Markit Science

Jaguar Attacks Crocodile

2013-09-28T20:44:00.002-07:00

Here's some incredible footage from National Geographic of a jaguar making a quick meal out of a large caiman crocodile in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands. It's fascinating watching the behaviour of this massive cat as it quietly moves through the water. The hunt scene is narrated by conservation scientist Luke Dollar who helps manage NG's Big Cats Initiative.

Phoenix Dust Storm Timelapse

2011-07-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

Above is a video of another massive dust storm consuming south Phoenix, Arizona on July 18, 2011. This one measured 3000 feet high. These storms occur when a strong wind front picks up loose sand and dust from the dry surface. They can often be triggered by major thunderstorms nearby. They are more common in the Arabian peninsula and the Sahara, two of the main terrestrial sources of airborne dust. Photographed below is a dust storm touching down in Al Asad, Iraq on April 27, 2005.

Father & Son DIY Outer Space Filming

2011-07-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Keeping the same theme as the previous post, here is a less technologically advanced way of capturing video footage from the stratosphere. A father and his seven year old son built a homemade spacecraft and sent it almost 19 miles into the air. An insulated case held a video camera, an iPhone, and GPS equipment. Hand-warmers were packed on the inside in order to keep the equipment from freezing in the cold temperatures.

All in all they spent 8 months preparing for the mission. The father, Luke Geissbuhler, added: "It would have to survive 100 mph winds, temperatures of 60 degrees below zero, speeds of over 150 mph, and the high risk of a water landing. To retrieve the craft, it would need to deploy a parachute, descend through the clouds and transmit a GPS coordinate to a cell phone tower. Then we have to find it."

Booster Cam Video of Atlantis Launch

2011-07-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

NASA has just released this video from space shuttle Atlantis' launch into orbit on July 8th. Multiple cameras provide unique angles from the ground at Kennedy Space Center (0:00), through takeoff and separation (2:22), to the water landing somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean (4:37). One of the most crisp and impressive angles starts at approximately 18:00 into the video.

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Footage

2011-03-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

Here are a series of videos capturing the raw power of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan. Videos captured massive waves hitting the port of Sendai city. Youtube erupted with cell phone videos documenting the flooding in nearby towns, a gigantic whirlpool forming, and an airport runway being submerged. This video was shot from inside the same airport as it faced the oncoming waves.

Celery Rose

2011-03-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

After being picked, if given proper care, a rose might last about two weeks before wilting. Petal blight - the reason for wilting - is caused by invading fungal pathogens that produce a sugar alcohol called mannitol, which breaks down the flower's defense system. It turns out that the enzyme mannitol dehydrogenase, found abundantly in celery, improves the life of rose petals when the gene responsible for its production is spliced into the rose genome. North Carolina State's Dr. Dole and Dr. Williamson are leading the research aiming to create a hybrid rose that is more resistant to disease.

The roses won't smell or feel any different, the only thing that should change is their vase life. "This gene is naturally found in many plants, but it's uncertain whether the rose already has it," said Williamson. "If it does, it doesn't produce enough enzyme to help the plant fight against petal blight." The team is also studying the type of sugar-water mixture that would best suit the rose after being harvested.

Ultimately, they are hoping to double the survival time of your generic flower shop rose. This could have a huge impact on the flower industry, especially when you consider that 1.2 billion rose stems are sold within the USA annually.

Frozen Smoke

2011-03-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

A group of scientists have engineered a new form of "frozen smoke" that could potentially detect pollutants, store energy, and improve robotic surgeries. Frozen smoke is popular term used for aerogel, a manufactured material originally created in 1931 by Samuel Stephen Kistler, which has the lowest bulk density of any known porous solid. In fact, aerogel holds 15 titles in the Guiness Book of World Records, including 'best insulator' and 'lowest density solid'.

The current team of researchers including Professor Lei Zhai and Jianhua Zou have been able to use nanotubes to add some practical uses to aerogel. A press release from the University of Central Florida explains how these improvements allow the material to detect the slightest changes in pressure, making it perfect for robot hands used in precise surgical procedures. The nanotubes also increase the material's surface area, which enhances its ability to store renewable energy.

