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.

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY 

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.

Recycled Plastic Stops Hurricane-Force Projectiles

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

---

Email:

---

Planter Turns Pee into Fertilizer: DNews Nugget

Planter Turns Pee into Fertilizer: Go to a big city that limits public bathrooms for "Customers Only" and you're sure to smell the distinct aromas of urine emanating from alleyways and building corners. Everyone pees. So why not use that liquid to nourish a city's plant life? That's what a team of designers in San Francisco wants to do. They've come up with the PPlanter, which transforms pee into fertilizer. The team, which entered their urban biofilter into the San Francisco Urban Prototyping Festival, are targeting homeless people and beer drinkers who really gotta go. At the PPlanter, men pee into the urinal; ladies use a "disposal funnel." A bamboo filtration system converts it into food for plants. An opaque stall door gives users some privacy. via The Atlantic Cities

GET MORE MUST-READ DNEWS NUGGETS HERE!

PPlanter Promo from Julia Schmitt on Vimeo.

---

Email:

---

LED Lamp Could Be Powered By Your Tears

The wilderness got you crying in your tent? No problem! This month, a Japanese company is coming out with an LED lantern that runs on saltwater.

With the catchy name "GH-LED10WBW," this portable light runs with as little as 350 milliliters of saline -- roughly a cup and a half, according to Tech-On writers Masaru Yoshida and Nikkei Monozukuri. OK, granted, that's an insane amount of crying, but a few drips could keep the light on slightly longer.

10 Gadgets to a Badass Dorm Room

The light works because saltwater acts like an electrolyte between magnesium and carbon rods inside the device, producing electricity, Gizmodo's Andrew Liszewski explained. The salty setup will be good for eight hours before requiring more saline. It could also hook into a USB cable and power small devices.

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY

The lantern will be released mid-month by the Japanese company Green House Co., Ltd., an IT manufacturer that usually produces peripherals like memory cards and cables. This new LED lantern fits with the company's green focus on reducing air pollution, waste, wastewater and lessening their products' potential impacts on environment.

Much though I enjoy the thought of contact lens rinse doing double-duty in the mountains, the lamp still requires some water mixed with a set amount of salt in a separate bag. The magnesium rod also needs replacing after up to 120 hours. At that rate, a rechargeable battery might just be easier. Saltwater and electronics don't always play well together, either.

TOP 10: Fastest Electric Vehicles

This lantern strikes me as more of a novelty. If things really get desperate out on the trail, my keychain has a powerful little LED that still works after all these years.

Photo: This LED light can generate electricity from saltwater. Credit: Green House Co., Ltd. via Tech-On

---

Email:

---

Fuel Cells Turns Waste Into Electricity

Waste not, want not...even when it comes to electricity.

Waste treatment plants may soon have a new way to treat wastewater that will also generate electricity. Oregon State University has developed a method using microbial fuel cells that can generate 10 to 50 times more electricity from waste treatment plants than methods that use similar cells. 

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY

ANALYSIS: Fuel Cell Uses Brain Power

Currently, waste treatment plants use a process called "activated sludge" to speed up the decomposition process of solids in waste water. This uses microbes to break down organic material. During this process, anaerobic organisms (that don't require oxygen) convert organic materials to methane.

It's effective but has environmental drawbacks because methane is a greenhouse gas.

OSU's microbial fuel cell uses microorganisms to break down the particles directly on an anode, which generates electrons and protons. These transfer from the anode to a cathode (terminals where electricity flows in and out) inside of the fuel cell which creates an electric current. 

Engineers on the project say the method was improved by reducing the space between the anode and cathode and using advanced microbes. This made it possible to produce more than two kilowatts per cubic meter of waste.

NEWS: Antarctic Moss Lives Off Penguin Poop

So, why is this important? According to a press release from OSU, 3 percent of electrical energy in the United States and other countries is used to treat waste water. Most of that electricity comes from coal, oil or gas.

A fuel cell process could make it so that waste treatment plants can create their own electricity to power their facilities.

