Novidades

Comecemos pelo Made In Portugal, do nosso amigo Inventor Fernando Lopes, um Escudo Anti-motim que, estando-se ao pé dele, mete respeito...

Outros Inventores, de Além-Mar, este Alicate para imprimir em 3D:

Uma ilha artificial, quem não sonhou com isto...

Paypal founder invests in floating autonomous cities

By Bridget Borgobello

When creating new companies has become passé, why not start creating countries? So is the case for Paypal co-founder and billionaire Peter Thiel, who is currently the Seasteading Institute's "most generous funder." His support constitutes a bold move towards creating floating autonomous states. The initiative is inspired by the idea of creating cities that are free from political agendas and social construction. These "floating cities will allow the next generation of pioneers to peacefully test new ideas for government," says the Seasteading Institute. "The most successful can then inspire change in governments around the world."

http://www.gizmag.com/paypal-billionaire-invests-in-floating-autonomous-cities/19915/

Um Mini Sintetizador, mais uma ideia bacana do Blog da Ponoko:

The Nebulophone from L E K R M O I on Vimeo.

Electronic kit review: Bleep Labs Nebulophone
I got my hands on a Nebulophone kit for the first time last week. The Nebulophone is a little synth that is both a powerful musical instrument and far out noise-maker.

I was interested in using this kit as a teaching aid for students with zero electronics experience. Having now built one myself and taken a few students through the process, I have to say I can barely think of a way to improve this kit, they’ve really nailed it. The hardest part for me was getting the students to leave my workshop after they had finished because they were all having such a great time playing their new keyboards!

The instructions are clear and explicit, with good quality colour photographs of every step, and videos online to help demonstrate the basic techniques such as populating and soldering a circuit board. All the parts are clearly identified and the layout has been designed to simplify assembly as much as possible. It took me about 40 minutes to assemble, and even the students who had never touched a soldering iron only took about 2 hours to finish.

http://blog.ponoko.com/2011/09/23/electronic-kit-review-bleep-labs-nebulophone/

E um Automóvel feito de raiz a pensar em Utentes com Cadeira de Rodas!

MV-1 van is designed specifically for wheelchair users

By Ben Coxworth

The AM General auto assembly plant in Mishawaka, Indiana is where they used to build Hummer H2s. Now, its workers are making something a little less ... controversial. It's a van called the MV-1, MV standing for "Mobility Vehicle," and it's designed specifically for wheelchair-using passengers. Its designers claim that it is better suited to the handicapped than converted conventional vans, and the first factory-built model rolled off the assembly line yesterday.

A product of Miami's Vehicle Production Group, the MV-1 has a large 56 x 36-inch (142 x 91 cm) side door, and a 1,200 pound (544 kg)-capacity deployable ramp that stows under the floor when not in use. It can accommodate two

http://www.gizmag.com/mv1-van-for-wheelchair-users/19921/

Àgua do Esgoto para produzir Hidrogénio?

Researchers turn wastewater into “inexhaustible” source of hydrogen


By Darren Quick

Currently, the world economy and western society in general runs on fossil fuels. We've known for some time that this reliance on finite resources that are polluting the planet is unsustainable in the long term. This has led to the search for alternatives and hydrogen is one of the leading contenders. One of the problems is that hydrogen is an energy carrier, rather than an energy source. Pure hydrogen doesn't occur naturally and it takes energy - usually generated by fossil fuels - to manufacture it. Now researchers at Pennsylvania State University have developed a way to produce hydrogen that uses no grid electricity and is carbon neutral and could be used anyplace that there is wastewater near sea water.

The researchers' work revolves around microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) - a technology related to microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which produce an electric current from the microbial decomposition of organic compounds. MECs partially reverse this process to generate hydrogen (or methane) from organic material but they require the some electrical input to do so.

http://www.gizmag.com/producing-hydrogen-from-wastewater/