Popular Science's list of 100 Greatest Inventions of 2015. I grabbed a few items I thought seemed pretty cool. The link to the whole list is at the bottom:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')umans produce 660 billion pounds of plastic a year, and the manufacturing process creates three times as much carbon dioxide by weight as actual plastic. “That’s an insane amount of material,” says Newlight Technologies CEO Mark Herrema. “Wouldn’t we be better off using plastic as a conveyor belt for capturing and sequestering carbon emissions instead?” That’s exactly what his company does. Typically, plastic is made by exposing hydrocarbons from fossil fuels to tremendous pressure and energy. Newlight’s first commercial plant, in California, captures methane generated by a dairy farm’s waste lagoon and transports it to a bioreactor. There, enzymes combine the gas with air to form a polymer. The resulting plastic, called AirCarbon, performs identically to most oil-based plastics but costs less—creating a market-driven solution to global warming. Companies have already signed on to use AirCarbon in their products, including KI desk chairs (pictured), Dell computer packaging, and Sprint smartphone cases.
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100 Greatest Inventions of 2015
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100 Greatest Inventions of 2015
by kublikhan » Fri 30 Sep 2016, 19:30:22
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')USIBA2: Rice That Fights Global Warming
More than half the global population relies on rice as a regular part of their diet. But rice paddies have a downside for the planet too: They produce as much as 17 percent of the world’s total methane emissions. So Christer Jansson, a plant biochemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, spent the past 10 years developing SUSIBA2, a genetically modified rice plant that emits almost no methane. Splicing a single barley gene into common rice, his team found, changed the way the plant handles photosynthesis: Instead of sending carbon to the roots, to feed the bacteria that produce methane, the plant directs it toward the grain and leaves, increasing the starch level and yield. “It’s a win-win,” says Jansson. The rice performed well in field tests in China, and now scientists are studying how cultivation affects it. Jansson says there’s no telling when the rice might be commercially available, but considering how severely methane can accelerate climate change, its eventual impact could be huge.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')t the Paris Air Show earlier this month, hoverbike maker Malloy Aeronautics announced they’d partnered with American company Survice to prepare a working hoverbike for the U.S. Army. Here’s how the Army says it will be used:
"The TRV concept could unburden Soldiers while increasing their capabilities regardless of the environmental conditions, in manned and/or unmanned operations. Besides mitigating the dangers of ground threats, capabilities for the TRV concept could include aiding in communication, reconnaissance, and protection; sensing danger or even lightening the Soldiers' load."
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')ops across the country have rooms packed with stolen items but no way of locating their owners. Anti-Th eft Dots fix that. Th ey’re tiny nickel disks with identifying numbers chemically etched into them that link owners and property through a database. Th eir adhesive glows under black light, alerting cops to their presence, and can be applied to nearly anything: laptops, watches, TVs, and bikes. By year’s end, 2,000 police forces nationwide will support them. $33 per kit, which can mark 50 items.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')YPD DAS Mobile: The App That Keeps Cops Safe
Relaying 911 information to cops on the beat—by radio—hasn’t changed in decades. But there’s only so much intel dispatchers can convey that way. This year, the New York City Police Department—the largest force in the United States—began sending ancillary data to some cops via smartphone. It’s the first police force in the country to do so. The app is secure, requiring a PIN code and an ID scan to log in. Cops get background intel on prior arrests and outstanding warrants at the dispatched address, or helpful details such as whether burglars typically enter it by the back door. For an officer on the street, such extra information can be lifesaving.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')indstream Technology Solar Mill: An Alternative-Energy Powerhouse
With limited roof space, it’s often not possible for do-good homeowners to harness both solar and wind power. WindStream solved that problem by creating a hybrid system. A trio of corkscrew-shaped vertical-axis turbines turn below a photovoltaic panel, saving space.
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$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')iemens: Hydrogen Energy's Green Giant
Massive wind farms require massive systems to capture and store surplus electricity. The “green hydrogen” plant that opened this summer in Mainz, Germany, is larger than any other. Thanks to Siemens’ special electrolyzer, the plant can transform up to 6 megawatts of electricity (even from fluctuating sources) and use it to split hydrogen from water. The hydrogen can be stored, then either turned back into electricity or sent to refueling stations to power up to 2,000 fuel-cell vehicles.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hirlpool HybridCare Heat-Pump Dryer: A Hybrid For Your Hamper
The average clothes dryer can consume as much energy per year as a refrigerator. To balance the scales, Whirlpool built a ventless heat-pump model. Instead of releasing hot, moist air, the HybridCare condenses the water internally. The dry air is then recirculated—reducing energy costs by 40 percent over standard dryers.
, conferred a shift of carbon flux to SUSIBA2 rice, favouring the allocation of photosynthates to aboveground biomass over allocation to roots. The altered allocation resulted in an increased biomass and starch content in the seeds and stems, and suppressed methanogenesis, possibly through a reduction in root exudates. Three-year field trials in China demonstrated that the cultivation of SUSIBA2 rice was associated with a significant reduction in methane emissions and a decrease in rhizospheric methanogen levels. SUSIBA2 rice offers a sustainable means of providing increased starch content for food production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation. Approaches to increase rice productivity and reduce methane emissions as seen in SUSIBA2 rice may be particularly beneficial in a future climate with rising temperatures resulting in increased methane emissions from paddies. Expression of barley SUSIBA2 transcription factor yields high-starch low-methane rice