GENE EDITING USED TO MODIFY SILKWORM THREAD WITH SPIDER DNA

Amazing work on an already existing infrastructure. As CRISPR technology spreads, we should expect more farming inspired materials and food. Maple trees that grow apples? Cherries? Synthetic meat? A tree based agriculture would be a lot better than what we have now….

https://newatlas.com/materials/silkworms-spider-genes-spin-fibers/

 

Room Temperature Superconducting Material

I can honestly say I didn’t think it would happen in my lifetime….

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/07/regular-pressure-room-temperature-superconductor-is-a-world-changer-if-mass-produced.html#more-185033

 

Magnetic Field Solenoids? Transistors?

This is very interesting. I can think of multiple ways this material could revolutionize components.

https://newatlas.com/materials/new-quantum-state-conductivity-billion-percent-increase/

 

EVTOL Aircraft

I wrote about electric vertical and take off aircraft a while ago. A great deal of progress has been made.

Vertical Aviation has over a thousand preorders and a deal with American Airlines. Joby Aviation has a deal with Delta and are getting a lot of interest from the military. Beta Technology has been flying their aircraft, but are still working out the vertical flight systems. Archer has a deal with United Airlines and is working on a large aircraft. They have been flying a two seater. Volocopter and Ehang both have short range (no wings) aircraft and are looking to fly them soon commercially. Lilium has a 1/3 size aircraft they are flying and have a deal with Saudi Arabia for certification and flight.

I am invested in Joby, Veritical, Archer and Lilium. Vertical has a thousand preorders and a deal with American Airlines and is less than 3$ a share….

https://www.investors.com/news/air-taxi-startup-vertical-aerospace-get-big-backing-from-top-tech-airline-stocks/

 

Electric Airplane from Eviation

Unlike the eVTOL companies which are trying to forge new markets with new technology, Eviation made an electric plane for a known market. The 8-10 person city to city aircraft. They have more than 2 billion in sales. After this article came out they have continued to sell planes. Not bad for having flown once…

https://www.aerospacemanufacturinganddesign.com/news/eviation-alice-orders-surpass-2-billion/

 

Tesla Semi Trucks

Tesla keeps making amazing technology. Unlike all the companies that try half measures, they always take it all the way. Even if it makes the product three years late:)

https://fb.watch/idDiIxkUlZ/?mibextid=qC1gEa

 

Another CRISPR Advancement

I have posted multiple times about CRISPR. It really is one of the more important technologies being pushed forward.
While energy production and storage can radically change our society, CRISPER can radically change humans for the better.
Researchers are now using the process to remove larger sections of damaged DNA.

https://newatlas.com/biology/paste-crispr-gene-editing-tool/

 

Type 1 Diabetes Cured

Just one person so far. But just amazing….

https://www.freethink.com/health/cured-of-type-1-of-diabetes-thanks-to-stem-cells?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=echobox_freethink&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1b-6WNgjLBoo5n-y_2fUKx_h49YQWnepUgAI8YwD4JdN9SI4R8OHBS7d4#Echobox=1665070894

 

PowerCapacitors. Holds as much energy as a Li-On Battery

Discovered by the Chinese, they are being manufactured by a company in Belgium. Unfortunately, the company seems to be private…. They are in production.

https://newatlas.com/energy/toomen-powercapacitors-kurt-energy-high-density-supercapacitors/?itm_source=newatlas&itm_medium=article-body

 

New Magnet for Fusion

One of the big issues for fusion is that the massive magnets that hold plasma in place to create fusion are copper and use a lot of energy. They have now found a new magnetic material that uses a lot less energy.

https://news.mit.edu/2021/MIT-CFS-major-advance-toward-fusion-energy-0908

https://youtu.be/-KEwkWjADEA

 

CRISPR Breakthrough

CRISPR has the potential to fix all DNA conditions humans (and animals) have. So I keep a sharp eye out for progress on the process. This looks like a big one.

https://newatlas.com/science/crispr-gene-editing-error-correction-protein/

 

New Aluminum-Ion Battery

They can’t hold as much energy as Li-On. But they recharge 10x faster and have no heat issues. And are lighter.
Using these in cars would lessen range, but allow quick “fill ups” at recharging sites. The batteries would also allow much greater power recovery from regenerative braking. Right now only 20% of the potential electricity is recovered.

