Inexpensive Solar Cells Made From Shrimp Shells

Researchers have developed a way to create cheaper solar cells by utilizing two compounds found in the shell of shrimp and tasty crustaceans.The shells of shrimp have two chemicals, chitin and chitosan that are much cheaper and abundant than expensive matels such as ruthenium, similar to platinum that are used in the production of nanostructured solar-cells.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, have used a technique called hydrothermal carbonization to create carbon quamtum dots which absorb UV light and act as semi-conductors in solar cells.Then these are coated with zinc oxide nanorods to form the solar cells.

"This could be a great new way to make these versatile, quick and easy to produce solar cells from readily available, sustainable materials. Once we've improved their efficiency they could be used anywhere that solar cells are used now, particularly to charge the kinds of devices people carry with them every day" Dr Joe Briscoe said, one of the research team member.

Professor of Sustainable Materials Technology Magdalena Titirici at QMUL added, "New techniques mean that we can produce exciting new materials from organic by-products that are already easily available. Sustainable materials can be both high-tech and low-cost.We've also used biomass, in that case algae, to make the kinds of supercapacitors that can be used to store power in consumer electronics, in defibrillators and for energy recovery in vehicles."

Now it is in the process of development, the bio-mass solar cells have low efficiency.If this can be improved, they could be used in everything from wearable chargers for tablets, phones and smartwatches, to semi-transparent films over window.

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Alarm Armband That Observe Heart Rate And Body Temperature

Researchers have made a flexible armband at university of Tokyo known as "fever alarm armband."It is a self-powered device, can be wore on an arm which sounds an alarm in case of high body temperature.It is introduced on 22 to 26 February this year at the International Solid State Circuits Conference, San Francisco.This armband is 30 cm long and 18 cm wide.

The device contains a flexible amorphous silicon solar panel, temperature sensor, piezoelectric speaker, and power supply circuit produced with organic components in a single flexible, wearable package.It is a health indicator device which constantly monitor heart rate and body temperature.It has flexible and wireless sensors that don't need any external power supply and maintenance free as well.It also gives an opportunity to get print of incorporates organic components by an inkjet printer.It is the first organic circuit capable to make a sound output, and the first to integrate an organic power supply circuit.

The device has developed by research groups lead by Professor Takayasu Sakurai at the Institute of Industrial Science and Professor Takao Someya at the Graduate School of Engineering.Professor Someya said, "Our fever alarm armband proves that it is possible to 

produce flexible, disposable devices that can greatly enhance the amount of information available to carers in healthcare settings." "We have established the technology with a temperature sensor and fever alarm, but the system could also be adapted to provide audible feedback on body temperature, or combined with other sensors to register wetness, pressure or heart rate."

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Fuel Cell Car that Emit nothing harmful than Water

Akio Toyoda president of Toyota has told that Toyota is making hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.The japanese automaker has goal to manufacture 700 Mirai sedan that is powered by hydrogen and emits only water vapour from exhaust pipe.The company has plan to produce 2,000cars in 2016 and about 3,000 cars in 2017.In japanese meaning of this car name (Mirai) is "future".

The Mirai can go 650 kilometres with single time fueling that is three times more than an electric car.It takes a few minutes to refuel.Toyoda president of Toyota, told reporters last month when he presented a Mirai to the prime minister's office, "We are thrilled to think that before everyone else, we are taking a historic step toward the establishment of a hydrogen society in Japan."

Fuel cell technology is a environment friendly technique in the field of green cars as they are powered by a chemical reaction of oxygen and hydrogen, and exhaust nothing harmful except water.It is reported that the country's seven major makers have plan to invest $24 billion in this field to research the sector.

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Volvo Will Put Autopilot Cars On The Road Soon

Volvo a Swedish auto maker has announced that it will put 100 self-driving cars on the road in the Swedish city of Gothenburg in 2017."Volvo Cars has designed a complete production-viable autonomous driving system," Peter Mertens, head of Volvo's research and development said in a statement.Autopilot car systems use an array of sensors to take three dimensional pictures of the surroudings.Cameras and radars help the vehicle to understand traffic signals and other conditions of road.A laser scanner for the detections of objects in front of the car.A 3-D map which provides information about road.It is using Ultrasonic sensors, cloud-based positioning systems and intelligent braking and steering technologies."

