Monday, April 18, 2011

Mobee Magic Bar induction charger for Apple’s Bluetooth Keyboard and Magic Trackpad

Mobee Magic Bar induction charger for Apple’s Bluetooth Keyboard and Magic Trackpad: "Going wireless with your keyboard and mouse might unleash you from the shackles of cables, but at the price of having to constantly shell out for batteries or swap rechargeables in and out."

Google invests US$168 million in world’s largest solar power tower plant

Google invests US$168 million in world’s largest solar power tower plant: "Google has chipped in a US$168 million investment in what will be the world's largest solar power tower plant. To be located on 3,600 acres of land in the Mojave Desert in southeastern California, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) will boast 173,000 heliostats that will concentrate the sun's rays onto a solar tower standing approximately 450 feet (137 m) tall."

Microfluidic device promises rapid detection of cancer and HIV

Microfluidic device promises rapid detection of cancer and HIV: "A cross-discipline project that brings together biomedicine and nano-engineering has led to the development of a dime-sized microfluidic device that can rapidly detect cancer cells in a blood sample. The new device is based on a cancer cell-detector created four years ago by Mehmet Toner, professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard Medical School. In its latest incarnation, carbon nanotubes have been introduced into the design resulting in an eight-fold improvement in the collection of cells"

New advanced composite material lends itself to aircraft safety

New advanced composite material lends itself to aircraft safety: "A combination of light weight AND strength makes advanced composite materials very useful when building something that's designed to go fast while being subjected to physical stress ... like an aircraft. On the downside, bulky equipment is required when it comes to inspecting these aircraft for damage – a problem that is MIT researchers hope to solve with the development of a new type of composite material that incorporates carbon nanotubes."

Replacement developed for rare material widely used in electronics manufacture

Replacement developed for rare material widely used in electronics manufacture: "With its two chief properties of excellent electrical conductivity and optical transparency, indium tin oxide (ITO) can be found in transparent conductive coatings for displays found in all kinds of products, such as TVs, mobile phones and laptops, and is also used as a transparent electrode in thin-film solar cells. Unfortunately indium is a rare metal and available supplies could run out in as little as ten years."