NEWS : TECH (NFPC)

Machine Makes Short Work of Battery Recycling

For everyone who recycles their batteries, good for you! Your efforts won't be wasted, at least not in Sweden and the U.K., where a machine with artificial intelligence is being developed to sort all of those batteries so they can be sold for their still-usable components.

The machine, built by Claes Strannegard, an artificial intelligence researcher at the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden, has a camera and a computerized brain that runs on a neural network. That kind of system works more like a human brain in that it can learn to "see" patterns and respond to them. It's an ability that's important for sorting batteries, which come in a range of different sizes and shapes and contain materials, such as lead, cadmium and steel, that need to be distinguished from one another because they're valuable for resale.

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Brain in a Dish Flies Plane

At the recycling plant, batteries are fed to the machine on a conveyor belt. Its camera takes images of the batteries and its brain compares them to other batteries it has seen before. The machine may then send rechargeable "AA" batteries in one direction and single-use "AAA" batteries with steel casings in another direction.

The machine can recognize 2,000 different kinds of batteries and identify them in just milliseconds -- much faster than a human. And it can produce real-time information about how many batteries of a given type -- rechargeable or not, AAAs or Ds -- are being processed. This helps the recycling plant operator better manage the inventory that can eventually be resold.

The machine works differently from conventional mechanized sorters that scan for bar codes or color and are unable to discern a battery if it's dinged, dirty, dented or scuffed.

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The battery-sorting machine was developed by Optisort, and so far, the company has delivered two machines -- one to Renova in Gothenburgand one to G & P Batteries in the U.K., which is sorting one-third of the country’s recycled batteries.

Maybe Skynet will be a sanitation worker rather than a general.

Via University of Gothenburg

Credit: University of Gothenburg

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New Tech Gets Gold From Wastewater

Precious metals could be extracted from wastewater. The water we're talking about comes from recycling plants, where the process involves dissolving components in acid and water. That leaves small concentrations of precious metal in the water. Typically, this water is treated but most methods don't extract the tiny particles of metals left behind because it's been too expensive.

Researchers at Magpie Polymers, a French start-up company, think they've found a way to do it, though. The group has developed beads of a special resin, based on polystyrene, that bonds with metals dissolved in water. Passing the water over the resin leaves the metals behind.

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This accomplishes two things: it removes metals so they can be used again and it purifyies the water. Etienne Almoric, administrative and commercial director of the company, told Discovery News that the resin can get the concentrations down to micrograms per liter, or parts per billion. For many metals that's below the limits considered safe to drink by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It takes about a quart of the resin to filter out anywhere from five to ten cubic yards of water, which would yield a few ounces of metal. An ounce of gold sells for about $1,700 at current prices. But even without the precious metals, disposing of electronics in an environmentally friendly fashion will mean removing the toxic ones such as lead in any case.

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The ability to filter out toxic metals is useful for recycling electronics, but it could also play a role in cleaning up water near, for example, mines, where huge pools of metal-laden water are often a serious environmental concern.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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IKEA Energy-Independent by 2020: DNews Nugget

IKEA Energy-Independent by 2020: The Swedish-based furniture company -- the largest of its kind in the world -- has announced that it will be energy-independent by 2020. It's investing $1.95 billion toward that end and will use the money to install solar panels on all of its stores and warehouses, reduce overall energy use, invest in wind farms and grow enough trees to replace the wood used in its products.

In addition, by 2017 it will buy 10 million cubic meters of wood annually, half its total use, from such sources certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. via Phys.org

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Freshwater Ecosystem Lives Off Seawater

Over half of the world's population lives and works within 120 miles from a coastline. Regardless of your views on climate change, it's safe to say that rising sea levels would present nothing short of a catastrophe. 

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In the event that the ivory towers of denial do start to surround with sea water, detractors will be happy to know that Studiomobile won't leave you high and dry.

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Billing themselves as makers of art and technology for architecture and urban research, the firm came up Networking Nature, an ecosystem that lives off seawater and produces fresh drinking water.

Glass tanks anchored near the coast would fill with seawater where a series of solar-powered stills would extract fresh water. Heat produced by small lamps would evaporate the saltwater and convert the condensed steam into fresh water. That water would then be collected in reservoirs near the coast and distributed to those who need it.