For aircraft the cells are lighter and simpler since they don’t have heat issues.
Used in conjunction with existing Li-On batteries, this technology could make existing platforms much more flexible.
In the story they complain the infrastructure is not there to support the batteries and there high charge rate. Which is just silly. For maximizing the charge rate sites will just have to have a block of these batteries already charged….. The battery set would act as a accumulator. Tesla has already done this on a massive scale in Australia.

https://newatlas.com/energy/gmg-graphene-aluminium-ion-battery/

 

Nervous System Repair

An Amazing achievement.

HTTPS://newatlas.com/medical/designer-protein-paralyzed-mice-walk/?fbclid=IwAR2kPjaqnsxE-Cwg8RSRmMvlSJtnip3UK3Zup_3ZcP7c74dmEwQYUG6SMzo

 

Solid State Li-On Batteries

They say they have them and will start producing in 2022. Flexible ceramic? Isn’t that clay?

https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/8/22158573/quantumscape-solid-state-battery-ev-range-charge-vw?fbclid=IwAR2UPNdxpVwg31jIWG6LpwruDh2wLCoMYAklNBB8wvc50horX5L6epse1IM

 

Space-X

If you haven’t been paying attention to what Space-X is doing, you are making a mistake. They are pushing rocketry into early aviation level use and drastically cutting cost with mass production, economy of size and reusing the rockets…..

 

New Electric EVTOL

Electric Vertical And Take Off (EVTOL) aircraft are coming into their own. They have less critical/wear parts than helicopters and fly much more efficiently than Helicopters and the Osprey. They need to make this Hybrid to give it redundancy and range, but it has taken the industry years just to get to this point….

https://www.wired.com/story/new-air-taxi-design-cues-far-flying-bird/?fbclid=IwAR3clzb1V_ZEUllT37sEGZDa-rkOWZcVTEyuRfVGjncwT9EvCLPBF2MSD70

 

New Supercapacitors

This will change a great deal for the electric vehicle industry. Only about 20% of the regenerative braking energy is captured. The batteries just don’t absorb it fast enough..

https://newatlas.com/energy/skeleton-superbattery-curved-graphene/?fbclid=IwAR20yYCv050Mi5VNuuxu2IkysvTTW1UQqDnfILDJqQtK0D818rPb01EyQbM

 

CRISPER Breakthrough

https://newatlas.com/medical/crispr-enzyme-mutation-more-precise/

They are to the point of perfecting the process with this new accuracy improvement. This could literally spell the end of genetic errors in the genome. Now comes the debate on morality of generic improvements….. To me the debate on improving ones genetic makeup should be left open to the individual. We have people who have perfect memory. High intelligence. High efficiency and long lasting organs. People should be allowed to strive to that if the science is right.

 

Super Supercapacitors!

Super-capacitors have the ability to absorb and discharge amperage very quickly.
Much quicker than batteries.
So for things like regenerative breaking and sudden acceleration they are a needed component in any electric or hybrid vehicle.
With this breakthrough, we may be seeing them integrated into cars on a much wider basis…..

https://newatlas.com/energy/supercapacitor-density-breakthrough/

 

CRISPR Perfected

This will change everything. This will destroy any reservation anyone has about using the process.

https://newatlas.com/crispr-rna-hairpin-lock-precise/59310/

 

Li-On Batteries Come to Fixed Wing VTOL Aircraft

Helicopters are obsolete.

The X2 and Valor are the last of their kind. It only a matter of time before they figure this out….

These are all electric. The replacements for current aviation VTOL will be hybrid.

https://www.aurora.aero/pav-evtol-passenger-air-vehicle/

https://www.wired.com/story/beta-ava-flying-car-aviation/?mbid=email_onsiteshare

 

Google Creates Software that Creates Software

And the software that was created outperformed software created by humans in every metric.