Although some skeptics question the safety nanotechnology, new advancements continue surrounding aerogel. Zhai thinks his innovations are just the tip of the iceberg and said "This has many potential applications and could really open up new areas to explore that we haven't even imagined yet."

Insects Trapped In Love

2011-02-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

This love story between two invasive pests is set in the southern states, but most notably Texas. The cotton bollworm entered from Mexico around 1916 and within 20 years had spread to over 119 counties within Texas, infuriating farmers along the way. The adult is a small moth, but before reaching maturity it goes through three other stages of development: egg, larva, and pupa. The larvae have been described as being aggressive, occasionally carnivorous and are reported to even cannibalize each other. During the destructive larval stage it eats the maturing seeds within the cotton boll.

In the 1960s and 1970s chemical insecticides, including DDT, were used in an attempt to control their spread. The following decade ushered in a heightened interest in nonchemical pest control. After experimenting with hormone manipulation, the Texas Department of Agriculture came up with a romantic solution. Through the use of insect pheromones, researchers tricked male bollworms into mating with female budworms (another invasive pest). Since the different species had mismatched genitalia, upon mating the insects became locked together and died. Happy Valentine's Day!

What If Planets Orbited Earth With Our Moon?

2011-01-30T10:12:00.000-08:00

Obviously this could never happen, but it's an exercise in creating perspective! This incredible video created by Brad Goodspeed illustrates how large each planet would appear in the sky if it shared an orbit with the moon (380,000 kms from Earth). He doesn't include the smaller planets and also omits Saturn. He went with representatives of the size classes of planets to keep the maximum dramatic effect. Watch in HD and get ready to feel small! You can follow Brad Goodspeed on Twitter @BradGoodspeed

One Fingered Dinosaur

2011-01-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

A team of scientists have dug up the first dinosaur ever known to have only one finger. They found the skeletal remains embedded in an 80 million year old rock formation in Inner Mongolia, China. The dinosaur, named Linhenykus monodactylus, was roughly one meter tall and belongs to the alvarezsauroids family of dinosaurs, a group whose members were previously thought to be flightless birds.

It is well known that carnivorous dinosaurs kept losing fingers as they evolved over their ~160 million year existence. The earliest meat eaters had five fingers, while later species had four or three. Even the infamous and highly popularized Tyrannosaurus Rex only had two fingers. The researchers believe that Linhenykus monodactylus likely adapted to have just one claw-like digit for digging purposes, perhaps to specialize in retrieving certain insects. The findings have been published in the most recent release from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

2012: The World Isn't Ending

2011-01-14T11:20:00.000-08:00

The rumors have been flooding the internet for years and as we approach that infamous date, the media hype-machine is at its peak. You might hear words like Apocalypse, Armageddon, and Doomsday being loosely thrown around. Books have been published on the topic, programs about it have been aired on TV networks including The History Channel and The Discovery Channel, and a few years ago the major motion picture 2012, starring John Cusack, became one of the year's highest grossing films. So what's really going on here? Should we give up our jobs and focus on outfitting underground bunkers to make those last moments with our loved ones as pleasant as possible while we await our impending doom? Simply put: NO! There are a number of theories out there attempting to support this idea of mankind's demise, but they're all wrong:

The Mayan Calender

The Mayan Civilization lived by a Long Count linear calender lasting approximately 144,000 days, which was a period of time known as a b'ak'tun. According to Mayan stories of creation, the Gods failed in their first three attempted worlds. They succeeded on the fourth attempt and placed mankind into this world. The previous world was said to have ended after 13 b'ak'tuns (5125 years). The date marking the end of the third world and the start of the fourth world was set at August 11th or 13th, 3114 BC. This means that the current world will reach the end of its thirteenth b'ak'tun on December 21st or 23rd, 2012 AD.

Although the calender's cycle comes to an end, records show that the Mayans believed a new cycle would begin, just as it had in the past. Associating the end of the cycle with the end of the world has been called "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in." In fact, the present day Mayan groups living in Guatemala have adopted an entirely new calendar system, and no longer consider the 13th b'ak'tun significant. Furthermore, Mayan elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun has acknowledged that "apocalypse" is a concept introduced by the Western world and has no connection with Mayan beliefs.

