What if solar panels were completely transparent ? They could be placed over windows and could enable us to have self charging smartphones. Now that’s something great.
Smartphones
Repairing : make it do, make it last
With the economic downturn, it seems more and more people around the world are willing to throw away the throwaway economy we are living in. Repairing our gadgets and possessions is getting more important.
In the Netherlands, up to twenty repair cafes have opened ” a place you take your old, broken-down items, buy a cup of coffee and get your things fixed so that you can continue using them.” as Triple Pundit reports.
It is a great success. Meanwhile, Treehugger proposes – after a really lenghy introduction, a way to help tame your need of the latest gadget.
Engineers discover self healing circuits
To Ecogeek : “ A team of engineers at the University of Illinois have figured out how to create self-healing circuits in electronics and batteries, a discovery that could lead to longer equipment life ” ” As electronics have become more complex, one small circuit failure can render a device useless, especially since it is hard or often impossible to … Read more
D-Light, data through illumination
To GOOD : ” One German physicist, Harald Haas, has come up with a solution he calls “data through illumination” (…) by sending data through an LED lightbulb that varies in intensity faster than the human eye can follow.”
” It’s the same idea behind infrared remote controls, but far more powerful. Haas says his invention, which he calls D-Light, can produce data rates faster than (…) your average broadband connection. ”
” He envisions a future where data for laptops and smartphones is transmitted through the light in a room. And security would be a snap—if you can’t see the light, you can’t access the data. “
The energy cost of our electronic devices
The International Energy Agency issued a study – Gadgets and Gigawatts – on the energy consumption of the numerous mobile phones, mp3 players and other electronic devices. By 2030, they are due to consume up to three times more and thus burn up to 700 terawatt-hours of electricity. All this energy would cost up to … Read more