Here's how Studiomobile explains it:

However, water is not produced in isolated systems under central control. The new model provides for a large ecological infrastructure as well as small local production units connected to a network able to integrate the production of fresh water and to supply it where needed. It's a Smart Water Network controlled by sensors that read the local lack of water and, through an Arduino board, activate the pumps providing the water where there is a peak of demand. The Smart Water Network will be a layer of the ecological network as well as the Smart Power Grid and the communications network. This strategy not only gives response to the preservation of the environment, but it is also a radically new model that ensures free and democratic access to the resources to everybody.

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Networking Nature was created for the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale.

via Inhabitat

credit: Studiomobile

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Recycled Plastic Stops Hurricane-Force Projectiles

As Hurricane Isaac heads for shore, people living along the coast are finding ways to batten down the hatches. Nailing sheets of plywood over windows is one such protection. But recycled panels based on the latest military armor might be a better choice.

Uday Vaidya, a professor of materials science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been testing recyclable, light thermoplastics and resins -- materials similar to those used in modern armored vehicles. Vaidya's plastic is stronger than steel and weighs a fifth as much.

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The panels could be used to reinforce an house, not just the windows. They're designed to look like white interior walls and because they're plastic, they don't corrode and never need painting. At Texas Tech University, researchers from the National Storm Shelter Association fired lumber -- two-by-fours weighing about 15 pounds -- at the panels at 100 miles per hour. That's about the speed lumber would reach if tossed about by a category 5 hurricane or a tornado.

As an added bonus the plastic comes from the linings used in wrapping pipes for offshore oil rigs. Ordinarily the stuff would go to landfills.

Vaidya wants to test a roof and door, as well, which would allow for an entire hurricane-proof shelter. It's possible the materials would be ready in time for next year's storm season.

Image: University of Alabama, Birmingham

High-tech panels could protect against hurricane force winds from uabnews on Vimeo.

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'Smart Village' Sets Example for Poverty Relief

A model village in Mayalsia is changing the way communities tackle poverty. Rimbunan Kaseh, a rural village sitting on 30 acres of land near Kuala Lumpur, was built to serve as an example of how to address rural poverty issues by promoting environmental sustainability with technology. The project was detailed at this year's Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council meeting in San Jose, Calif. The GSIAC is made up of international leaders from several countries to find ways to build sustainability and a stronger economy for the Asian country.

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The community offers education, training and recreational facilities, as well as 100 affordable post- consumer material built homes, selling from $16,000 to $20,000. A closed-loop agriculture system is a big part of the community, providing food and income for its residents. ‘Closed loop’ means that everything in the community is inter-connected, for example: An aqua-culture system raises fish for a protein-rich food supply, waste from the fishtanks is then used to irrigate plants to grow fresh produce. The produce is grown in hydroponic pots that can detect soil moisture, which makes it easer to water plants accurately without wasting water. All of these processes come together to provide reliable food supply and augment resident’s income by $400 to $650 a month. Sustainability is also supported with the communities solar power capabilities, biomass energy and mini-hydro electricity.

Ribunan Kaseh offers everything typical communities do like schools, playgrounds and places of worship, with a high-tech twist. Educational facilities are equipped with 4G Internet service that supports e-learning and e-health services. Ellis Rubenstein, President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences, said at the GSIAC meeting, “Integrated smart communities could transform services available to Malaysia's citizenry while creating thousands of jobs, complementing GSIAC's unprecedented alliance to improve education in that country at every level from cradle to career.”

More “smart villages” are planned for the area, with up to 12 sites in the near future. While it’s centralized to Malaysia for now, this example could set a new precedent in creating change for people experiencing poverty all over the world.

Credit: MiGHT

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Cardboard Robots Kids Can Build: DNews Nuggets

Cardboard Robots Kids Can Build: A project called Kinetic Creatures will make inexpensive kits available for kids to build robots out of cardboard. The project is being launched on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter, where industrial designer Lucas Ainsworth and public-school art teacher Alyssa Hamel have already raised more money than their goal of $22,000.

