Aerogel is amazing on a grand scale and I can’t wait for the manufacturing process to reach a level where we can purchase this off the shelf
Aerogel is a low-density solid-state material derived from gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with gas. The result is an extremely low density solid with several remarkable properties, most notably its effectiveness as an insulator. It is nicknamed frozen smoke, solid smoke or blue smoke due to its semi-transparent nature and the way light scatters in the material; however, it feels like expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) to the touch.
Aerogel was first created by Steven Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid inside a jam (jelly) jar with gas without causing shrinkage. link…
Simplicity in design and offering real results and benefits are the hallmark of a great invention and the Watercone seems to have it all.
Fill it up with salt water and let the sun do its thing
The results is fresh clean drinking water!
The Watercone® is a solar powered water desalinator that takes salt or brackish water and generates freshwater. It is simple to use, lightweight and mobile. The technology is simple in design and use and is discribed by simple pictograms. With max. 1,6 liters a day the Watercone® is an ideal device to cover a childs daily need of freshwater. UNICEF: “every day 5000 children die as a result of diarrhea coused by drinking unsafe water”
I think my favorite inventions are those related to flight. This one is a flying toy invented by A. K. Bilder from 1955. I always wonder if the inventor ever built it and if so where is it now. You also have to wonder if they did build it did they also do a test flight?
Narrowly edging out the previous record set by Spectrolab late last year, two scientists at the University of Delaware have just created a new device that can convert 42.8% of the light striking it into electricity. The solar cell, built by Christina Honsberg and Allan Barnett, splits light into three components — high, medium and low energy light — and directs it to several different materials which can then extract electrons out of its photons.