Polar Shift or Geomagnetic Reversal

This theory stems from observations that our planet's magnetic field is weakening, and implies that there will be a shift of the north and south poles. To add some more spice to the story, approaching solar storms are supposed to speed up the process. Some of this is partially true, in that the Earth does naturally go through geomagnetic reversals (the last one occurring 780,000 years ago) and we are affected by periodic solar storms.

The doomsday supporters try to paint the picture of this geomagnetic reversal as an overnight ordeal that will flip Earth and create chaos. In reality, the process is thought to take 5000 years to complete and has no particular start-date. In regard to the solar storms, astronomers do not expect the approaching storms to be anything out of the ordinary, and have found no evidence that links them to kick starting a polar shift.
Planet X Nibiru & Alien Invasion

These are two of the most imaginative theories. The first suggests that a massive unknown planet is on a collision course with Earth. This is simply impossible, since we would already be aware of the presence of such an object if it were supposed to hit us within the next two years. The second suggests hostile extraterrestrial lifeforms taking over. Sure, aliens could invade, but we have yet to prove that aliens exist, let alone are capable of invading.

Nostradamus & Einstein

Once all of the other theories have been exhausted, some people turn to the predictions of the great astrologer Michel de Nostradamus. His prophecies are gathered from four-line poems which were written in the 1500s. Analyzing the content of these poems is highly subjective and must be taken with a grain of salt, especially considering that they are written using vague, ambiguous language in an effort to avoid his own persecution by the Christian church.

A more modern figure, Albert Einstein, supposedly said something on the lines of: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." Not to play down the importance of bees on our planet, but we must keep in mind that Einstein was a physicist, not a beekeeper.

In this day and age, fear and paranoia run ramped through our society. Companies in different industries try to capitalize on this by feeding the public with sensationalism. It is important to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism when taking in this sort of information, especially when science-fiction writers are co-authoring documentaries on The History Channel. All in all, the world is not coming to an end on 2012, but if you still don't feel comfortable, listen to this statement released by Donald Yeomans, the head of NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission:

LED Contact Lenses

2011-01-12T22:10:00.001-08:00

Fifty years ago families huddled around a screen in their living room. Today most people walk around with their own personal screen that is small enough to fit in their pocket. The next stage is to cut out the middle step entirely and bring the screen directly into contact with the eye. That is exactly what scientists at University of Washington are currently working on.

Although the research is still in its preliminary stages, the end product could be revolutionary. They intend on fitting minuscule semi-transparent LEDs into contact lenses. When needed, the person wearing the lenses will be able to view images and videos in perfect quality. When the mechanism is turned off, the display will become transparent due to the LEDs grid-pattern arrangement. The user will attach a small pack to their belt, which will wirelessly transmit the electricity and data to the lenses.

Much work still needs to be done before the lenses will display crystal clear images. So far they have successfully inserted red and blue pixels into the lenses, but they are still working on integrating the green pixels. Although its application is new, similar contact lens technology has been used by Swiss company Sensimed to monitor glucose levels in diabetic patients.

Desert Adaptation: Kangaroo Rat

2010-11-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

No matter how uninhabitable an environment might seem, chances are there is something living there. Even a place like Death Valley, which is known as the driest and hottest part of North America, plays host to a few creatures, including the Kangaroo Rat shown above. Death Valley averages less than 2 inches of precipitation per year, yet moisture evaporates at rates of up to 150 inches per year. The Kangaroo Rat can go without drinking for months to survive this dryness. So just how do they manage? They have developed behavioral and anatomical adaptations to prevent water loss during gas exchange.

Since they spend plenty of time underground to escape the daytime heat, their burrows become quite humid. When gathering seeds, rather than eating them immediately, they store them in the burrows, which allows the seeds to reabsorb the moisture in the air. The Kangaroo Rat then regains this water when they consume the seeds.

Probably the most important adaptation is the animal's efficient kidneys. Due to the rodent's lengthened loop of Henle they can produce urine which is 5 times more concentrated than maximally concentrated human urine. Because of this ability, these Kangaroo Rats never actually have to drink. The water produced within its cells during oxidation of food is sufficient for their body. Furthermore, its nasal passages can reabsorb water vapor from its own breath. To top it off, Kangaroo Rats have no sweat glands, so they can't lose water by perspiring. With all of that figured out, these little guys can focus their attention on avoiding snakes.