We are on the cusp of a software revolution. Maybe Microsoft could use it to stop sucking so badly…:)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/futurism.com/googles-new-ai-is-better-at-creating-ai-than-the-companys-engineers/amp/

 

 

Translator Stick

Instant translation that does not need an internet connection. This will revolutionize not only tourism but allow small and mid-sized businesses to conduct business without the cost of a human translator.

Much like GPS this starts out with dedicated hardware. Once the big boys get involved, you will just download it to your smart phone.

http://www.businessinsider.com/japanese-company-instant-translation-device-travellers-ili-words-languages-chinese-english-2017-2

 

In-Body Genetic Editing

This is the first time trying. Even if they have partial success it is still a a big step.

Let’s hope for it goes well.

https://gizmodo.com/in-a-major-first-scientists-edit-dna-within-the-human-1820469921

 

Cancer Cured

Cured.

Not treated. Not eradicated through chemical or radiation. Cured by getting the immune sustem to see it as a threat.

I am a little late on this one. But it shows a clear way forward. A process. And that  will effect us all in the next five years:)

http://www.popsci.com/why-are-scientists-shocked-by-results-this-cancer-treatment-trial

 

New Li-On Development

There seems to be a new announcement about energy storage breakthroughs daily.  It all has to be taken with a grain of salt until they actually have a product made outside the lab in some slow production facility for sale.

While this is still in the lab, what they are claiming and what they say they have done really is amazing. It’s a major university so I give them a little more credence.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3060005/mobile-wireless/scientists-can-now-make-lithium-ion-batteries-last-a-lifetime.html

While they don’t go into how this effects energy charge-discharge rate, just making batteries that can charge and discharge a couple hundred thousand times is going to radically change the economics of electric transportation and storage.

It will make electric cars and wind power happen a day after they start making these things….

Update: This article is better than the first.

http://www.popsci.com/researchers-accidentally-make-batteries-last-400-times-longer

 

New Rotary Engine

The original Wankel Rotery engine was a technological triumph. Small, simple, did not use valves. The problem with it was one of emissions and wear. It used “wipers” between the sections. Those wipers wore much faster than a set of rings on a regular piston engine. Also the wipers not only used oil to reduce the wear but also to seal. The oil was burned in the combustion process leading to poor emissions…..

 

A small Connecticut Company has developed a new rotary engine that does not have these issues.

 

They have already received four million dollars from DARPA to push the technology forward. Here is the site.

 

http://liquidpiston.com/

 

The military looked at the Wankel engine years back. From a logistics point it had a lot of potential by “stacking” the pistons. Put three or four together and you can power a HUMVEE. Put six of them together and you power a medium truck. Put eight of them together and you power a Heavy truck. Twelve makes for a big generator. But the Wankel engine did not last long enough…..

 

This streamlines logistics, repair knowledge and specialized tools to disassemble or repair the sections. I assume they are still interested in this technology for those same reasons. Plus it runs off of anything, which has always made the Military happy.

 

Carbon Fiber and Laser Titanium Printing

Carbon fiber and laser titanium printing fall into the category of Additive manufacturing. Where layers of a material are added one at a time until you have a product.  Regular manufacturing (also known as reductive manufacturing) generally starts with pieces of materials that are then cut down.

   The benefit of additive manufacturing is there is no limits on the engineering in the process. For example lets take a bicycle frame. In the normal reductive process the frame is made of multiple pieces of tubing that are cut into shape and the welded together. with additive manufacturing the entire frame would be printed out in one piece. In that process of printing there is no limitations on how complex the frame could be from an engineering point of view. The frame could be three dimensional latticework that has great flexibility and strength. Or it could be just a tube.It would be up to the engineer. 

