high tech africa

Timbuktu Chronicles: Basket Car

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:11:00 +0000

Timbuktu Chronicles: Basket Car: Continuing a tradition of tricked out transport.In Ibadan,Nigeria an automobile with a woven exterior, from Obaniyi (aka 'Alapere'of 'King Jossy Cane Productions'-08121687680):

'Africa's hackers are today's world-class tech innovators'

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:04:00 +0000

Timbuktu Chronicles: 'Africa's hackers are today's world-class tech inn...: Ethan Zuckerman writes in Wired: Growing up in the US, I didn't have much first-hand knowledge of technological progress in other countries. I assumed some countries were rich, which meant they had lots of cars, computers and electricity, whereas others were poor, which meant that most people cooked on charcoal, used kerosene for light and went through their lives without making a phone call. I'd developed a (not uncommon) cognitive shortcut: technological progress happens in parallel, so countries are high-tech or low-tech, never a blend of the two.

One trip to sub-Saharan Africa is all it takes to demonstrate the failings of this mental shortcut. Wireless ISPs were common in the Ghanaian capital of Accra before public Wi-Fi nodes were widespread in the US. My hacker friends in Lagos work from taxicabs, logging on to 4G networks. In Kenya, 70 percent of adults use M-Pesa, a phone-based payment system, to buy groceries and send money to family. On much of the African content, telecoms infrastructure is world class, whereas transport, power and other infrastructures lag far behind...[continue reading]
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Next-Generation Quantum Space Propulsion System

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:46:00 +0000

From: HumanIPO

by-Galgallo Duba Fayo

A 19-year-old Egyptian university student called Aisha Mustafa has invented a propulsion device intended to offer spacecrafts a new method and cheaper means of energy consumption.

The propulsion device promises chances of using quantum physics and chemical reactions in artificial satellites, instead of the current radioactive-based jets and ordinary rocket engines.

Mustafa’s device is based on a scientific mix between quantum physics, space technology, chemical reactions and electrical sciences.

Mustafa said the inventions generates energy for space vehicles from electric energy formed by Casimir-polder force, which occurs between separate surfaces and objects in a vacuum and by the zero-point energy considered as the lowest state of energy.

The device uses reflective panels for additional force which resembles photovoltaic solar cells.

At present, artificial satellites, spacecrafts and space vehicles depend on rocket gas engines that use forced gas at a supersonic speed, or chemical reactions rockets propelled by solid or liquid fuels such as radionuclide or petroleum. Others use electrically propelled probes, which depend on thrusting force via accelerating ions.

The physics student at Sohag University told EGYNews agency she has patented the device with Egyptian Academy of scientific Research and Technology (ASRT).

The invention is related to a hypothetical concept of a jet propulsion called “Differential Sail”, theoretically created by NASA’s retired professor Marc G. Millis -- who led NASA breakthrough propulsion physics project.

Dr. Ahmed Fikry, Mustafa’s supervisor, said the invention would be highly beneficial in several fields and areas of industries once adopted.

The 19-year-old says she aims at testing her invention at major scientific research organisations hence the possibility of applying it in upcoming space missions.

The new invention, analysts say, is expected to make space travels, easier, cheaper and faster in future.

A Vision To Help

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:22:00 +0000

From: Physorg

via- University of California - San Diego

Engineering students design bare-bones microscope for clinics in developing world

Students at the Jacobs School of Engineering are working to develop a cheaper, lighter, multi-function microscope that could be used in clinics in developing countries. Their prototype will be flown to Mozambique this summer and field tested at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in the country’s capital, Maputo.

Their goal is to design a three-in-one device that can be used as a brightfield and fluorescent microscope as well as a spectrophotometer to examine everything from blood cells to bacteria. Traditional 2-in-one microscopes can cost more than $50,000—and none have historically been equipped for spectroscopy as well. “We are aiming for under $500,” said Dr. Eliah Aronoff-Spencer, a physician scientist in UC San Diego’s infectious disease department and the project’s sponsor. The low-cost microscope has another advantage: it’s run by and sends the images it captures to a laptop or iPad so physicians can start using and sharing data right away.

Dr. Aronoff-Spencer is one of the physicians partnering with Mozambique doctors to improve research, training and technology in the country as part of a five-year, $12.5-million award from the U.S. Medical Education Partnership Initiative. Mozambique badly needs medical equipment, the UC San Diego doctor explained. The country of 20 million residents, and less than 1,000 doctors, only has two functioning medical schools and is building two more.
Engineering undergraduates said building the microscope is the best learning experience they’ve had on campus.

“It really brings home all the issues we talk about in class,” said Kyle Stewart, one of the four mechanical engineering seniors working on the device. “All that becomes real when you work on this project.”
Stewart said he had a great internship last summer. “But I didn’t learn anywhere near what I’ve learned from this.”

The students are now on their third prototype for the microscope and estimate there will be at least three more before the quarter is over. The goal is a 6 by 6 by 13 inches box with different trays that allow for different imaging techniques.
Their decision to keep slide trays stationary, and the optics mobile, is what made the device possible, said Leonardo Costello, one of the four students working on the project. In a traditional microscope, it’s the other way around.

The device uses a CMOS chip in the imaging unit and a full CCD chip to take spectrometry pictures in any position. The ultimate goal is to image objects down to 0.5 microns in diameter. A hair’s breadth is about 100 microns.

