Hasta La Ideas

A team of researchers at UC Berkeley are developing technology that will allow anyone anywhere in the world to diagnose malaria without any other equipment than a mobile phone with a camera and the microscope add-on. The idea behind the CellScope is to facilitate malaria detection and treatment without the need for a doctor on site to make the diagnosis. All you have to do is put a glass with a blood sample in front of the microscope, turn on the LED lights and look for the tell-tale blue dots that reveal wether the patient has contracted malaria. If need be, the mobile image can be sent to experts anywhere in the world for analysis.brbr

Cars are great wasters. Of all the energy stored in the fuel, only a third is used to propel the car and run its systems. The rest is lost in heat from the engine and the exhaust system. One way of getting more bang for the fuel buck could be the exhaust powered generator developed by British Foresight Motors that we posted on earlier. By using engine exhausts to power the car’s generator the engine is relieved of this work and hopefully uses less fuel. Another idea, under development by BMW, is a thermo electric generator also placed in the exhaust system. Such a generator generates power by utilizing the dynamics of cold and warm air. Similar systems has been in use by NASA for years. BMW hopes to have a working system capable of generating 1,000 W within five years. This will be enough to run a car’s AC and heat seats – and save up to five percent on fuel. BMW does not, however, have any plans to develop engines capable of running on the increasingly popular E85 methanol fuel.brbr

French company Eurovia is reported to be developing a kind of thermo sensitive varnish that can change color as the temperature changes. The application Eurovia is looking for is road markings that can warn drivers when the surface temperature on the road comes close to freezing. When temperatures rise again, the varnish resumes its original color. If they can get this to work at a cost that allows it to be implemented on a wide scale, the safety implications are of course obvious. Every driver does not automatically consider bridges and low ground as potential ice patches.brbr

Purtroppo le immagini non rendono merito ad un prodotto che, per essere apprezzato, va visto dal vero ed usato. Estetico quotidiano è la collezione Seletti di bicchieri, piatti e recipienti per la casa che imita in tutto e per tutto i diffusissimi recipienti in plastica e carta… tranne che per i materiali. Siamo talmente abituati a riconoscere l’oggetto qua sopra come la solita bottiglia di acqua minerale, che lo stupore è tanto quando ci rendiamo conto che è costruita in vetro o ceramica, e non in plastica.
Estetico quotidiano cristallizza i prodotti usa e getta ottimizzati per la produzione industriale, facendoci riflettere sul reale valore che attribuiamo a ciò che ci sta intorno.

Of course there are the ever present cardboard trays. But this looks a lot smarter. However, there does not seem to exist much information as to who sells them or gives them away. The only thing we know is that they were apparently first(?) posted on a German blog or site, and that the pictures were picked up from there. Still, we like the idea, and if anyone out there knows more about this idea, we’ll be happy to hear from you. Link to the German site’s post after the jump.brbr