or coat, would bind with certain metal ions. They incubated the virus in a cobalt chloride solution so that cobalt oxide crystals mineralised uniformly along its length.
They added a bit of gold for the desired electrical effects.”
A company is looking to extract electric power from trees. The company, MagCap Engineering, is actually quite credible, especially if you look at their list of pervious clients which includes British Aerospace.
The engineering company “expects to find investors to help pay for the research needed to figure a way to increase the tree power from less than 2 volts to 12 volts sometime this year, creating an alternative to fossil fuels.” Early “prototypes” are going to be functioning late in 2006.
We write a lot about technology around here, so when I say that this post is the mother of all tech-related posts, that’s saying a lot. Usually we report on one positive technology at a time; this time, we’re reporting on dozens.
The Tech Museum Awards exist to recognize and celebrate technology that benefits humanity. Nominations for the 2006 awards are currently being accepted, but in the meantime, check out the 2005 laureates. Amongst them:
Enviro Options
Enviro Options developed the Enviro Loo to make inroads into the enormous backlog of the sanitation requirement of the entire human race. The design is an attempt to produce a sanitation system that can be mass-produced, relatively cheaply. The technology is simple. It requires no chemicals… It is powered by radiant heat absorbed from sunlight and wind power. It requires minimal maintenance. It will not pollute ground water, and is user friendly.
Malnutrition Matters
Malnutrition Matters designed the VitaGoat system to benefit people in villages and rural areas of developing countries, by providing sustainable employment on a micro-enterprise basis and improving nutrition… The VitaGoat enables quick preparation of protein-rich foods such as soymilk and tofu that are highly beneficial for protein-deficient diets and especially for people living with HIV/AIDS.
I’ve long thought that solar panels need to be used all over in order to alleviate strain on an energy grid, and now that seems to be happening. Solatec has created a kit that you can put on a Toyota Prius to charge it while the car is sitting in the sun.
It can improve the milage up to 10% according to Toyota. The company is still testing the product, but I hope to see solar panels integrated into all cars.
Dogs and cats in the United States produce about 10 million tons of waste a year, according to Will Brinton, an environmental scientist and owner-director of Woods End Laboratories in Maine. If the feces could be harvested into a digestor to trap and burn methane in an effecient cogeneration facility, both electricity and home heating requirements for a small number of homes could be met. This would go a long way to reducing landfill waste and the resultant leachate from organic decomposition, which currently compromises about 5% of the waste stream.
Norcal Waste Systems Inc., San Francisco’s garbage company, plans to test collection carts and biodegradable bags in a city-center park popular with dog walkers. San Francisco runs an aggressive program to recycle bottles, cans, paper and other trash and now diverts two-thirds of its garbage away from landfills.
A picture of the fuel was purposefully not added.