Sixpack full contact cooler.

I could kick myself for not thinking of this first. Kudos to whoever did, though. It is simple, smart, and usable. Just freeze the cooling blocks like you would any other cooling block, stack your beverage cans in your bag or cooler and off you are. USD 7:98 a piece or 2 for USD 14:98.brbr

Future solar cells may be painted on the wall.

What if you could paint your house with a kind of paint that transformed the entire house into an energy producing solar cell? Well, researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, directed by Somenath Mitra, thinks they have found a way to do this. They present their findings in a paper for the Journal of Materials Chemistry. In the paper, they explain how a combination of carbon nano-tube complex and Buckyball molecules on a polymer backing can produce create a flow of electrons, i.e electricity. When sunlight excites the polymer, it releases electrons, and the Buckyball molecule catches them. Although the Buckyball cannot create a flow of electrons, it can transfer them to the nano-tube where the flow is created. Researchers hope their discovery will be the base of a simple and cheap technology to build energy producing homes and, maybe, cars.brbr

Micro sized hard drive for backups.

Imation Micro Hard Drive is a portable, 4 GB backup hard drive. It comes with software that automatically copies and saves the current version of a document along with the previous six versions. The design is pretty cool, too. It reminds of a padlock, and the USB plug is protected within the cover. It is also supposed ti have a shock proof chassis around the mini hard drive. The jury of IDEA 2007 practically loved it.brbr

A wrench with a twist.

This wrench has received seven patents, won a number of industrial awards and an award in the IDEA Awards 2007. We should confess that it took us several seconds to see the actual revolutionizing idea here. Can you see it? Well, the two ends are twisted perpendicular to each other. This offers a better grip and better torque, since the new configuration gives a 500 percent lager gripping surface than that of an ordinary wrench.brbr

Tripod flashlight.

A tripod flashlight seems to be the thing to have when you are alone and have to change a flat in the dark. We do not know if there are any like it, but this one has been awarded in the recently presented IDEA Awards 2007. The flashlight, called MaxLife 369 TriPod Flashlight from Stanley, is actually even smarter than what one thinks at first, since each of the legs contain 3 AA size batteries. The batteries in each leg is promised to last for 75 hours and the brightness can be adjusted in three steps; 1 LED, 3 LEDs or all 6 LEDs. The flashlight is available, among other places, on Amazon, where it is USD 22:82.brbr

Light-bulb ionic air cleaner.

This tip comes from Dag N. in Norway, who writes to let us know about the Ionic Bulb, the light-bulb that also serves as an ionic air purifier The bulb uses negative ions to clean indoor air from smoke, dust and other particles. The particles are supposed to attach to the ions, and then sink to the floor (or any other horizontal surface) where they can be removed with vacuum-cleaner or dust-cloth. We have not been able to find any on-line tests of this lamp, but if you have used one you are welcome to submit a guest review. Dag N. found the lamp on a Norwegian site where they are NOK 198:- (about USD 35:-) a piece, which can be compared with Ionic Bulb’s own shop where they offer two for USD 19:95.brbr

Electric SUT does 95 miles/h and charges in 10 minutes.

Phoenix Motorcars in California has used new battery technology to develop the new electric SUT, apparently based on Korean SsangYong Actyon Sports (insert). The Phoenix has very promising stats, among them a working range of over 100 miles on a charge, a top speed of 95 mph and it will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under 10 seconds. The new batteries are Altairnano NanoSafe™ based on lithium titanate instead of lithium-ion. The very short charging time is achieved at special charging stations using 480 V three phase current. If you charge at home with your ordinary household current, it will be about 4 to 5 hours. The company will manufacture about 500 SUTs during 2007, and hopes for 6,000 in 2008, when they are looking to introduce a SUV. From available pictures it appears to be based on the SSangYong Actyon. At present all sales are directed at fleets, but Phoenix promises consumer sales during next year. There are no prices to be found on the Phoenix site, but an ordinary 4×4 diesel Actyon Sports is around AUD 33,000:- in Australia (that is about USD 29,000:-).brbr

Keyboard cover you cut to size.

We had an e-mail from Kenji K. who, after reading our previous post on the silicone keyboard cover, says that such covers are available in Japan for most any well known brand for less than JPY 2,000:- (about USD 16:50). He also send a link to a silicone cover you can cut to size yourself. It is from JPY 1,440:- (about USD 12:-). Thanks Kenji, for your tip!brbr

Peephole reverser.

Do you think you are safe behind your door and that you can quietly check who is outside before opening? With this peephole reverser your visitor may have checked you out long before you even got close to the door. The reversing gadget has been developed for law enforcement in the United States, and the idea is to enable officers to assess the threat level in an apartment or hotel room before ringing the bell or kicking the door in. As far as we can find out, the thing is only available in the US, but it would not surprise us if it finds its way here before long. It is nice to know that our door peep hole has a small cover on the inside, rendering the reverser all but useless… Available from Spy Gadgets at USD 88:- a piece.brbr

Smart low-tech water filter.

Abul Hussam is a Chemistry Professor at the George Mason University in Virginia. Hussam was born in Bangladesh, and he has spent a large part of his professional life trying to find a solution to a problem caused by well-meaning but unknowing well drilling campaigns in his country. Parts of eastern India and western Bangladesh has high concentrations of arsenic naturally in the underground water-supply. Drilling wells to provide fresh water for the population has on one hand gotten rid of bacteria and virii, but on the other hand exposed people to the arsenic. The problem got a lot of attention during the 1990s when health authorities discovered that while infectious diseases declined, arsenic-related skin ailments and fatal cancers began to increase. Hussam has tested hundreds of prototypes over the years, and SONO, his final construction is smart, simple, virtually maintenance free and can be manufactured locally using local materials. The filtration system consists of three buckets or barrels, where the water passes layers of sand, charcoal, bits of brick, and pieces of a sort of cast iron. Every filter rig has 20 pounds of porous iron that creates a chemical bond to arsenic. The factory in Kushtia, Bangladesh, is now turning out about 200 systems a week at about USD 40:- each. More than 30,000 units have already been distributed.brbr