The project has become a full-time job for the students, who have been spending eight to 14 hours a day, five days a week, in the lab at EBU II. “It’s to the point where people are surprised if they don’t see us in here,” Stewart joked.

All say they knew they wanted to be engineers from a young age. Stewart has played with LEGOs since he was 6 years old and learned how to use LEGO Mindstorms as part of a middle school gifted and talented students program. “I’ve always liked making things, so everything pointed to engineering,” he said. He is going to graduate school at San Diego State University.

Reginald Ballesteros is following in the footsteps of his father, who is a civil engineer. He will be interning at Goodrich Aerostructures this summer. In the fall, he will be going to Santa Clara University for a master’s degree in mechatronics.

Costello’s father was a general contractor. Costello, who was home schooled until he came to UC San Diego, often got to spend time with him on the job. The younger Costello also spent a lot of time in the family’s garage, building various creations. He recently accepted a job at North American Repower, a company that specializes in heavy-duty natural gas engine technology.

Sean Patno is responsible for much of the user interface and software aspects of the project. He will probably land a job as a software engineer after he graduates, he said.
Dr. Aronoff-Spencer said he has been impressed by the students’ work—and by their work ethic.

“They are working harder than any students I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Timbuktu Chronicles: Atlantis Science Club

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:14:00 +0000

Timbuktu Chronicles: Atlantis Science Club: In Enugu Nigeria, Ugo Eze of Automobile Laboratories launches the Atlantis Science Club "where science and creativity meet "

Timbuktu Chronicles: WinSenga | Hand-Held Pregnancy Scanner

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:41:00 +0000

Timbuktu Chronicles: WinSenga | Hand-Held Pregnancy Scanner: Ventures Africa reports : Second-year students at the Makerere University College of Computing and Information Technology (CIT) ,in Uganda, have invented a hand-held pregnancy scan-like machine called the WinSega.....

Timbuktu Chronicles: Suleiman Famro's ‘Farmking Extractor’ cassava proc...

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:25:00 +0000

Timbuktu Chronicles: Suleiman Famro's ‘Farmking Extractor’ cassava proc...:
From the Leadership website : Famro has invented a multi-purpose crop processing machine branded ‘farmking extractor’.The machine was designed, primarily for the processing of root crops, especially cassava.

The other benefits offered by the processing machine is the opportunity for farmers to extract all the useful by-products of cassava for other economic uses.

"Pressure Retarded Osmosis Power Generation"

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:03:00 +0000

From: SPECTRUM.IEEE

by- Dave Levitan

River Mouths Could Offer Hundreds of Gigawatts of Clean Energy

There are a lot of rivers in africa and in the world, and a lot of places where those rivers discharge into an ocean. And according to a study published recently in Environmental Science & Technology, taking advantage of even 10 percent of those interfaces of fresh and salt water could provide more than 150 gigawatts of power.

The process is called pressure-retarded osmosis. Basically, a membrane divides fresh water coming in from the river with the salt water of the ocean or sea. The fresh water flows through the membrane due to the salinity gradient, and the pressure difference spins a turbine to generate electricity. Simple, no fuel required, and clean.

The total river discharge globally is about 37,000 cubic kilometers (somewhere in the vicinity of 10 quadrillion gallons); the new study suggests that if 10 percent of that could be exploited using pressure-retarded osmosis, it would generate 157 gigawatts of power. (For comparison: The U.S. has an electricity capacity of just over 1,000 gigawatts.) And that's 157 gigawatts of emissions-free power; the same amount from coal-fired power plants would release a billion tons of CO2 every year.

The authors of the study, Ngai Yin Yip and Menachem Elimelech of Yale University, might overshoot a bit with one number: they estimate that this power could provide electricity for 520 million people. They base that on the DOE's Energy Information Administration per-capita electricity consumption numbers, but somewhere between one and two billion people still lack electricity access. So, a couple of caveats to what seems like a really good idea: somehow using 10 percent of the world potential for river discharge power is an immense undertaking and extremely unlikely to happen on time scales that matter for emissions reductions; and no, 157 gigawatts will not provide power for half a billion people.

Still, this seems worth doing. There is one prototype facility already in place, in Norway, which we'll watch closely to see if it delivers on the concept's promise.

Wind To Water

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:50:00 +0000

From: TreeHugger

by-Megan Treacy

Wind Turbine Makes 1,000 Liters of Clean Water a Day in the Desert

A cool new concept being tested in the Abu Dhabi desert uses a wind turbine to condense water from the air and pump it into storage tanks for filtration and purification. The technology was created by Eole Water after its founder, Marc Parent, was inspired by the water he could collect from his air conditioner unit while living in the Caribbean. He began thinking of ways that water could be condensed from air in areas without access to grid power and the wind turbine concept was born.

The 30-kW wind turbine houses and powers the whole system. Air is taken in through vents in the nose cone of the turbine and then heated by a generator to make steam. The steam goes through a cooling compressor that creates moisture which is then condensed and collected. The water produced is sent through pipes down to stainless steel storage tanks where it's filtered and purified.

A prototype of the technology has been installed in Abu Dhabi since October and has been capable of producing 500 to 800 liters of clean water a day from the dry desert air. Eole Water says that volume can increase to 1,000 liters a day with a tower-top system. The system requires wind speeds of 15 miles per hour or higher to produce water.