    A small company called Local Motors has used carbon fiber printing to make the frame and body for an electric car. They did that in multiple pieces. The next one they plan to do it all in one piece. While a one piece manufacturing may be a technological achievement, I think it is a mistake. How will they repair damage in a one piece car frame?  Either way, this is an exciting development for manufacturing. Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daioWlkH7ZI

    The second step in the revolution is Titanium Laser Printing. Titanium is hard to work with since it can catch fire during the manufacturing process. Generally it is created in a argon environment. Titanium is not a scarce material. Its high cost are due to the issues in manufacturing it. And its strength and corrosion resistant qualities instantly make it a “top tier” material. 

   I have worked in the aviation industry. I see there two technologies working together to make helicopters and  aircraft lighter, simpler, corrosion resistant, less labor intense and stronger. I foresee the frames of the crafts being titanium, while the skin being carbon fiber. Instead of thousands of pieces of aluminum being drilled and riveted, entire sections of craft will be make in single pieces. Here is a few videos showing the processes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRXymDoYoWQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daioWlkH7ZI

I see this technology transitioning into all aspects of our life. Mainly dealing with transportation to begin with and spreading from there as the technology becomes common and cheaper. 

I have thought a great deal about this technology. Not only will it help existing companies, but I also see it helping start-ups and individual engineers. Much like computer coding created an influx of new companies due to the low cost of entrance (all you need is a computer and a desire to code something people will by and you are in business. Think apps and early Facebook) this will allow smaller companies to design things and then have machine shops with this equipment make it for them. Eventually partnering up with the machine shop (with success) or buying their own equipment to continue growing…..

 

Feeding The Fish

       

     It seems I have been remiss in my blogging duties for my followers. All ten of you:)

    I have started a new job and it seems there is barely enough time in the day to cruise through the new technology that is maturing enough to create a manufacturing or social trend. But having some time to think about a few new technological development I see a few that are really going to impact our lives.

      The first is a new form of fish farming. A fellow dumped 150 tons of Iron Sulfate (which is a byproduct of running new steel through acid during steel production. Iron sulfate is also used as an iron supplement for human diets) into the ocean to create a great algae bloom. The pink salmon of the region feed off of this bloom and created one of the largest pink salmon runs in history, Unlike regular fish farming, the only infrastructure are the boats to drop off the iron sulfate and the boats to catch the salmon. Both of which already exist. Here is a link with all the information and a few other links.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/06/russ-george-blogged-about-fraser-river.html

There is no reason why this process cannot be used anywhere to create thriving fish systems that humans can farm.

 

Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria for Seeds

Any breakthrough in farming, either in equipment or plant development, has a huge impact on our society. We pay farmers not to grow food in the US because they make so much it becomes worthless. We use plants to make fuel. Farming has a huge impact on our natural environment. Not just in the land used but also in the process itself.

In the US we use a large amount of Natural Gas derived nitrogen based fertilizer to boost our crops. This can have negative environmental consequences due to it running off into our rivers and lakes.

There are plants that can take nitrogen out of the air. They have a bacteria which in a symbiotic relationship with the plant benefits them both. Now a researcher named Professor Cocking has found a strain of this bacteria that when applied to the seed of any plant will make it nitrogen fixing.

This will have a really big impact on farming and the seed industry. Take a look:

http://www.gizmag.com/n-fix-nitrogen-fixation/28482/

Good stuff.

 

 

Graphene Capacitor Process

If you scroll down a bit you will see the article “Graphene makes a great superconductor”. In the article the University of Texas found that Graphene has the properties to make a great supercapacitor. But they do not explain how to do it. The process. 

Well some folks at UCLA have found how the process and it looks pretty straight forward:

http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/science/more-good-news-on-those-carbon-supercapacitors.html

Here is the Video:

http://vimeo.com/51873011

In the first article they say it can hold as much as a lead acid battery. Lets make the assumption that they are measuring based on space used. In other words you take a lead acid battery and in the volume of space it takes up you can make a capacitor(s) that have the same amount of energy storage.  With this in mind I can give some insight. With this capacity your phone and computer will still be Lithium-Ion. LI-On (Lithium-Ion) batteries are light and holds a lot of energy. Just about when you need to replace the battery is about the time you are thinking of getting a new one. So unless they make the capacitor a lot better I can see things staying the same. Even with the capacitors super fast recharge rate. 