If this process is put into place, treatment plants could even sell the excess electricity. Now we can't just focus on the wonders of sewage, this process can also be used for breweries, animal waste, dairy byproducts and water treatment plants.

A full pilot study will be underway soon in the hopes of moving the concept towards commercial use.

via Engadget

Credit: Oregon State University 

 

---

Email:

---

Reusable Water System For Beverage Producers

This summer, parts of the Midwest and West are experiencing terrible drought, and worldwide fresh sources of water are declining. A new technology unveiled by GE could potentially saves millions of gallons of water a day that would otherwise go down the drain at beverage bottling companies. The technology is a water purifying program called AquaSel, and in initial tests at an Asian bottling plant, it reduced wasted water to less than 1 percent of the total amount brought in.

BLOG: Future Displays Made of Water and Air

To use local water for bottling beverages, companies typically purify it using a process called reverse osmosis, which forces water through a membrane to remove unwanted salts. Normally after using reverse osmosis, the company can use 80 percent of that water for beverage production. The remaining 20 percent contains salt concentrations and is called brine, which is dumped as waste.

GE’s system treats the waste water using a technology called a non-thermal brine concentrator (NTBC). It contains a component that removes salt from the brine and then uses a chemical and mechanical process on the remaining solution to precipitate salt crystals out of it.

The process has significantly reduced the amount of freshwater needed by 10 to 20 percent. That amount may seem small, but when it amounts to millions of gallons saved annually, it can make a huge difference in how water is used and conserved all over the world.

Credit: Charlie Nucci/Corbis

---

Email:

---

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.

PHOTOS: 7 Places Poo Will Power The Future

DNEWS VIDEO: Gadgets and Gizmos

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

---

Email:

---

Digital Recycle Bins Land in London

London is prepping to host the 2012 Olympic Games this summer. That means a lot of garbage. To reduce litter, the city is placing digital recycling bins around town that will display the latest news, while also collecting 1.65 tons of material every year. The receptacles, designed by London-based Renew, also display alerts and public transportation delays or emergencies.

BLOG: Tsunamis Buried Ancient Olympics Site

LCD screens on both sides of the bin communicate with one another through a network of news content powered by partners like Bloomberg News, Time Out and the London Stock Exchange. A strong outer layer and a body made of glass-reinforced polymer house the screens that are backlit with LED lights and adaptive brightness capabilities. So far, 25 bins are in place, but will rise to 200 in time for the summer games.

Credit: Renew

---

Email:

---

Poo-fueled Motorcycle Passes on Gas

Travel to a developing country and you may encounter hog toilets: outhouses built over pig pens, where hungry swine anxiously consume what's dropped down the hole and essentially use it as fuel. More or less, a similar idea has recently been digested in Japan, only the toilet sits over a different kind of hog.

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY

PHOTOS: 7 Places Poo Will Power the Future

The country's leading toilet maker, Toto, has created Toilet Bike Neo, a talking hybrid toilet-motorcycle that runs entirely on -- you guessed it -- human waste. The turd trike is part of Toto's Green Challenge campaign to reduce half of all bathroom carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2017.

Starting this week from Toto's headquarters in Kitakyushu, the biogas-fueled motorcycle embarked upon its multicity tour of Japan, during which it hopes not only to stir dialogue about conservation, but likely move a few bowels along the way. The tour even includes a pit stop at a butt-shaped boulder in Nakatsu.

BLOG: Rainbow Poo Coming to a Toilet Bowl Near You

As it motors its way to Tokyo, Toilet Bike Neo will also be wowing spectators with other bells and whistles. Besides talking and playing music, the bike also uses residual light imagery to write messages in the air as it drives by.

No word yet on whether that message is "Light a match."

For updates on Toilet Bike Neo and a chance to brush up on your Japanese, open the lid and check out Toto's blog devoted to the project.

 

[Via Inhabitat]

---

Email:

---

How to Run a City Like It's a Big Computer

A fire starts in a building and as people evacuate, the fire department is called in. It's rush hour, so the roads are jammed. In response, the traffic signals at every intersection are adjusted to allow emergency vehicles to pass unimpeded. Meanwhile, in the building itself, the fire alarm system automatically turns on lights to guide people to safety. Water flow is adjusted in the area to make sure that the firefighters have enough.