This technology uses a simple process that has been experimented with in a variety of designs, but this is the first powered by a wind turbine. That component makes it able to produce large quantities of clean water in areas that don't have ready access to it without requiring grid power, which makes it especially promising for remote communities and disaster areas. Eole has already landed 12 industrial partners for manufacturing the turbines.

DIY Drug Stores Coming Your Way..BeSpoke Health Care

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:41:00 +0000

From: Physorg

Provided by- GLA

A new 3D printing process developed at the University of Glasgow could revolutionise the way scientists, doctors and even the general public create chemical products.

Professor Lee Cronin, Gardiner Chair of Chemistry at the University, believes his research could lead to the development of home chemical fabricators which consumers could use to design and create medicine at home.

A new research paper, published in the journal Nature Chemistry today, outlines how the process has been proven to work. Using a commercially-available 3D printer operated by open-source computer-aided design software, Professor Cronin and his team have built what they call ‘reactionware’, special vessels for chemical reactions which are made from a polymer gel which sets at room temperature.

By adding other chemicals to the gel deposited by the printer, the team have been able to make the vessel itself part of the reaction process. While this is common in large-scale chemical engineering, the development of reactionware makes it possible for the first time for custom vessels to be fabricated on a laboratory scale.

Professor Cronin said: “It’s long been possible to have lab materials custom-made to include windows or electrodes, for example, but it’s been expensive and time-consuming. We can fabricate these reactionware vessels using a 3D printer in a relatively short time. Even the most complicated vessels we’ve built have only take a few hours.

“By making the vessel itself part of the reaction process, the distinction between the reactor and the reaction becomes very hazy. It’s a new way for chemists to think, and it gives us very specific control over reactions because we can continually refine the design of our vessels as required.

“For example, our initial reactionware designs allowed us to synthesize three previously unreported compounds and dictate the outcome of a fourth reaction solely by altering the chemical composition of the reactor.”

Although the technology they are developing is still at an early stage, the team, comprised of researchers from the University’s School of Chemistry and School of Physics and Astronomy, is also considering the long-term implications of developments in 3D printing technology.

Professor Cronin added: “3D printers are becoming increasingly common and affordable. It’s entirely possible that, in the future, we could see chemical engineering technology which is prohibitively expensive today filter down to laboratories and small commercial enterprises.

“Even more importantly, we could use 3D printers to revolutionise access to healthcare in the developing world, allowing diagnosis and treatment to happen in a much more efficient and economical way than is possible now.

“We could even see 3D printers reach into homes and become fabricators of domestic items, including medications. Perhaps with the introduction of carefully-controlled software ‘apps’, similar to the ones available from Apple, we could see consumers have access to a personal drug designer they could use at home to create the medication they need.”

see also:

3D Printers: Dawn Of Personalized Medical Care

Timbuktu Chronicles: Hydroponics production in Mauritius

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:19:00 +0000

Timbuktu Chronicles: Hydroponics production in Mauritius: From Nawsheen's world : Sweet Pepper grown under hydroponics culture in a Greenhouse Presently, most of the crops produced in Mauriti...

Morse Code- Based Texting For Deaf Phone Users

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:58:00 +0000

From: SciDev

by-Lucar Laursen

Indian designer develops Morse-based texting for deaf phone users

An Indian graduate student has development a mobile phone application that enables people with sight and hearing impairments to send and receive text messages.

The PocketSMS application was developed for Android smartphones, which are generally cheaper than Apple's iPhones. The application converts text into Morse code vibrations so that users can "feel" the message.

Regular mobile phones already use vibrations to alert users to incoming calls or messages. Anmol Anand, a graduate student at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in Delhi, realised that the same vibrations could also convey text message content.

He used the open source Google App Inventor to write a new application to covert each letter in a text message into Morse code — in which each letter corresponds to a set of a short and long tones — and then used the phone's hardware to vibrate for each letter.

An accompanying application, MorseTrainer, has been designed to teach deaf-blind users Morse code, and to use it without having to rely on smartphone keyboards, which can be difficult to see.

Text messaging is growing in importance as a tool for safety and social inclusion. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo late last year, for instance, a group of deaf users protested for their safety late last year when the government shut down text messaging services, the BBC reported.

In Uganda, the National Association of the Deaf is working on a project in which hearing students and deaf students learn how to send text messages together.

"We saw that deaf kids were not integrating," said education consultant Sacha DeVelle, who was volunteering in Kabale with the charity Cambridge to Africa.

When teachers began showing pairs of hearing and deaf students how to send text messages, deaf children became far more integrated into the school community. "It encourages them to go on and do what they want to do, [for example] go to university or set up a shop," DeVelle said.

Anand's collaborator, Arun Mehta — president of the Bidirectional Access Promotion Society (BAPSI) — said that internet access is just as important for the disabled as everyone else.

He said that the introduction of text-to-speech screen reading software had meant that "the gap between the sighted and the blind has shrunk dramatically. We would like to do that for the deaf-blind too."

Inclusive technology can help disabled people take part in everyday life, said Mohamed Jemni, a computer scientist at the School of Science and Technology in Tunisia.

