The Super Supercapacitor-A Faster, Cleaner, Smarter Battery

What is The Super Supercapacitor?

The Super Supercapacitor was one of 20 finalists in GE’s Focus Forward Films, a project that profiled 30 innovative ideas and the people behind them in three-minute films.

This short film looks at technology that could also us to charge our phone, tablet, or laptop in 30 seconds and have it work all day long. Ric Kaner and his team accidentally made this discovery while working on a new way to generate graphene, a material used in carbon nanotubes. This stumbled upon breakthrough in power storage holds the promise to change the world.

We ideally would like our rechargeable electronic devices to be capable of high energy storage and fast charging, the best of both worlds. That is what the super supercapacitor can deliver. Additionally, it is made with Graphene, a carbon polymer that does not contain toxic metals like batteries we use today. They are environment friendly and are not only biodegradable, but also compostable.

You can watch the film to hear Kaner explain how the super supercapacitor could change the world:

This work is most certainly in the research phase, with many groups chasing the almost unlimited power that the super supercapacitors has the ability to offer. Whomever solves this problem will have the entire world as its customers due to its real world application.

Technology like this would allow electronic devices like cell phones and tablet computers to be charged in seconds and hold a charge longer than standard batteries.

Eventually the technology can be scaled up and directly effect electric cars or storage devices for wind turbines and solar collectors. It currently takes hours to charge an electric car. The super supercapacitor would allow its users to “refuel” them as quickly as one can a gasoline powered car.

Awesome Technology- The 3D Printed Cast

Finally after dealing with clunky, itchy and smelly casts for years there is finally another option on the medical horizon. The 3D printed cast provides a very precise and equally beneficial support system that is fully ventilated, super light, shower friendly, hygienic, recyclable and stylish.

The 3D printed cast is created after the patient’s bones have been x-rayed and the outside of the limb has been 3D scanned. Once this has been completed computer software would then determine the optimum shape for stabilizing the injury with denser support focused around the fracture itself and generate a 3D model of the exoskeletal cast before it is created.

The pieces would be printed on-site and clip into place with fastenings that can’t be undone until the healing process is complete, when they would be taken off with tools at the hospital as normal. Unlike current casts, the materials could then be recycled.

 

Currently, the 3D printed cast cast takes around three hours to create. Today’s plaster casts only take three to nine minutes, but requires 24-72 hours to be fully set. However, with hopeful improvements concerning the 3D printed cast, there should be a big reduction in the time it’s production.

The project was done in collaboration with a University’s orthopedic department and looking for funding while it’s in the concept stage. You can check out the creator’s website, Jake Evill, HERE.

World’s First Braille Smartphone In The Works

The world’s first braille smartphone for the visually impaired is here. Soon, they will be able to read SMSes and emails on a phone that will convert all text into Braille patterns.

Sumit Dagar, the products innovator proclaims “We have created the world’s first Braille smartphone”. This product will provide an innovative ‘touch screen’ which will translate incoming messages by elevating and depressing the contents into ‘touchable’ patterns.

Dagar came up with the idea for the phone three years ago. Right now he is working with IIT Delhi on the prototype. The hopeful release date will be by the end of 2013, for about $185.

How the World’s First Braille Smartphone Works

A) The smartphone uses Shape Memory Alloy technology, based on the idea that metals remember their original shapes and can morph between the desired textures.

B) The phone’s ‘screen’ has a grid of pins, which move up and down to represent a character or letter.

C) This screen will be able to form patterns in Braille.

D) All other elements will not not be comparable to any other smartphone.

You can watch Sumit Dagar’s TED Talk about the world’s first braille smartphone below: