A British automotive design, The Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA), has developed a way to remove battery packs from a car and replace it with a full-powered battery that has been charging off the grid.
The test vehicle is a modified Skoda Fabia and is called the H4V (Hybrid 4 Wheel Drive Vehicle) because the gasoline engine powers the front wheels while 2 35kW electric motors power the back wheels.
H4V’s battery pack is built from portable cassettes with each having a 1.5kWh capacity. MIRA designed and created the battery packs using Li-Ion Phosphate cells sourced by an American supplier.
Charge time is only 30 minutes and each pack weighs 22 kilograms but with hopes that they’ll be able to slim it down. The battery units could serve for additional uses, including external devices that could come in handy when going camping or used to power electric jet skis or quad bikes.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
Nokia has figured out a way to make phone chargers a bit more power-saving intelligent. They are currently working on a smart new charger that communicates with your phone. When your mobile phone is fully charged, it’ll know when to switch itself off thus saving you money and minimizing wasted energy.
In addition, the new smart chargers would be able to top up your phone with a set amount of power or squirt varying amounts of power into different phones.
Of course, the next generation charger is still a concept but it is real…the guys over at NokNok actually got their hands on the real thing.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
Howard Weinstein had a goal in mind - to create a hearing aid that even citizens in the poorest developing nations could afford. Through grants and help from other deaf individuals, now about 20,000 people in 30 countries are now using the Solar Aid. The solar-powered heating device is very similar to a hearing aid in function, enabling the hearing-impaired to listen better to the world around them.
Approximately 250 million people around the world having hearing loss, with about two-thirds of them living in the developing world and most of them do not have the money to buy conventional hearing aids mostly due to the expensive batteries that only last about a week. Having a hearing aid powered by the sun, eliminates the battery issue and helps out so many in need.
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Popularity: 5% [?]
Check this out. Japan has a new little marvel. Their Bridgestone’s full-sized steam powered electronic newspaper turns its own e-paper pages in 15 seconds. Want to see it in action? Check out Digital World Tokyo.
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Here’s a biodegradable picnic collection that is reusable, with special care. The set comprises of cassava bowls, plates, cups and wooden forks, spoons and knives. Washed with care, the collection can be reused but will disintegrate within a week if left standing in water. It may even decompose in a few months if left on a compost pile.
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Popularity: 4% [?]
1,200 FREE trees are available to NYC homeowners and families during the month of May. Trees are limited to one tree per household and required to register their new tree with www.milliontreesnyc.org, which is a citywide, public-private initiative with an ambitious goal to plant and care for one million new trees across the city’s five boroughs by 2017.
Here are the following locations and dates for those in the NYC area and want to adopt a free tree.
Saturday, May 10th - 8am to 2pm at Borough Hall CENYC Greenmarket - Staten Island St. Mark’s and Hyatt
Saturday, May 10th - 8am to 2pm at Grand Army Plaza CENYC Greenmarket - Brooklyn Prospect Park NW Entrance
Saturday, May 17th - 8am to 2pm - Inwood CENYC Greenmarket- Upper Manhattan Isham St - Seamon & Cooper
Saturday, May 17th - 8am to 2pm - Sunnyside CENYC Greenmarket - Queens Skillman between 42nd and 43rd Streets
Sunday, May 18th - 8am to 2pm -Riverdale YM-YWHA Environmental Fair - Bronx 5625 Arlington Avenue at 256th Street
Limited quantities of the following species of trees will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis: Dogwood, Red Bud, Cherry, Crabapple, Service Berry, Linden, Oak, Sweetgum, Tulip Poplar and Buckeye.
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