Jemni says he is now testing an application to turn text messages into animated avatars which "sign" the message visually. He said the underlying software could be customised to suit national sign languages in use around the world.

see also: Rice Farmers App

"MineSweeper"

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:08:00 +0000

From: Future Of Tech

by- Neal Ungerleider

Piano inspires 17-year-old to invent land-mine detector

17-year-old Marian Bechtel might live in Pennsylvania, where land mines are not a common occurrence, but she has still managed to invent the prototype for a brand-new minesweeper.

The device, which cost far lower than current technology, uses sound waves to figure out where the deadly devices are. The combination of sensitive microphones and a seismic vibrator connected to a standard metal detector was tested, successfully, on mock plastic and metal land mines. It was a finalist in the recently concluded 2012 Intel Science Talent Search.

"My parents are both geologists," she says. "Years ago they got connected with an international group of scientists working on a project called RASCAN, developing a holographic radar device for detecting land mines. During the summer before eighth grade, I met all of these scientists and talked with them about their work and the land mine issue.
I was really touched and inspired by what they had to say, and wanted to get involved in science and possibly land mine detection."

Where does a 17-year-old find inspiration for life-saving innovation? In her music practice:

"I noticed that when I played certain chords or notes on the piano, the strings on a nearby banjo would resonate," says Bechtel. "I heard this, and it was almost like the story of the apple falling on Newton’s head -- I thought that maybe I could use the same principle to find landmines. So, I began doing research and talking with scientists in humanitarian de-mining and acoustics; three years later I had built a prototype."

Sean Sennott of the FDW Corp. and Lorenzo Capineri of the University of Florence also provided assistance. In addition, Bechtel was the recipient of a fellowship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development; the video clip below contains an interview of her with inventor Dean Kamen.

The winners of the Intel Science Talent Search, who were named on March 13, also include Nithin Tumma of Michigan, who won $100,000 for his research into breast cancer treatments, and Andrey Sushko of Washington state, who won $75,000 for developing a tiny motor for use in microrobotics. Other winners included projects on microscopic worms, Cherednik algebras, and the use of non-speech patterns of sound to convey information.

Coconut and Mango Waste: An Electric Cocktail?

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:18:00 +0000

From: SciDev

by- Syful Islam

Go on a tropical beach vacation and chances are you'll sip a piña colada or a mango passion as you watch the waves lap at the shore. The waste generated to make the key ingredient in those cocktails could be used to power up rural communities in South and Southeast Asia, a study suggests.

Researchers in the United States say agricultural waste from coconut and mango farming could generate significant amounts of off-grid electricity for rural communities in South and South-East Asia.

Many food crops have a tough, inedible part which cannot be used to feed livestock or fertilise fields. Examples of this material — known as 'endocarp' — include coconut, almond and pistachio shells, and the stones of mangoes, olives, plums, apricots and cherries.

Endocarp is high in a chemical compound known as lignin. High-lignin products can be heated to produce an energy-rich gas that can be used to generate electricity.

The researchers identified high-endocarp-producing regions of the world – and noted that coconut and mango agriculture account for 72 per cent of total global endocarp production. Coconut production alone accounted for 55 per cent.

Most coconut endocarp comes from South and South-East Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

They then overlaid these findings with energy consumption data to identify communities with little access to electricity, who could benefit from endocarp-based energy.

"We noticed that production was unevenly distributed around the globe, which could make a very significant contribution to the energy budget in some countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines, [as well as] regions of India," Tom Shearin, co-author and a systems analyst at University of Kentucky, United States, told SciDev.Net.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences , the researchers said endocarp bioenergy could meet up to 30 per cent of total energy needs in Sri Lanka, 25 per cent in the Philippines, 13 per cent in Indonesia, and 3 per cent in India.

Shearin said endocarp was preferable to crop-based biofuels as it had no value as a food item. "Its exploitation as energy source does not compete with food production," he said.

Wais Kabir, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, told SciDev.Net that most of the country's agricultural waste, including non-edible by-products, was already used to generate bioenergy.

"I don't think that supply of adequate volumes of coconut shell, [for example] to run a power plant, is possible at this stage until we go for its production in a planned way," he said.

The researchers acknowledged that efforts to scale up infrastructure to deliver decentralised bio-energy in developing countries would face economic, technical and social challenges.

Advocates of an endocarp-based energy sector would also have to persuade investors that it would be financially viable.

Abser Kamal, managing director of Grameen Shakti, a renewable energy firm in Bangladesh, said: "We have to check if these are cost-effective or not".

Islam Sharif, CEO of the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), a state-run renewable energy financing firm in Bangladesh, said IDCOL would encourage investment in endocarp-based energy production if it was found to be financially viable.

Turning Human Waste To Energy and Clean Water

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:17:00 +0000

Original Article From: Imperial College

Green light to a prototype device for harvesting energy and clean drinking water from human waste.

A project from a team of researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Manchester and Durham University beat more than 2,000 other proposals to receive funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a prototype system for recovering drinkable water and harvesting hydrogen energy from human faecal waste.

The researchers believe the technology could provide an inexpensive device for people in the developing world to generate clean water and energy from waste and a sustainable source of hydrogen energy that could be used to power homes in developed countries.

The researchers say that the device will be portable, allowing installation in homes and remote locations. The technology is based on a porous scaffold that holds bacteria and metal nano-particles. When faecal sludge is filtered through the scaffolding these particles will react with the waste mater to generate the recycled resources. These can either be used immediately or stored for later use.

