Category Archives: Gadgets and Tech
Crossing a bridge and getting to the other side sure is difficult during snow and rain. Keeping this in mind, a new heating system powered by solar energy will be used by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and will be installed by Pave Guard Technologies, a Kansas City firm. Scheduled to be first installed on two bridges along the Missouri Highway 10 at a cost of $183,000, the system uses the concept of a radiant floor heating with the use of solar energy to save costs. This system will also help generate energy during dry seasons that will be used to power up streetlights.
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The 2010 International CES witnessed the unveiling of iGo’s environmentally friendly universal charger power saving product. These chargers can be used to power up laptops and mobile phones and use 85% less standby power than its peers. These products from iGo’s proprietary technology, “iGo Green” are smart enough to detect when a device is not being used and can shut off the power to the device directly from the wall. This helps prevent a useless waste of energy supplies sucked up by these unused devices.
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Sony has taken a step towards environment friendly products by the showcasing of its new Sony Vaio W Series Eco-Edition laptops. The company has made a stand and has saved about a thousand trees by not printing a user manual for this Vaio. The Vaio W Series Eco-Edition laptop has its body made out of 80% recycled materials, 20% of which is obtained from recycled CD’s and DVD’s. The 10.1 inch display with an LED backlight is free from harmful mercury and is more efficient than the usual lamp technology used.
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The concept of utilizing renewable sources of energy especially solar energy is being put to use in every nook and corner of the world today. So much that even radios have come to use solar energy to power themselves up now. Portable radios may have become outdated due to the use of mp3 players that have inbuilt radio capabilities nowadays; however the Eton Scorpion is here to make the difference. Most Eton radios can be powered up using batteries or cranks. This recent launch though is juiced up using solar power. The crank saves it from embarrassing moments like bad weather when the radio is needed the most and the sun doesn’t show up.
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We may have come across those little miniature globes in our classrooms or may have even owned one in our bedroom. Well, this globe is just the same, with the only difference of rotating on an axis of its own accord. No, it isn’t possessed by an evil spirit; it simply uses the earth’s magnetic pull to rotate without the use of cords, a motor or human intervention. The globe consists of three photoreceptors inside its belly that gather incandescent or indirect sunlight that powers the internal drive. This system along with the earth’s magnetic field helps provide it with the torque to spin around.
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Solar heat trapped at the bottom of a solar pond and used to power a membrane distillation system using an artificial salt –gradient stratification process is being worked on by Fransico Saurez. Using solar energy, the system desalinates water and makes it drinkable and free from salts and impurities. This system will help maintain the ecological balance of closed-basin lake regions. In places like these, due to the high amount of
evaporation and no out-flow of water, a high concentration of minerals and salts behind, rendering the water inconsumable.
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You may have found your self in the unavoidable situation of having your cell phone battery go dead and leave you with no access to any communication. The frustrating fact that our cell phones have a battery life too can be overlooked using this battery. This may not be an environment friendly option for charging up you cell phone, however
this novel idea designed by Song Teaho & Hyejin Lee sure is practical and unique. All you need to do is, open up the back panel of your phone, bring out this unique battery and swing it round by inserting your finger in that little hole. Okay, this isn’t an April Fools trick. The battery juices up when you swing it around your finger and will bring your dead cell phone back to life. This helps keep your phone switched on to last a short conversation and a trip to a charging port. Turn the battery around your finger a little more than a hundred times and it’s enough to keep your phone running through 25 minutes on standby mode and 2 minutes on a call. So save yourself the energy burnt up on the frustration that occurs when your phone goes off and go buy yourself one of these smart and practical batteries!
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When you have children around the house, you need to be extra careful with electrical wires, gadgets and fire. Well with the help of designer Karim Rashid, you can ensure that your child enjoys a drink of warm milk without worrying too much and also making sure that your child’s carbon foot print is cut down a bit too. The Iamo Go baby bottle is a concept where a phallic-shaped bottle can heat milk to body temperature without the use of any power chords. The technology it uses “a disposable capsule containing water and salt” instead of electricity to generate heat to warm up its liquid contents.
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Over consumption of energy leads to disastrous results, and that is not only true for the planet! With most people opting for the most clichéd New Year resolution of slimming down, this year you can add a little green twist. Tanita solar technology has come out with the new Tanita HS-302 Solar Digital Scale which combines Japanese electronics with its second generation solar technology to give you a unique weighing scale that uses direct sunlight or indoor lighting for power, so that the power does not get over, no matter how heavy an object you are weighing on the scale.
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It’s an old Chinese philosophy that you can take a horse to a lake, but you can’t make him drink the water. Keeping the phrase alive, WattVision has developed this real-time energy monitoring device that actually allows the user to counts the units consumed over every electronic device in the house. This simply means that unless people are actually made aware of the reality, in other words the statistics, the conscience will not prick. Thus no actually change can be made. To be honest, there are several existing energy sensors that can be easily snapped onto your gadget to monitor your consumption. But what makes WattVision different from the rest is an interesting looking structure, smart pricing and easy display. If you talk to the people in their own language, the reciprocation is immediate.
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