But for cars and aircraft I see a swift change. Because wight matters. And quick recharge rate matters when dealing with electric cars and Hybrid aircraft. Take the battery in the Chevy Volt. It is quite large. One of the reasons it is so large is they found that if they only charged it 80% and discharged to 30% of battery capacity so it would make the batteries last twice as long. So in effect they are not using all the battery capacity in exchange for longevity.  If you swapped out the LI-ON with these capacitors you would still not get as much energy storage  but it would take five minutes to recharge.  So storage is not such an issue. 

The Volt is also fairly complex. The Li-On batteries have to be heated and cooled to keep them working efficiently. I do not think these capacitors would have such issues. Granted extreme weather can cause issues with any system. But batteries being a chemical reaction are effected a great deal by temperature.  

For aircraft I see this being an important step also. For planes and helicopters electric motors as the prime mover has advantages in power and simplicity. But the drawbacks right now are too great due to battery weight and loss of efficiency (motors and generators usually have a 10-15% inefficiency). But this could be a turning point. With light weigh capacitors which store the same amount as lead-Acid batteries and have a very long life it may be better to have a aircraft that has one engine for power production, one for backup and batteries which are used for high power demand maneuvers. Like taking off.  

Of course this is all speculation at this point. We will have to wait to see what the amp-hours are when they come out with an actual product. 

I hope we do not have too long to wait…

Update: 16 August 2013: Another lab is having similer results with Graphene super capacitors. This leads me to belive the breakthrough is not just a process, but the material itself.  This is a good thing. No one compnay will be able to lock in this technology. Take a look:

http://www.gizmag.com/graphene-based-supercapacitor/28579/

 

New Metal Process

   

 

I am a big believer in new processes. Processes created into efficient factory’s are the reason we have the modern cheap world we have today. Factories make the obscenely expensive into common.

   This new process is in its infancy. I hesitate to put it up until their new mini-factory is actually in production for a while. But it works in the lab so that means they should be able to scale it up into a factory, so I am posting it.

   

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21571847-exotic-useful-metals-such-tantalum-and-titanium-are-about-become-cheap

If this works as advertised it will have a huge effect on our society.

 

Study Finds Enzyme That Operates with a Caloric Restriction Diet

Researchers have been studying why a caloric restrictive diet makes people healthy and live longer.  Resveratrol has been found to work (it is an ingredient in red wine and it is still in trials with a lot of  back and forth on its merits) in making people age better. But they are not sure why.

Now a new study finally has found the enzymes responsible for caloric restrictive diets making people healthy:

http://www.gizmag.com/aging-process-enzyme-identified/20359/

This is very exciting. This discovery could make us all healthier and age better. Not sure if this could be a supplement. Can you eat an enzyme and have it get into your blood stream through the digestive tract? Not sure, not my area of expertise. But I will keep an eye on this one.

-Wanting to get old Gracefully (no drool) and die in my sleep Dennis

 

Carbon Nano-tubes for Transmitting Electricity

While this technology could just keep getting better, they have hit a milestone. The cables they make now are as good as copper.

 http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/38615/?p1=MstRcnt

This is very exciting. For the aviation industry this could be a boon. Airbus is using aluminum wiring in some of their aircraft for weight reasons, even though aluminum does not transmit electricity as well as copper. If the cost is even in the ballpark, we could see the aviation industry switching quite rapidly.

Obviously there are cost, longevity and maintenance issues that will have to be resolved. Production issues as well.

But the benefits are so obvious, I see a lot of money being thrown at this to get it into production and into vehicles.

Update 1/8/13: 

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/509766/nanotubes-turned-into-super-fibers/

 

Steel Gets a 7% Strength Boost from New Process

Steel has been around for a while. With all the people who have worked on it over the centuries and the large institutions who have focused on it, you would not expect a breakthrough right now.