The first stage of the project will see the team developing a stand-alone sanitation device, making it easier and cheaper for people in developing countries to adopt the technology where large sewage networks may not exist. Where sewage infrastructure is in place, the technology could be hooked into the system, minimising implementation costs for home owners.

In the long-term, the researchers aim to further develop their device into a ‘pick and mix’ series of recycling units that can extract the types of resources most useful for users such as: electrolytes, used for generating electricity; methane, for energy; and ammonia, which is a widely used fertiliser. The team says their device would be an advantage over other systems currently on the market that can only recover one or two resources at most.

Dr Martyn McLachlan, Department of Materials at Imperial, says: “In the future, we may see homes in the UK generating their own clean water, energy and fertilizer simply by doing what comes naturally to us all once or twice day. More important are the implications for developing countries, where the provision of clean drinking water is essential for supporting life and self-generated energy could be used to support economic growth.”

The researchers plan to have a prototype ready to demonstrate by 2013. The project team and the concept were a product of a recent Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council "Inspire in the Physical Sciences" workshop.

Scrap To Wind Power

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:00:00 +0000

From: Future Of Tech

by- Ariel Schwartz

Solar power has become the clean energy source du jour for the developing world, and for good reason — it’s relatively inexpensive and many solar panels are robust. But solar panels are often shipped internationally (or at least from distant locations), which makes them less than ideal, especially if a part needs to be fixed or replaced. Access:energy wants to bring a different kind of renewable energy — wind power — to Kenyans by teaching them to make their own turbines out of scrap metal and car parts.

More than 80 percent of Kenya’s population (about 30 million people) lacks access to electricity. The easiest way to get that power to residents is to teach them to make it. So Access:energy — a division of the Access:collective, which invests in appropriate technologies for East Africa — is teaching local Kenyan technicians to build the Night Heron wind turbine — a product that the organization calls the first "commercially viable, zero-import wind turbine."

The turbine generates power at two to three times lower cost than equivalent solar PV panels, can generate enough power for 50 rural homes (about 2.5 kWh per day) and, most importantly, can be built using locally sourced materials. The Night Heron turbines can also be laid out in modular arrays to accommodate growing need.

The uses are virtually endless: allowing people to charge mobile phones from home, giving clinics enough power to keep vaccines cool, providing non-polluting (read: non-kerosene) light for kids who want to study, and providing refrigeration for fishermen.

By teaching locals to build the turbines, Access:energy creates skilled jobs and breeds energy independence at the same time. It’s a big mission, but the organization is making progress. Access:energy recently announced that its first customer had put down money for a wind-powered "energy hub" for his house. Another energy hub is being built for a community radio station. And Access:energy has raised more than $15,000 on an IndieGoGo campaign (one perk: a hunky Kenyan mechanic calendar).
Check out the campaign here.

"Prop App" short for Property Application

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 04:41:00 +0000

From: itunes

Developed by architect and software developer Eze Angelo this Mobile App enables detailed visual property inspection of residential and commercial properties,with focus on Houses, apartment/flats. Light industrial units and offices.

It provides a means for the systemic management of building inspection data gathered by the, causal and/or professionals user into valuable information that can be used in any html capable and \/or text formatting application

The Application is very User friendly and very intuitive in operation as it has been designed to require minimal typed text input .It is generally a process of data input for the building type selected, then the use of drop down menus and the taking photographs of the its features.

The PropApp is a standalone App. All the inspection data collected is stored on your device There is no transmission of information from the App to any third parties. Except by you and only if you decide to, after you have transferred the data to your Mac/PC

Other features include:

The ability to adding an extra ten(10) features to the extensive standard list of features.
The ability to retake a photograph by simply tapping on the thumbnail of the photograph you wish to replace.
The ability to add more forms and categories if the standard categories and features are insufficient .
The ability to see inspections that you have completed.
The ability to read and use saved inspections in any browser or modern word processor
An integrated Quick Start Guide
An integrated User Manual

Waste To Gas Production

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:17:00 +0000

From: OdiliNet

by- Akinpelu Dada

Lagos begins gas production from waste dumps

Domestic waste, which used to pose a serious challenge to Lagos State, is about to become a huge revenue earner for the state.

Some 15 years ago, solid waste management posed a serious challenge to the government, as Lagos was then regarded as the dirtiest city state in the world.

After some false starts, the government seemed to have got it right with the involvement of the private sector in waste management and the revamp of the state Waste Management Authority to make it more professional and result-oriented.

Having overcome the challenge, the state is now on the verge of turning waste into income generating products with the Landfill Gas Recovery and Utilisation Project.

The project, which is being executed by LAWMA in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme and the African Carbon Asset Development, is meant to capture methane gas from waste, utilise it for electricity, prevent the release of Greenhouse gasses into the environment, reduce Lagos' carbon footprint and ensure compliance with international standards on environmental governance.

The LGRUP is a component of the Lagos Integrated Solid Waste Management Project, which is a Public-Private Partnership project whereby the government will execute a 20-year concession agreement with the private sector.

Among other benefits, the LGRUP is meant to bequeath better environmental health and living standard; ensure job creation and investment opportunities; provide public utility and infrastructure through public-private partnership; wealth creation and market-based solution for waste.