GM Mosquito To Stop Dengue

2010-11-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

The human death toll caused by disease-carrying mosquitoes has risen. Currently over 2 million of the 700 million people infected by mosquitoes die annually. Scientists have attempted to control these mosquito populations using a range of methods including chemicals, lasers and radiation. Now the results have been released from a new experiment that some have called "birth control for insects", which involves the first ever release of genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild.

Due to the fact that the female mosquitoes are responsible for biting and transmitting diseases like the untreatable dengue fever, scientists considered introducing males sterilized by a genetic mutation as a tool to dramatically decrease the population.

From May to October of this year Oxitec, the Oxford-based research firm, released sterilized male mosquitoes 3 times per week in a 40-acre region of The Cayman Islands. Upon mating with a sterile male, the female would produce no offspring, in turn shrinking the next generation's population. This Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been used in the past, but the insects have always been rendered sterile using radiation, rather than by a genetic modification. Using this new method, by August there was an 80% drop in the mosquito population within that region.

Releasing transgenic animals into the wild is cause for concern to many environmentalists who fear that killing off an entire mosquito population could harm dependent species higher on the food chain. Oxitic insists the method is safe and will not have any permanent ecological impact since the sterilizing gene can't be passed on to future generations. The introduction of competitive species has gone awry in the past, like the disaster after Cane Toads were brought to Australia.

Solazyme's Algae Fuel

2010-11-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

The United States is on the hunt for a way to lower their dependency on foreign oil. Now they appear to be closer than ever by using genetically modified algae as a new source for domestically produced fuels. The company, Solazyme, has managed to condense the naturally occurring algae-to-oil process down to just three days. They place their bioengineered algae into massive tanks and feed them with sugar cane, switch grass, and other plants. The algae's energy is transformed into a versatile oil that can be refined and used as jet fuel, diesel, cooking oil, and more.

Just how much attention is Solazyme getting for this? Well in September the US Navy ordered more than 150,000 gallons of jet fuel for testing purposes. Furthermore, they received a $21.8 million grant from the US Department of Energy to build a new refinery. The US military hopes to run 50 percent of its fleet on a mixture of renewable fuels and nuclear power by 2020. The US Navy has already tested the fuel on part of its fleet and have released promising results. They plan to test their entire non-nuclear fleet by the end of 2012. Below you can view some of the companies recent news coverage on MSNBC:

Bright Idea

2010-08-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

If you enjoyed reading the recent post on low-energy Futuristic Lightbulbs that can last up to 17 years, then this new idea should lighten your day. Given that almost 2 billion people live without electricity, entrepreneur Stephen Katsaros has invented a solar powered light bulb in hopes of bringing light to the developing world.

The 6-ounce Nokero bulb absorbs the sun's energy into a replaceable battery by way of four photovoltaic panels, which gives power to five white LEDs inside the weatherproof, plastic casing. The bulb will glow for four hours when fully charged, and a full day outside will provide enough energy for about two hours of light. Currently they are $15 each, but the price will drop for bulk orders.

Although the bulbs will likely appeal to the outdoorsy type or patio lovers, Katsaros' major focus is making them available to those in the developing world. "We are trying to reduce the cost so that the 2.8 billion people in the world who make less than two dollars a day can afford this." Nokero bulbs could provide a clean and safe alternative to the commonly used kerosene lanterns, which emit toxic fumes and start fires responsible for over 1 million deaths worldwide.

Young Zebrafish

2010-08-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

French researcher Emmanuel Beaurepaire and colleagues have employed new microscope technology to capture the first 10 cell divisions of a zebrafish in early stages of development (Source). The technique relies on non-linear optical properties of a cell's membrane and microtubules to capture thousands of still images, which are then organized in sequence to resemble a movie.

The video above shows the process of zebrafish development from one cell to the 512-cell stage. The scale bar represents 100 micrometres. The embryo in the video is not labeled with any dyes, however soon enough fluorescent molecular markers will be combined with this approach and allow for more detailed visualization of early development.