"We are entering uncharted territory in the field of autonomous driving," Peter Mertens.The Swedish car maker said this vehicle come with backup setups that will allow to work safely if some of their parts stop working.It also said that in case of an emergency the new car would react faster than humans.

"Making this complex system 99 percent reliable is not good enough. You need to get much closer to 100 percent before you can let self-driving cars mix with other road users in real-life traffic," said Erik Coelingh, a Volvo technical specialist.

In case of system failure or if the autopilot stops its work, the car will prompt the driver to take over.If the driver is unable to take control, the car will stop safely on the side of the road.

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Most Powerful X-Ray Laser In The World Has Developed, Research

In Palo Alto, california researchers have developed the most powerful X-ray laser at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.It is a billion times brighter than old version lasers.It uses Linac Coherent Light Source to experience how atoms and molecules move in living systems and allows to track chemical reactions as well.

Prof Mike Dunne said that "the LCLS fired extremely fast bursts of X-rays.He said let suppose a person is running the hundred metres and from first to second place different is 1/100th of a second.Now take 1/100th of a second, divide it a million times.Once again take one of those divisions and divide it another million times.That's how fast this burst of X-rays is."This genuinely is a revolution, also said Prof Dunne."

Researcher Dr Meng Liang was making a dish of the material found in the brains of people who have Parkinson's disease. She said that the new laser has the ability to change investigation in her field of study.

"To image these things in real time with the brightness and the fastness that LCLS has will be really special, so we can film them and see them instead of just looking at evidence for these kind of things," she said.

Prof Anders Nilsson who is working on atoms behaviour in a chemical reaction, said that the work would help chemists speed up and increase the efficiency of chemical production.

After the success of the LCLS, In Hamburg, Germany, Europe is building its own version and the Japanese government has also made a same kind of system as well.

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Paper-Like Material Can Boost Vehicle Batteries

At the University of California researchers have developed paper-like material for lithium-ion batteries, which has possibility to increase the energy capacity that can be delivered per unit weight of lithium-ion battery.It contains sponge-like silicon nanofibers which are more than hundred times thinner than human hair.This paper-like material can be used in batteries for personal electonics and electronic cars as well.

The journal Nature Scientific Reported that "Towards Scalable Binderless Electrodes: Carbon Coated Silicon Nanofiber Paper via Mg Reduction of Electrospun SiO2 Nanofibers."In this process the nanofibers produced by 

electrospinning technique, whereby a solution of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), used in the semiconductor industry, is put into a rotating drum and a nozzle with 20,000 to 40,000 volts.Exposure to magnesium vapor then creates the spongr-like silicon fiber.

Researchers used anodes which are made by copper foil with silicon material except of graphite mixture.Silicon has ten times higher electrical charge than graphite.But silicon is volumetric expansion which can degrade the battery.Researchers solved this problem by creation of nanofiber structure which enables the battery to be cycled hundreds of times without degradation.

Zach Favors who is graduate student at Bourns College of Engineering said,"Eliminating the need for metal current collectors and inactive polymer binders while switching to an energy dense material such as silicon will significantly boost the range capabilities of electric vehicles." 

Free-standing materials such as carbon nanotubes or silicon nanowires, are produced by using chemical vapor deposition, can only be created in small quantities in a lab, rather than an industrial levels.

The researchers are thinking to integrate the nanofibers into a pouch cell format lithium-ion battery, which can be used in electric vehicles and other devices on large scale.

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World's First 3D Printer-Cum-Scanner Has Revealed

Blacksmith Group at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has launched the world's first compact 3D printer that has ability to scan items into digitised models at the American Association Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in San Jose, California.It is named the Blacksmith Genesis.

By the help of this printer users can scan any item, simply edit the digitised model on the PC and print it out in 3D.Its production was financed through a crowdfunding campaign last August, raising over US$80,000.

It is a house in a black aluminium casing with 2 inch LCD, Wi-Fi, 5 megapixel camera and USB connection.It uses an innovative rotary platform which allows 360 degrees scanning and has ability to print 6650 cm3 items in 6.5 litres.It weighs about 6 kilogram.Users can scan objects just in 6 minutes with its 5 megapixel camera and also allows users live remote monitoring with automatic error detection.Now users can control printing process with their smartphone through the internet from anywhere.