The LISWMP is for the closure, collection and utilisation of landfill gas at the existing dumpsites; and the establishment of an integrated solid waste management facility comprising a material recovery facility, recycling and composting facility as well as sanitary landfill for residual use.

The objectives of the project are to fully harness and utilise alternative options available in managing waste, thus reducing reliance on landfill disposal as well as minimise the emission of greenhouse gases, while managing waste in an environmentally sound, socially responsible and financially sustainable manner.

LAWMA is in the process of implementing the second phase of the project under a consultancy contract. The first phase, which comprises pre-engineering design, commenced in February 2011 and should be completed within 12 to 18 months.

Starting with the Olusosun landfill site in Ojota, the Green Development Mechanism project will also be extended to the Abule-Egba and Solous landfill sites.

The Managing Director, LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya, said, "At the Olusosun landfill, we have developed gas wells to manage and recycle municipal solid waste into clean energy. Landfill gas can be generated 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

"Landfill gas is extracted from landfills using a series of wells and a blower or vacuum system. This system directs the collected gas to a central point where it can be processed and treated depending on the ultimate use for it.

"Landfill gas to energy projects do not only mean deceasing the hazards towards our climate; they also serve as a substitute for fossil fuels, such as natural gas. Landfill gas can be extracted for a variety of energy purposes, such as generation of electricity with engines, turbines, micro turbines and other emerging technologies."

more here:

Airborne Wind Power

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:01:00 +0000

From: Wikipedia & VentureBeat

Renewable Energy cheaper than Coal (RE

Makani was founded in 2006 as a key element of Google.Org's Renewable Energy cheaper than Coal (RE initiative. As A Stealth Start-Up The 24-Member Makani Power Has secured $5Million Dollars from second round returning investors Google Org.

In order to meet its goal of producing low-cost renewable energy, the Makani system uses tethered aircraft that fly a circular path similar to that of the tip of the blade of a conventional Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine, its most aerodynamically efficient part.

Makani Power is developing Airborne Wind Turbines (AWT) to extract energy from the powerful, consistent winds at high altitudes. Makani’s AWT is a rigid wing that flies at altitudes between 300 and 600 meters. Turbines on the leading edge of the wing face into the wind as it flies and generate energy, which is transmitted to the ground along a tether. Makani AWTs will produce energy at an unsubsidized real cost competitive with coal-fired power plants, the current benchmark of the lowest cost source of power.

According to some experts in the field, Makani is currently the world leader in the development of airborne wind power extraction systems...

see also; Wind Energy, Wind4Africa

TeleMedicine

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:44:00 +0000

From: Physorg

by-Anne Trafton

Successful human tests for first wirelessly controlled drug-delivery chip

About 15 years ago, MIT professors Robert Langer and Michael Cima had the idea to develop a programmable, wirelessly controlled microchip that would deliver drugs after implantation in a patient's body. This week, the MIT researchers and scientists from MicroCHIPS Inc. reported that they have successfully used such a chip to administer daily doses of an osteoporosis drug normally given by injection.

The results, published in the Feb. 16 online edition of Science Translational Medicine, represent the first successful test of such a device and could help usher in a new era of telemedicine — delivering health care over a distance, Langer says.
"You could literally have a pharmacy on a chip," says Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT. "You can do remote control delivery, you can do pulsatile drug delivery, and you can deliver multiple drugs."

In the new study, funded and overseen by MicroCHIPS, scientists used the programmable implants to deliver an osteoporosis drug called teriparatide to seven women aged 65 to 70. The study found that the device delivered dosages comparable to injections, and there were no adverse side effects.

These programmable chips could dramatically change treatment not only for osteoporosis, but also for many other diseases, including cancer and multiple sclerosis. "Patients with chronic diseases, regular pain-management needs or other conditions that require frequent or daily injections could benefit from this technology," says Robert Farra, president and chief operating officer at MicroCHIPS and lead author of the paper.
"Compliance is very important in a lot of drug regimens, and it can be very difficult to get patients to accept a drug regimen where they have to give themselves injections," says Cima, the David H. Koch Professor of Engineering at MIT. "This avoids the compliance issue completely, and points to a future where you have fully automated drug regimens."
Achieving precision

The MIT research team started working on the implantable chip in the mid-1990s. John Santini, then a University of Michigan undergraduate visiting MIT, took it on as a summer project under the direction of Cima and Langer. Santini, who later returned to MIT as a graduate student to continue the project, is also an author of the new paper.

In 1999, the MIT team published its initial findings in Nature, and MicroCHIPS was founded and licensed the microchip technology from MIT. The company refined the chips, including adding a hermetic seal and a release system that works reliably in living tissue. Teriparatide is a polypeptide and therefore much less chemically stable than small-molecule drugs, so sealing it hermetically to preserve it was an important achievement, Langer says.
The human clinical trial began in Denmark in January 2011. Chips were implanted during a 30-minute procedure at a doctor's office using local anesthetic, and remained in the patients for four months. The implants proved safe, and patients reported they often forgot they even had the implant, Cima says.

Chips used in the study stored 20 doses of teriparatide, individually sealed in tiny reservoirs about the size of a pinprick. The reservoirs are capped with a thin layer of platinum and titanium that melts when a small electrical current is applied, releasing the drug inside. MicroCHIPS is now working on developing implants that can carry hundreds of drug doses per chip.