BLOG: IBM's Watson To Advise Doctors

This is the scenario envisioned by Living PlanIT, a European technology company that wants to build smarter cities using an operating system, called Urban OS, that works similar to operating systems in ordinary computers. The key is coordinating a network of sensors that would feed the information into the operating. By monitoring waste, water use, traffic flows and even the temperatures of individual rooms, the entire city could be run at peak efficiency. That means saving energy, water and even reducing the waste that goes into landfills (Living PlanIT says it has a system for extracting useful compounds from garbage). It also means being able to respond to emergencies more quickly than now.

DNEWS VIDEO: FUTURE OF CARS, TRAINS AND PLANES

The Urban OS will run PlaceApps, the equivalent of apps on a smart phone. These apps, however, would control vital systems in buildings. The OS would also be open to independent developers, and the whole system could even connect to individual smart phones to monitor household appliances, for example.

The company is building a demonstration project in Paredes, Portugal, called PlanIT Valley, though it will be a few years before it is fully up and running.

BLOG: Could New York Become a Premier Digital City?

There are a few issues that will need to be addressed. Privacy is one, as well as the possibility of hacking. Then there’s the relative openness of the system. Living PlanIT has several technology partners but it isn’t clear how open the standards used will be; if the UrbanOS is designed in a way similar to Apple’s OS products, then it means a given city would be locked into a single set of vendors. A more open system would solve that, but then one would have to decide how open -- and how robust -- they should be. That said, with a single platform running a whole city any problems could be addressed more easily.

Via: Physorg, The Engineer

Image: PlanIT

---

Email:

---

Bacteria, Salt Water Make Hydrogen Fuel

The 'hydrogen economy' requires a lot of things, but first is an easy and cheap supply of hydrogen. There are lots of ways to make it, but most of them don't produce large quantities quickly or inexpensively. 

Professor Bruce Logan, director of the Hydrogen to Energy Center at Penn State University, has found a way to change that. He used a process called reverse electrodialysis, combined with some ordinary bacteria to get hydrogen out of water by breaking up its molecules.

PHOTOS: Top 10 Fastest Electric Vehicles

Water -- which is made of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen -- can be broken down with electricity. (This is a pretty common high school science experiment). The problem is that you need to pump a lot of energy into the water to break the molecules apart.

Logan thought there had to be a better way. He combined two methods of making electricity -- one from microbial fuel cell research and the other from reverse electrodialysis.

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY

In a microbial fuel cell, bacteria eat organic molecules and during digestion, release electrons.

In a reverse electrodialysis setup, a chamber is separated by a stack of membranes that allow charged particles, or ions, to move in only one direction. Filling the chamber with salt water on one side and fresher water on the other causes ions to try and move to the fresher side. That movement creates a voltage. Adding more membranes increases the voltage, but at a certain point it becomes unwieldy.

By putting the bacteria in the side of the reverse electrodialysis chamber with the fresh water, and using only 11 membranes, Logan was able to generate enough voltage to generate hydrogen. Ordinarily he would need to generate about 0.414 volts. With this system, he can get .8 volts, nearly double. (The microbial part of the cell generates 0.3 volts and the RED system creates about 0.5.)

NEWS: Air, Sugar Power New Human Fuel Cell

Using seawater, some less salty wastewater with sewage or other organic matter in it and the bacteria, Logan's apparatus can produce about 1.6 cubic meters of hydrogen for every cubic meter of liquid through the system of chambers and membranes. Another bonus is that less energy goes into pumping the water -- if anything, flow rates and pressure have to be kept relatively low so as not to damage the membranes. 

Making hydrogen cheaper is a necessity if hydrogen cars are to be a reality. Some car companies already make hydrogen-powered models. The state of Hawaii is already experimenting with hydrogen fuel systems. Producing cheaper, abundant hydrogen -- especially from sewer water and seawater -- is a big step in that direction.

Image: Bruce Logan, Penn State University.

---

Email:

---