Lonesome George

2010-08-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Meet Lonesome George, the world's last remaining Pinta Island Tortoise, a species now listed as being 'Extinct in the Wild' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The species was driven to extinction because whalers and other Galapagos settlers collected them for consumption. On top of that, feral goats were introduced and destroyed the island's vegetation. Lonesome George was found in 1971 and moved to the Charles Darwin Research Station in hopes of finding a female that could be introduced for a captive breeding program. On two occasions George successfully mated with two females of different subspecies, but none of the eggs were viable.

Recent research analyzing DNA sequences revealed that other Pinta Island Tortoises might exist on the neighboring Galapagos island of Isabela (PubMed). One male tortoise that was screened had half of its genes in common with George's subspecies, suggesting that it is likely a first generation intergrade between the subspecies. This means that a pure Pinta Island Tortoise might be living among the 2000 tortoises on Isabela. The Darwin Research Station is offering $10,000 to anyone who discovers a Pinta female.

Vertical Farming

2010-08-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

Current demographic trends reveal that our population will jump another 3 billion people by 2050, at which point almost 80% of us will be living in urban areas. Assuming that we continue our traditional farming techniques, an area of land larger than the size of Brazil will be required to grow enough food to feed us all. The problem is that currently over 80% of the world's land suitable for growing crops is being used (Sources: NASA & FAO).

Columbia University microbiologist, Dickson Despommier believes that the solution to humanities newest predicament is the large scale introduction of vertical farming. Since mastering the art of growing food horizontally, we have sacrificed countless thriving ecosystems and replaced them with fields of crops. We protect ourselves from the elements by moving into cities and living in tall buildings, yet let our growing food fend for itself against flooding, droughts, and hurricanes. With our booming population it's high time to learn how to grow our food locally, in buildings within urban centers. Vertical farms offer the possibility of year-round crop production and the simultaneous repair of ecosystems as we gradually lose our reliance on horizontal farming. Also, let's not forget how this could decrease fossil fuel burning, which is needed to power tractors, plows, and various shipping methods.

Along with the benefit of no weather or insect related crop failures, vertical farms would eliminate agricultural runoff by recycling black water. They would also add energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants and animals. Depending on the crop, 1 indoor acre is the equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more. Just consider that one 30 story building taking up an entire NYC block would feed 50,000 people per year. This means that 165 sky farms spread across the 5 boroughs would be enough to continuously feed all of New York. For more information visit The Vertical Farm Project.

The Known Universe

2010-08-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

At the end of 2009 The American Museum of Natural History released this video entitled 'The Known Universe' as part of their Visions of the Cosmos exhibition. There are many similar "zoom out from the earth" videos, including the Morgan Freeman narrated IMAX film 'Cosmic Voyage', but this is by far the most impressive and accurate. It starts with the Himalayas and zooms out through our atmosphere and into the depths of the dark space beyond. Every star, planet, and quasar seen is carefully plotted based on the 4D Digital Universe Atlas maintained by astrophysicists at the AMNH. To enjoy the full experience, watch it in full screen HD quality.

Thailand's Artificial Reefs

2010-08-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

Fishermen in Thailand have recently encountered the problem of diminishing local fish populations due to overfishing. Hoping to remedy the situation, they petitioned to their Thai Queen for support. She responded by authorizing the dumping of 25 decommissioned army tanks, 273 old train cars, and 198 garbage trucks in the ocean to create artificial reefs.

A test was initially done and it was observed that fish began forming communities within the old scrap metal containers within one year. It has been projected that the abandoned vehicles will create a total of 72 artificial reefs, which should increase local fish stocks. In this Al Jazeera video, reporters interview local fishermen and scientists about the idea:

Mine Therapy

2010-08-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

Historical records indicate an improvement in breathing of miners from Roman and medieval times. In 1843, Dr. Feliks Boczkowski, a Polish physician stationed at a salt mine, noticed that miners there did not suffer from lung diseases. During WWII, Dr. Karl Hermann Spannagel noticed an improvement in his patients after they hid in salt caves to escape heavy bombing. Most recently, in the 1950s it was documented that Polish mine workers rarely suffered from tuberculosis.

Research suggests that salt-permeated air helps dissolve phlegm in the bronchial tubes and kills micro-organisms that cause infections. This greatly helps patients undertaking asthma treatment and so mine therapy is currently being practiced in Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine.