Because the chips are programmable, dosages can be scheduled in advance or triggered remotely by radio communication over a special frequency called Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS). Current versions work over a distance of a few inches, but researchers plan to extend that range.

In the Science Translational Medicine study, the researchers measured bone formation in osteoporosis patients with the implants, and found that it was similar to that seen in patients receiving daily injections of teriparatide. Another notable result is that the dosages given by implant had less variation than those given by injection.
Once a version of the implant that can carry a larger number of doses is ready, MicroCHIPS plans to seek approval for further clinical trials, Farra says. The company has also developed a sensor that can monitor glucose levels. Eventually such sensors could be combined with chips that contain drug reservoirs, creating a chip that can adapt drug treatments in response to the patient's condition.

more here

LuminAID

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:52:00 +0000

From: Physorg

by-Nancy Owano

World populations who live without electricity including those in disaster-stricken areas in the wake of floods, earthquakes, and other calamities are who two Columbia University graduates want to help. That is why they have launched their campaign to deliver their solar-rechargeable lamp that packs flat and inflates to create a lightweight, waterproof lantern.

Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta, graduates from the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, have a goal to bring their solar-powered pillows to victims of disasters as well as the world’s needy. Their design, LuminAID,at first glance looks like a small boutique store carrier bag with a handle.

LuminAID is actually an inflatable plastic pillow with a thin solar panel and two coin cell batteries. The package can be inflated and deflated down to where it can be packed completely flat. Photovoltaic film is laminated to polyethelenevinyl acetate plastic. The LuminAID device inflates to produce a quality of light similar to a lantern. A white-dot pattern on the device diffuses the light.

It’s good for up to four hours of lighting at 35 lumens, or up to six hours at 20 lumens. The four hour setting, which is “High,” is designed for reading and task work. The six hour setting, which is “Low,” can provide households without electricity the light they need for safety or as a simple night light.

Four to six hours of sunlight are required for charging. The battery can be charged 800 times.Stork and Shreshta consider the lamp as a good alternative to dangerous kerosene lamps, which many global households with no access to electricity continue to use. Stories surface of small children and adults seriously burned from falling kerosene lamps or from lamps accidentally overturned. The LuminAID broader mission is to just bring light in an affordable size and design to those who need it.

Their plan to engineer the effort includes a “Buy One, Give One” concept. The LuminAID light is to sell for $25 (suggested uses are for travel or camping).Money which the LuminAID Fund collects will go to sending the lights to needy sites around the world. Desirable purposes for the light are so that families can read, write, and cook, so that students can study longer, and businesses can stay open later, as well as for disaster relief.

As a field test, LuminAID is working with organizations to distribute the light in Rajasthan, India, where they say one in two households lack electricity. The LuminAID lights will be used in rural schools, homes and by small-business owners.

Glaucoma Test In A Contact Lens

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:55:00 +0000

From: Technology Review

by-Lauren Gravitz

Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness, and without constant vigilance it can prove a very difficult disease to manage. But a Swiss biotech company has developed a monitoring system that allows physicians to keep track of their patients' symptoms over 24 hours.

Sensimed's "Triggerfish" system consists of a contact lens with embedded sensors that can pick up subtle physical changes in a patient's eye, and then wirelessly transmit that data to a receiver worn around his neck.

Despite decades of study, researchers still only poorly understand the causes of glaucoma, a group of diseases in which deterioration of the optic nerve can eventually lead to blindness. But controlling one symptom in particular--high intraocular pressure, which is caused by too much liquid inside the eye--appears to help prevent disease progression.

"Nowadays, glaucoma specialists live in the dark," says Kaweh Mansouri, an ophthalmologist who has been using the Sensimed system in his clinic at the University Hospital, Geneva. "We only get a few chances to see the patient and measure intraocular pressure, and we know this is a major drawback of how we diagnose and treat glaucoma."

Current methods for glaucoma diagnosis and monitoring are usually limited to single snapshots in time, taken at a visit to the eye doctor during daytime, when pressure tends to be at its lowest. But glaucoma specialists believe that one of the main contributors to disease progression is frequent changes in pressure over the course of a day, or high peaks during the night--something that, in the most serious cases, requires frequent measurement during an overnight hospitalization.

The Sensimed device, the first of its kind on the market, provides constant readings for a fraction of the price of a hospital stay. The company received safety approval for Triggerfish in Europe last year, and is hoping for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval by late 2011.
The Triggerfish lens is made of the same silicon hydrogel as many of the soft contact lenses currently on the market, but embedded within it is a microprocessor and a strain gauge that encircles its outer edge. When fluid accumulates in the eye, the diameter of the cornea changes, and that change is picked up by the strain gauge. Data is processed and then transmitted via radio frequency to a receiver.

In more than one-third of the 50 patients Mansouri has tested, the results led to a direct, immediate change in treatment, he says. If a person's intraocular pressure peaked at odd hours of the night, for example, he could now detect it and change medication doses to account for that. If prescription drugs didn't seem to be helping at all, he could change course and try surgery instead. "For the first time, we were able to look into the darkness of glaucoma, and we saw things happening during the night that were surprising," he says.

