Efficient grid-scale storage and energy conversion solutions are key components to a smarter and more robust grid, especially with more renewable energy sources entering the market. Almost all (99%) large-scale electricity energy storage in the world uses pumped hydro technology, and a recent design for offshore energy storage from MIT takes that model and puts it at the bottom of the ocean. And now it looks like there’s another contender for energy storage solutions exploiting the pressure differential at the seabed, this time from Subhydro in Norway. “Imagine opening a hatch in a submarine under water. The water will flow… read more

One day, your mobile phone could recharge in as little as 20 seconds, thanks to the work of a very talented high school student. We’re all tired of having dead batteries in our mobile devices that take hours to fully charge again, so innovations in small-scale energy storage could radically change the way we build, use, and charge our gadgets. 18 year old Eesha Khare, of Saratoga, California, may hold one of the keys to doing so, and now, thanks to the Intel Foundation, she’s $50,000 closer to bringing her invention to the market. Khare has developed a tiny supercapacitor… read more

When we think of motorcycle racing, we probably associate it with loud engines and the smell of burning fuel, neither of which is really conducive to a greener, cleaner world. But a new breed of bikers is changing all of that, with their zero-emissions racing bikes serving as examples of what’s possible with electric transportation technology. Can a bunch of maniacs on motorcycles be a force for global good? Absolutely, especially if those same maniacs are leading innovation and advances in electric drive technology, while turning heads and setting records on their blazingly fast electric motorbikes. “For the visionaries, it’s… read more

Even Martin Cooper, commonly known as the father of mobile phones could not have imagined the penetration of his device into our lives. To the extent that mobile phones are being called the “third hand” of human beings. Despite their prevalence, there are still concerns about the radiation emitted from the devices into our ears, and therefore brains. In this post you can find some simple ways to protect yourself from radiation. 1. Go hands-free: Recent research say that wired telephones are less dangerous than mobile phones, so whenever you have access to fixed line phones go for them. 2. Use headphones:… read more

Handy, pocket sized and very cute, Velocino is Italian manufacturer Abici’s latest bike. Charming and charged with history, they are a re-design of a bike first commissioned by Italian dictator Mussolini, who wanted a two-wheeler which was the perfect size to carry around with him. In fact, Abici’s first models were inspired by classic pieces from the 30s, 40s and 50s that owners Giuseppe Marcheselli, Stefano Seletti and Cristiano Gozzi would find in old bike shops and nearby scrap yards within Italy’s Alpine region of Lombardy. But one day they found an old Velocino model and never looked back. Each Velocino… read more

Since the first computer and monitor combination were created in the early 1970’s, very little has changed in the actual design and layout of keyboards. While some are shaped differently and vary in ergonomics, a keyboard has always been a plastic or metal slab with keys spread out on it. That all changes in 2013. A company called TransluSense has debuted their Luminae Keyboard+ and Trackpad+ typing device. It is a glass surface keyboard that uses state-of-the-art lasers and infrared sensors to detect finger movements and key presses on the glass. It’s curved for an ergonomic feel and design. It… read more

Australians who are curious about clean and renewable energy in their country now have an easy way to investigate the projects currently in place there, thanks to a new clean energy map. The Clean Energy Map, from the Australian government, covers over 1200 projects that cover renewable energy, energy efficiency and pollution-reduction across 16 different government initiatives. The interactive map categorizes the projects by type, and allows users to search the full map or use GPS (or their postcode) to find projects near them. “The Clean Energy Map features outcomes from measures such as the Renewable Energy Target, but also… read more

Talking to the average layman, you might think that human-caused climate change is a debatable topic, but when talking to actual climate scientists, there is an overwhelming amount of agreement on it. A meta-analysis of thousands of climate papers that expressed a position on anthropogenic global warming found that over 97% of them endorsed the theory of human-caused global warming. That finding runs contrary to public perceptions of climate change, according to lead author John Cook: “There is a gaping chasm between the actual consensus and the public perception.” – Cook A poll taken in 2012 by the US Pew… read more

Steel is such an important material in our modern world, but making it also produces quite a bit of greenhouse gases (an estimated 5% of the world’s total GHG emissions), as well as consuming copious amounts of energy. But that may change, as news of a new steel making method developed at MIT hints at cheaper, cleaner, and more efficient steel production in the future. Currently, for each ton of steel produced from iron ore, almost two tons of CO2 emissions are generated, so reducing that figure would be a big step in the right direction. The new method goes… read more

The trouble with many tech products is their relatively brief usable lifespans, with plenty of people replacing key items such as their laptops and netbooks after just a few short years, which adds up to more e-waste and more demand for new materials for producing the next item. But if the main components of these portable computing devices lasted for ten years instead of just a couple of years, and the core of the device, such as the CPU, memory, etc., is in your smartphone instead, it could mean far fewer of these in the e-waste pile. One company is… read more