Tag Archives: futurewatch
Power Felt: Power from Body Heat
Power Felt is a highly promising thermoelectric device that can generate a charge from heat. The fabric can be employed to harvest power from anything that emits heat, for example, human body, roof tiles or a electronic devices. The technology has been conceived by a group of scientists at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Plastic from Plants
Bioplastics, as the name suggest, are a new breed of plastics that come tagged with the green status. These are extracted from renewable sources, unlike one’s that are derived from petroleum. Natural materials like corn starch and vegetable oils have been long used to produce plastic. For example cellulose in wood pulp is still used [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Artificial Clouds
Two years from now and the city of Sochi in Russia will be hosting the Winter Olympics, 2014. During the event you might witness the marvel of artificial clouds, designed by Asadov Architecture Studio. It was originally conceptualized for the Aerostatic Architecture Competition in 2010, and now may see the light as modular clouds floating [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Solar Paint
A team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame, led by Prashant V. Kamat, has developed a semi-conductive paint that turns surfaces on which it is applied into solar cells. The solar paint is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0114273 (’273 Application), entitled “Nanomaterial Scaffolds for Electron Transport”. Single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Solar Purifiers
Do you think conventional water purifiers are eco friendly? In fact, they are not. Though not consuming energy, we cannot describe all water purification systems eco friendly products. Of course, using carbon filter, a coconut derivative, is an environmentally friendly option for water purification process. But the thing is that you will have to dump [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Paint-On Solar Cells
A team of researchers from University of Notre Dame was engaged in developing alternatives to silicon based solar technology. In a recent breakthrough, they have developed semiconducting nanoparticle from titanium dioxide. These nanoparticles generate electricity when exposed to sunlight. According to the research report from Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano), these nanoparticles, coated [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Driverless Vehicles
Our dependence on automobiles has seen a massive increase in production. Cars are being churned out in huge numbers to meeting growing consumer demands. SUVs, sedans, hatchbacks and coupes now come in different styles, all stunning and having the potential to make heads turn. But this has led to a slump in supply of conventional [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Solar Panels Generating Energy from Indoor Light
Dwindling natural resources and the ever-growing demands of the human populace have led us to seek out alternative means of living. The good news is that nature’s sources can give us an endless supply of raw materials. The world’s dependence on conventional resources like fossil fuels has led to a slump in supply as it [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Floating Solar Power Plants
For today’s world, which is thirsty for more amount of energy resources, the novel concept of floating solar plants can be a source of great joy and contentment. There will be many critics around there who feel that this is a far fetched idealism, impossible to be implemented. However, this is not a vague idea, [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Self Generated Energy Products
While the greatest drive of the eco-conscious generation is to use renewable sources of power, attempts are being made to replace every possible gadget run by non-renewable sources with green products that curb environmental pollution and reduce over brimming of the landfills. Berlin based eco-conscious engineer, Benjamin Beck has made a noteworthy move in this [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Self Powering Homes
At a time when the world is looking for effective alternatives to replace the production of electricity from conventional sources, the concept of a self-powered house is slowly becoming popular as architects try to develop designs for a sustainable future. One can say that the future is safe as long as such endeavors continue to [...]
FUTUREWATCH: Flexible Solar Chargers
One of the biggest concerns for everyone today is to recharge the many small gadgets that have become an irreplaceable part of life. While these gadgets ensure connectivity with the larger world and allow you to go to places without worrying for any job undone or on an expedition, they also consume a lot of [...]