NTU Singapore's Professor Chua Chee Kai said, "Blacksmith Genesis with its unique rotary platform design is a great example of how scientists can bring innovations from the lab to the industry and in this case, all the way into consumers' homes. It has always been my wish that 3D printers will be as common as the inkjet and laser printers now found in many homes and offices."

This 3D-printer costs $2,200 US dollar a printer.The pre-order site link is here.

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Apple Is Working On Secrot Project To Manufacture An icar

The Wall Street Jouranal has revealed a report that Apple is working on a new project that is creating an icar.The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has hired hundreds of people to work secretly on development of electric car which named "Titan".It is look like a minivan according to the Wall Street Jouranal.

The WSJ said, "this project has approved by Apple CEO Cook Tim a year ago. Steve Zadesky, Apple VP of Product Design and former Ford engineer leading this group.Steve Zadesky has allowed to create a 1000 person team and poach employees from different parts of the company."

Apple has cleared that Marc Newson is included in that group.Newson is a designer who designed a car for Ford.

The Financial Times reported that Apple has also included president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development Johann Jungwirth, to work at a project in research lab.

The WSJ said that Apple does not have any experience creating vehicle yet but it says some experience people are connected with this porject that's mean it is serious.

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Vehicles Exposed To High Levels Of Air Pollution At Red Light, Study Found

Research has found that when stopped at red lights vehicles exposed to more pollutants.Researchers at the university of Surrey in the UK have discovered that where drivers take 2% time of their journey to cross the red lights, during this period of time contributes approximately 25% of exposure to these nanoparticles.

The team of researcher has mentioned some points where drivers exposed to air pollutants.Researchers found high levels of pollution at signals because of changes in driving conditions, pollutant particle concentration was found 29% higher than free moving conditions.Researchers also said, at signals when vehicles stopped closely increase the level of air pollution.

"Our time spent traveling in cars has remained same during the past 10 years despite the efforts to reduce it and with more cars than ever joining the roads, we are being exposed to increasing levels of air pollution as we undertake our daily commutes." said lead author Dr. Prashant Kumar.

A study author, Dr Prashant Kumar said,"Recently air pollution was placed in the top ten health risks faced by human.According to the World Health Organization, every year seven million people die due to air pollution".

"It is not possible to eliminate air pollution but we can decrease its level by awareness.Some of the best ways to reduce exposure is to keep windows shut, fans off and keep more distance as much as possible between you and the vehicle just in front of you.Pedestrians should find other routes less depend on traffic lights.Transport agencies could help by introducing signals free tracks and also by reducing signals waiting time.

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Wind Turbines Supply Power Energy Where It Is Required

A four year old company Altaeros Energies in Massachusetts has developed Buoyant Airborne Turbine (BAT).BAT is a ballon which has airship technology to lift a wind turbine.It can reach 2000 feet where wind speeds are faster and have five to eight times greater power density. As a result, the BAT can produce more energy than simple turbine.

The BAT technology includes helium inflatable shell channels wind with a three blade rotor spinning inside. It rises 2,000 feet off the ground with high strenght tethers that hold it in place and one more tather for transmitions of power to a station.

The BAT is specially developed for remote areas where diesel generators and other source of energy is expensive.The BAT has a potential to provide power for a dozen homes.It has ability to provide additional services like communication, Internet and sensory equipment.

Altaeros received fund of $7 million dollars for the development of this technology.Ben Schrag, NSF SBIR program director said, "the new products being developed by the team at Altaeros are exciting because they have the potential to offer a new method for energy generation which is portable, reliable, quick to deploy, and environmentally-friendly."

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Sport Car That Repair Itself And Change Colour As Well

The Audi A9 is a sport car which could repair itself and change colour automatically.Daniel Garcia is a Spanish designer who designed this car.Daniel Garcia got this ideal from Santiago Calatrava’s architectural designed buildings in “La Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias” (The City of Arts and Sciences) in his hometown of Valencia. 

This sport car has single-piece windscreen and roof which are made from a nanotechnology material.Nanotechnology material will help to repair damage and change colors as well.

The Audi A9 has unique feature called "electronic painting system" that allows the owner to change the colour at the push of a button.It is powered by an advanced hybrid system which consist of an internal combustion engine working in conjunction with four in-wheel electric motors.

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