Well you would be wrong. A small mill in Detroit,  SFP Works, has found a way to make the strongest steel 7% stronger. That may not sound like a lot, but it is. Here are the links:

 

http://www.gizmag.com/stronger-steel-in-a-flash/18882/

http://www.bainitesteel.com/default.asp

I find it fascinating that they claim it would do the job of aluminum (same strength) and be lighter. This is going to change things. Really fast. 

Hold on!

-Lover of small modified work trucks Dennis

 

New Caltech Process to Shape Metallic Glass

Once again we see a new process that will make a known material a real player.  The article is well written, so I will let it speak for itself:

http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13415

This could have wide ranging implications. Just the fact that it brings light weight with great strength without corrosion problems is just amazing.

Hopefully this new process will bring the cost of the material, and it ease of manufacture, into the realm of making it an everyday item.

I can think of many uses right off the top of my head. Artificial knees, hip’s?  Engine blocks? Golf Clubs? Train wheels? The list is endless….

It may take time, but this may be transformational technology. I guess we shall see.

-Tech Dennis

 

Carbo Tech and McLaren Create New Process. The Age of Carbon Fiber?

Many times the ability to make a material is not what brings about great changes. Many times it is having a cheap, easy to work manufacturing process that makes a material become commonplace.

Carbon fiber has been around for a while. But it has been religated to products that have very long term use; or the need for corrosian resistance; or for very light weight.

Many times it is a combination of those engineering needs that make carbon fiber a standard product. A good example is aircraft are now using carbon fiber for all those reasons.

But now a new process has been developed that may make carbon fiber a real alternative to metal or plastic in the future:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/03/carbon-fibre_composites

This may be a real game changer for the Truck, aircraft, boat and even the building market. Eventually we may even start seeing carbon fiber in production autos.

Suddenly, once again, I look forward to the future!

-Master of useless knowledge Dennis

 

The Mating of the Cloud and Mobility

There has been a great deal of talk about cloud computing lately. Up to this point I was not very impressed with it.

I thought it would be great for large institutions like universities who which to try and figure out the universe, but what am I going to do with a huge amount of processing power?  Why would I put all my information into the cloud? What can the cloud do that my home computer cannot?

Then I read this:

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/26852/?p1=A1

Suddenly the cloud is amazingly useful! It will make it so I can have a low power consuming, light, portable computer with the processing power of a desktop!

The best part is the idea is app based. You will be able to pay a monthly fee for the high processing power application you wish to run on your device. So in this regard the hardware does not change, it is a software modification. This is brilliant in so many ways.  The whole concept is flexible and based on what people really need. It keeps the hardware simple and cheap while allowing you to expand the devices capabilities as needed.

I can only image the apps that will evolve from this……

Update: 10/12/11 The New Amazon Kindle Fire has cloud boosted browsing:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/28/kindle_fire_features_amazons_cloud_accelerated_silk_web_browser.html

-Dennis

 

Tiger Stone Road Machine

It should have been obvious all along.

Concrete is a much better material than asphalt. It lasts much, much longer than asphalt but it is hard to lay and can be a nightmare to repair. Asphalt can be scrapped up and laid down again quickly.

Now comes along the Tiger Stone:

http://www.gizmag.com/tiger-stone-lays-paving-bricks/16951/

This could change road building as we know it. The machine will allow for fast laying of concrete pavers at a speed equivalent to asphalt paving.  But have a better ease of repair than asphalt, with the wear of concrete.

Not to mention this is a first generation machine. They may be able to automate the process of actually putting the bricks in place. That would speed the process up even more….

It will be very interesting to see how this develops as a technology and as the social process of maintaining and building roads.

-Tech

 

Bloom Fuel Cells

 

Well, it seems someone finally cracked the fuel cell problem.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135.shtml

The dig at solar in the interview is unwarranted. This fuel cell technology acts as energy converter. Solar makes the power from a free source. It is not an apples and apples comparison.

As the price comes down this will change how electricity is created and distributed. It will cut down on our coal usage and increase the use of natural gas and propane.

-Tech Dennis

 

New Treatment for Tumors/Cancer

I do not generally post about medical technology. I feel I lack the expertise in many cases to truly divine the wheat from the chaff.