The photos above (Credit:Kirill Kuletski) shows tunnels, which are 300 meters underground, in the clinic at the Ukranian Solotvyno salt mine. Between three and five thousand people are treated here yearly, and many more have been wait-listed. On average patients spend 24 days at the facility and use a lift to travel down for afternoon or overnight sessions. But salt isn't the only option...

Here we can see four adults enjoying some radon therapy at a mine in Boulder, Montana. The use of radon is also quite an old therapeutic process. In Europe, bathing in hot springs with high radon content goes back over 6000 years. The Japanese have been benefiting from radioactive hot springs for over 800 years in Misasa and Tamagawa. In today's society, more than 75,000 patients looking for a natural arthritis cure pay a visit to radon therapy clinics and underground caverns for radon inhalation and/or bathing. The Free Enterprise Radon Health Mine in Montana offers full therapy for $225, including a 10-day stay at Mine Motel, or just a 60 minute session for $7. They don't discriminate against other species either, according to a testimonial from Irving the Cat, who overcame his thyroid problem after a visit in 2000.

How Do Ya Like Them Apples?

2010-08-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

It might look like an ordinary apple from the outside, but it's far from it if you ask Swiss fruit grower Markus Kobert. The Redlove Apple is the product of 20 long years of cross-pollinating different apple varieties, including one that was pink fleshed and tasteless. The trees were grown in tunnels to avoid unwanted bee pollination. This natural breeding process involved no genetic modifications.

Needless to say, the cross-breeding experiment has already become quite a lucrative venture. Seed and sapling company Suttons purchased exclusive rights to sell the fruit trees in Britain, and saplings are being scattered all over European orchards to start mass production.

Tom Sharples, spokesman for Suttons, said 'This is the very first red-fleshed, fine-tasting apple in the world. It has a delicious sweet and tangy taste with a hint of berries to it if eaten raw and is also ideal for cooking.'

The apple of your eye doesn't just look pretty either; its antioxidant-rich flesh make it healthier to eat than the average apple. The trees, which let out a mesmerizing deep pink blossom in the spring, can be yours for £24.95 per sapling from Suttons.

SlingShot Water Purifier

2010-08-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today more than 1 billion people face the daily crisis trying of trying to find clean drinking water. Environmentalists predict that water as a commodity will become very valuable and increasingly expensive in years to come. In fact, some believe that in 30 years a gallon of clean water will cost more than a gallon of oil. Considering that only 3% of the world's water is fresh water, this idea might not be so far fetched.

Shown above, famous inventor Dean Kaman's goal was to create a small portable machine that could be placed anywhere and at point-of-use create clean, reliable drinking water from any source. His device, named SlingShot, can make distilled drinking water from anything wet, whether it be ocean water, sludge, or sewage. Liquid goes into the SlingShot where it is boiled until it becomes steam. Once the steam is re-condensed the result is pure distilled water. If the liquid coming in contains metals or other inorganic toxins, they will not vaporize.

Until now nobody has been able to create this effect in a portable machine, because of the energy intensive distillation process. The secret of the SlingShot is that it uses a closed loop of energy. Once the first batch of water is vaporized and re-condensed, all the energy is preserved in a sealed heat exchange system. In other words, the SlingShot runs on less energy than a toaster oven and has been designed to make 1000L of water per day, which is enough for a village of 100 people.

During the summer of 2006, a pair of SlingShot devices worked successfully in a village in Honduras. Although initial devices cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Kamen hopes that increased economies of scale will allow production machines to be made available for $2000 each.

Power Walking

2010-08-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

With skyrocketing urban populations, inventors of PowerLeap see it as an opportunity to harness human kinetic energy to generate electricity. PowerLeap is a flooring system designed to generate electricity from human foot traffic. They envision future city sidewalks covered with smart panels that capture piezoelectricity (power generated from applied mechanical pressure). By stepping on the panel, energy is channeled into a battery where it can be stored and later used to power nearby electrical gadgets.

By placing these panels in high-traffic areas, energy can be generated and used locally to power things nearby. Imagine a busy intersection where panels on the corners of the street could power the traffic lights above. It could be especially useful and efficient if placed at transportation centers like airports, railways stations, or bus terminals. According to their website, PowerLeap is not yet available to be purchased. They are in the process of finalizing the product and are currently raising capital to fund their growth initiative.