Ultimately, Sensimed believes it may be possible to use Triggerfish to detect glaucoma at earlier stages in people with a family history of the disease or other risk factors. If a high-risk patient has a relatively normal daytime pressure, says company president and CEO Jean MarcWismer, he might benefit from a preventative 24-hour monitoring session every once in a while. "We would like to be able to diagnose glaucoma earlier, before it actually causes damage that affects vision."

more here:

AirDrop

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:36:00 +0000

From: Tecca

by-Mariella Moon

Innovative irrigation system conjures water out of thin air

Fancy futuristic ideas leave all us in awe, but it's sometimes low-tech solutions like the AirDrop that can solve the problems we face today. The Airdrop is an irrigation system designed to take advantage of the process of condensation to produce water out of air. According to its creator, Australian Edward Linacre, it was inspired by the Namib Desert beetle that can subsist in arid conditions by collecting very small amounts of water from the air around it.

AirDrop uses a turbine to push air into its network of pipes underground, which is quickly cooled to soil temperature, thereby creating an environment with 100% humidity. Condensation then takes place naturally, and water produced from the air is collected in a tank that's kept underground to prevent evaporation in hot areas.

Crops are watered by pumping water directly from the tank. AirDrop is completely self-sufficient, and needs no external source of energy to work. During especially breezy times, the winds propel the turbine that drives the air into the tubes. But during calm days without winds, a solar panel collects the energy needed to move the turbine.

Linacre designed AirDrop (that recently won the 2011 James Dyson Award) because of the long-standing Australian drought that caused a number of farmer suicides in the country. He built a prototype of the system in his mother's backyard that produces a liter of water per day. But even if he's only been able to test it in a small-scale setting, he believes AirDrop can be implemented on a larger scale in the future as the no-frills, low-tech system is, in his own words, "perfect for rural farmers."

Revolutionary Water Disinfection Solution

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:07:00 +0000

Source: Philips

Philips Lighting has today announced the launch of a new, complete and innovative water disinfection solution, Philips InstantTrust. This solution is based on cutting-edge disinfection technology optimized for point-of-use applications. For the first time water can be disinfected instantly, efficiently and independent of water temperature.

Many consumers are concerned about the quality of drinking water, because the microorganisms present in water can make them ill. In emerging countries these concerns may be due to the water infrastructure, but also in western countries incidents can cause contamination with microorganisms. In North America alone 85% of child sickness and 65% of adult diseases are a result of water borne viruses and bacteria.

The new Philips InstantTrust solution can be integrated into any point-of use application including taps, water pitchers, under-the-sink water filters and portable counter-top systems. It solves many of the limitations of current UV disinfection technology and enables equipment manufacturers to provide consumers with access to safe drinking water: anytime, anywhere.

Philips InstantTrust is so compact in its size that it allows manufacturers to integrate the solution into smaller equipment than ever before and gives them stylistic freedom to design sleek products ideal for the small and modern home.

Furthermore, the revolutionary solution works instantly to produce safe water from the first second onwards, eliminating waiting time. It is unique due to its ability to work independently of water temperature and because it can be used for integration into both hot and cold water systems. Philips InstantTrust is ideal for instant disinfection of small quantities of cold water (up to flows of approximately 4 liters/minute).

Frank Kauffmann, General Manager Special Lighting said: “We are very proud to be launching this unique, state-of-the-art UV disinfection technology today: It is a testament to our continued commitment to developing innovative technologies that help enhance the health and quality of people’s lives.”

Ernest Sanderse, Marketing Manager UV Purification: “Thanks to this innovation safe water is now always within reach: anytime, anywhere. We are dedicated to working with leading equipment manufacturers of end-use products to make this technology available for people around the world.”

Philips Lighting has been at the forefront of UV technology for many years and has helped equipment manufacturers across different sectors including residential water, municipal drinking and waste water, industrial water, swimming pools and fish ponds to design effective water purification equipment by developing innovative and reliable UV solutions.

FRUIT LABEL DISSOLVES INTO ORGANIC SOAP

noreply@blogger.com (Chika Okafor) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:32:00 +0000

From: GizMag

by-Bridget Borgobello

As the preferred gift of teacher's pets and the daily, apotropaic fruit that keeps doctors away,

apples have somewhat of a goody-two shoes reputation. But actually, they've got a dirty side

to them. Just ask these guys who recently ranked apples atop their list of fruits and veggies

most contaminated with pesticides.

And those pesky stickers that always leave a gluey residue if

you can even pick them off with your fingernail...no wonder

apples got biblically tagged as the forbidden fruit.

New York based electrical engineer and designer Scott Amron has come up with an idea that

could transform the way industries label fruit and vegetables. However, Amron is a man who

has put considerable thought into that sticker, creating the Fruitwash label. Just as the name

suggests, the new label dissolves into organic fruit soap that helps remove water-resistant wax,

pesticides and fungicides.

"I've always been discontent with fruit labels and felt they could do more than just display

product info and be difficult to peel off," Amron told Gizmag. "We buy, wash and eat fruit. So,

the wash step was the next thing the label should help with.

Amron is keeping his Fruitwash ingredients under wraps, be he said they're designed to

"outlast the fruit they label." He added: The "best thing is the labels help make the fruit

cleaner. And, there's no label to peel off and throw away unless you choose to peel the label

off and throw it away."

Amron Experimental is currently selling a 10 percent stake in the Fruitwash Label's patents

and hopes to market the soapy stickers within the next six to nine months.