They were inspired by Dutch artist Theo Jansen, who developed enormous, animal-like creatures called Strandbeests that move along the beach powered by the wind. The Kinetic Creatures kits will be available for $30 each and will come with video instructions to build an elephant, rhino or giraffe using cardboard. via TechNewsDaily

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Bricks Cut Carbon Emissions

Making brick is carbon-intensive, because firing them requires a lot of energy; in addition, many countries' traditional brick-making is powered by coal. 

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY

British company Encos makes bricks that are carbon-negative, the company says. The bricks are made of recovered particulate matter from quarries, waste from coal plants and even sewage slurry. Those are mixed with vegetable oil. Within the oil are molecules called glycerides and triglycerides.

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The oil is mixed with the aggregate and binds the fines together. It is then heated, though nowhere near the temperature of firing brick. The heat drives a reaction that makes the glycerides break up and attach to the triglycerides, forming strong chains of carbon atoms. Those chains surround the particles in the brick and bond them.

It's carbon-negative because it recycles old material that might ordinarily end up in landfills, and doesn't use the kind of heat energy for firing that a normal brick does. Encos says that its bricks can be made with only 20 percent of the energy used for traditional ceramic bricks. They are also recyclable.

Encos is showing off its bricks at the Greenbuild 2012 in Manchester, England on May 9-10.

Credit: Encos Ltd 

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Exchange Dog Poo For Free Wi-Fi

We've seen some innovative, yet expensive, methods to rid cities of the foul indecency of dog owners who refuse to clean up after Fido craps on the sidewalk.

However, Mexican Internet portal Terra is tapping into the online pulse of the modern era and has come up with a truly contemporary way to inspire dog owners to get out their plastics bags.

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The company has teamed up with ad agency DDB to create a pilot program in 10 parks in Mexico City and it definitely gets my seal of approval. After pet owners pick up their dog's turds, they can place the bag in a special box that calculates its weight in exchange for a few minutes of free Wi-Fi. Ladies and gentle, welcome to 21st Century.

Of course, that didn't stop park habitués from dropping bags of garbage in the box to claim their free Wi-Fi, but DDB said they didn't mind. In their opinion, if people want to pick up trash -- so be it -- that just means a cleaner park.

ANALYSIS: Dog Park Light Lit by Dog Poo

To ensure the device is used pooperly properly, during the day, hostesses stand beside the boxes handing out bags to dog owners.

While it's not even in the ballpark exploiting the homeless as Wi-Fi hotspots, this new program is sure to raise, if not wrinkle, a few brows. If anything, it's a sign of the times.

via Mashable

Credit: Terra

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Turn an Old iMac Into an Aquarium

Ever wonder what happened to all those G3 iMacs from the dot-com era? Besides haunting our dreams -- along with novelty mousepads and barefoot CEOs -- piles of them await destruction. An enterprising Nebraskan has a better idea: turn 'em into personal aquariums.

Jake Harms, a 28-year-old in Omaha, Neb., first got the idea when the office where he worked wanted to toss a defunct iMac. He brought it home and tinkered with it, transforming it into an aquarium. (Hat tip to Inhabitat's Yuka Yoneda.)

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His process involves taking an Apple G3 iMac, disassembling it and then polishing each case to make it look new. Then he installs a custom 3-gallon fish tank where the monitor used to be, along with a filter, custom rope light, light switch and power cord.

A friend saw it and asked for one. And then another wanted one. And another. Harms made a website to sell his "iMacquariums" and then got overwhelmed with orders. Currently he has a bunch of iMacs awaiting customization and just needs capital to buy all the equipment for converting them.

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He's also selling a do-it-yourself kit with all the hardware needed, including the tank. The kit comes with a warning: "Danger! Do at your own risk!" Those monitors do hold a lot of volts.

"I save discarded computers that are on their way to be destroyed at electronics disposal facilities and I give them a new life," he said in a video about his project on the fundraising site Kickstarter. As of today, he's raised more than $7,400 of his $5,000 goal.

Crumpled Electronics Keep Working

Even though funding won't come through until April 16, Harms has received such a huge response that he's already started buying new materials. He's also posted photos showing rows of iMacs just waiting to be converted.

Have to hand it to the guy: Those computers never had such great resolution.

Photo: An "iMacquarium" made from a DIY kit. Credit: Jake Harms

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