But even a blind man can see this is a big one:

http://www.gizmag.com/implant-cancer-vaccine/13462/

Obviously no human trials yet, but if it works as advertised this will be a powerful tool for all our health.

-Knower of Things Dennis

 

Lithium-Ion Battery Breakthrough

Great progress is being made on the development of Lithium-Ion batteries.

http://www.gizmag.com/adding-graphene-to-titanium-dioxide/12917/

The problem of these batteries (and by effect the problem with electric cars….) is one of cost. Hopefully this will help reduce this problem.

Update:  Another advance, this time using Nanotechnology on the anodes.

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23516/

Update: September 17th 2010:  Trial runs and production partners forming.

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26294/

While it is nice than they have increased the batteries capacities, whenever I read about nanotechnology I wonder about cost and production ability…..

-Tech Dennis

 

Ford Coming Out With Direct Injection/Turbo Combination for Its Engines

It seems Ford is one upping GM. GM is coming out with direct injection (previously posted on this site), so Ford is coming out with a direct injection and turbo combination.

http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2009-09/fords-turbo-charged-ecoboost-engine

Of course to keep the fuel from having “Vapor lock” issues, where the fuel vaporizes before reaching the combustion chamber, this will require a high pressure pump and injection system. Also possibly a fuel system that sends fuel back to the tank to spread the heat out.

Also no word on how expensive this will be. I think as the internal combustion engine becomes more complicated and expensive there will be a tipping point on cost.

Electric cars with range extending engines are already much simpler than today’s cars and electric cars without range extending engines are  stupid simple. As electric cars become cheaper and “regular” cars become more expensive and complicated to get the MPG required by law we will see a dramatic shift in buying habits.

Another aspect of this is car life. It is true that batteries will have to be replaced in electric cars, but there are so few components to them it may work out that it is cheaper to go to a shop and have it repaired than to buy another.

As in the case of many European diesels in the 80’s, when the car refused to stop working  (engine and tranny, the two big money repair items that force most people to ditch a vehicle, just kept going and going….) people got rid of them due to worn paint jobs, worn seats and rust. A desire to have something new and pretty.

-Tech Dennis

 

Algae Breakthrough at Joule Biotechnology

This one is hot! A startup called Joule Biotechnology’s claims they can compete with petroleum with the algae they have:

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23073/

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/

If they can backup their claims expect to see a production plant built really quickly.  I am looking forward to it……

Update: January 2012: Another Round of funding to create a plant in New Mexico:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/39488/

Update: March 29 2010: Beginnings of a production plant:

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/news/2010/joule-biotechnologies-secures-pilot-site-renewable-solar-fuel

Update: April 28, 2010: They secure second round of funding for plant.

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/news/2010/joule-closes-30-million-funding-round

 

-Tech Dennis

 

Algae That Converts Sun+Saltwater+Carbon Dioxide=Ethanol

I have been watching as scientist scramble to genetically craft algae to “grow” oil which is then harvested.

But another company has taken a different route. Algenol Biofuels has crafted algae to act as a process to produce ethanol.

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23009/

http://www.algenolbiofuels.com/

Uses light, carbon dioxide and saltwater (three very abundant items) to create usable, portable energy.  And it desalinates the water to boot.

This is one to watch.

Algae Update:  Algae technology is heating up. Exxon is investing in a company called Synthetic Genomics that has created algae that produces oil and then excretes it:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/07/17/could-exxon-go-green-oil-giant-invests-in-algae-biofuel-research/

-Tech Dennis

 

Steam Engine?

Most of us have the opinion that steam power is a inefficient, antique technology.

Not so fast!

With Modern materials a few people are pushing this old technologies boundaries.  Especially Harry Schoell at Cyclone Power Technologies:

http://www.popsci.com/node/21610

Interesting stuff. But I am unsure if he is going to “break into” the gas or diesel engine market successfully. Lawn equipment is a good start but most manufacturers and users are very comfortable with the internal combustion engine.

Here is a link to his site: http://cyclonepower.com/

I wish him luck.

-Tech Dennis