A new means of generating electricity, one that utilizes bacteria to harness the energy of evaporating water, has been created by researchers from the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

The method could potentially be used to capture the energy released by ponds, harbors, and other bodies of water when the Sun warms them (causing evaporation), according to the researchers.

The newly created prototype generators work by harnessing the movement of a sheet of rubber that’s coated on one side with bacterial spores. As the sheet dries out, it bends, and as the humidity rises, it straightens out — the energy of these movements is then captured and used to drive a generator.

A soil bacterium called Bacillus subtilis wrinkles as it dries out like a grape becoming a raisin, forming a tough, dormant spore. Unlike raisins, which cannot re-form into grapes, spores can take on water and almost immediately restore themselves to their original shape.

Simply increasing the humidity from that of a dry, sunny day to a humid, misty one enabled the flexible, spore-coated plank to generate 1000 times as much force as human muscle, and at least 10 times as much as other materials engineers currently use to build actuators.

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When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

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Nickel titanium, also known as nitinol, is a metal alloy of nickel and titanium, where the two elements are present in roughly equal atomic percentages.

Nitinol alloys exhibit two closely related and unique properties: shape memory and superelasticity (also called pseudoelasticity). Shape memory is the ability of nitinol to undergo deformation at one temperature, then recover its original, undeformed shape upon heating above its “transformation temperature”. Superelasticity occurs at a narrow temperature range just above its transformation temperature; in this case, no heating is necessary to cause the undeformed shape to recover, and the material exhibits enormous elasticity, some 10-30 times that of ordinary metal.

Commercialized nitinol in the form of Flexinol® Actuator Wire can flex and contract when a specific amount of heat or current is applied to it and is made specifically for linear actuators to replace small motors or solenoids thanks to shape memory and a change between the wires weaker, low temperature form (martensitic) and its stronger, high temperature form (austenite).

When the Flexinol® is in its martensitic form, it can be formed and bent into different shapes. However, when an electrical current of ~200mA is applied to the wire, or is heated to ~100C it reverts to austenite form and recovers its previous shape with great force. Additionally, you can anneal it at ~500C (use an industrial furnace or simply a lighter) to whatever shape you would want, next once that current or heat is applied it will return to that new shape.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

The math is a bit trickier. But, hey, at least there are no moving parts to wear out in isomorphism. Whether you’re printing human organs or wall sections for building construction, chances are you’ve spent some time thinking about a gantry system. All things considered, a Rostock based 3d printer inspires through a performance that can only be described as graceful.

It stems from the open-source design philosophy and has a dedicated following of innovators together with a huge collection of ready designs courtesy of Thingiverse. If you’re ready to explore the world of desktop manufacturing, take a closer look as you consider the source.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

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If you’ve never explored the Thingiverse, perhaps the best place to start is with the wheel. This is very highly customizable wheel in the way of an OpenSCAD file with 46 parameters that provides a limitless set of combinations and wheel designs. In addition to the spoke options you see here, ou can select tread designs, hub designs, tires, etc.

It can be wide, narrow, big, little, fat hub, skinny hub, no hub, through-hole, servo arm mounted, chamfered, multi-tire, modeled tread, optical encoder-slotted, and more. It even accommodates stretched o-ring tires. It just can’t be square, because our sources tell us that won’t roll well. The code is extensively documented, and traces out helpful information about the geometry of the wheel/tire, as well as encoder slot metrics.

OpenSCAD is a free software application for creating solid 3D CAD objects. It is not an interactive modeler, but rather a 3D-compiler. OpenSCAD reads from a script and then renders a 3D model. OpenSCAD is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It does constructive solid geometry (CSG). OpenSCAD can also extrude forms from AutoCAD DXF files.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

It’s been selling all of us overpriced ink and toner for decades now, while basically giving its printers away. It plans to do the same thing with 3D printers by making them compatible only with proprietary spools and filaments. HP recently told the press that it has already developed a special polymer that its 3D printer prototype uses. If you want to use a Hewlett Packard 3D printer, you will have to buy and use that polymer. HP will then be able to own the market by dropping the price of its printers. The industry will hate it and stockholders will love it. People will buy the printer if it’s easy to use.

This approach contrasts with the home based recycling model pioneered by Filabot. This crowd financed effort will help all of us to recycle whatever plastic is laying around, for unending creativity, while greatly reducing the municipal waste stream.

This is another one of those opportunities for Consumer Sovereignty assert itself, to come of age and open the so-called free marketplace for real.

Another example of Pure Salvage Living from Tiny Texas Houses. The Vesper Casa has a balcony and many repurposed amenities . Take the video tour and spark your imagine.

Nuand has employed Lime Microsystems’ programmable RF silicon for its bladeRF, which – the two companies say – takes open-source RF hardware into the mainstream
Lime’s field programmable RF chip, the LMS6002D, has been adopted for Nuand’s bladeRF, a Kickstarter-funded open source software defined radio.
Following Myriad RF and Fairwaves, this is the third open source RF board to have been launched in 2013. Highlighting the importance of such technology, the project received over 500 backers on the social funding platform, KickStarter and raised almost twice the requested funding.
bladeRF is the first open source RF project to bring USB3.0 onto the board and combines the Lime chip with an Altera Cyclone IV FPGA. This combination allows it to create exceptionally complex networks on any mobile communications standard or frequency.
The $420 board has been designed for both the hobbyist and the professional developer and is USB2.0 compatible, allowing it to connect directly to the Raspberry Pi and the Beagleboard.
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Aston Martin only made about 1,200 DB4 cars back in the day, and today some versions can fetch millions at auction. Ivan Sentch of New Zealand has printed about three-quarters of the mold parts for his handmade Aston Martin DB4. The resident of Auckland, New Zealand, has printed nearly three-quarters of the sections for his replica of the classic sports car.
Sentch is recreating a 1961 series II Aston Martin DB4 by 3D-printing plastic plugs for the car’s fiberglass body. The mechanical bits will come from an old Nissan Skyline. He’s using a Solidoodle desktop 3D printer to print out roughly 2,500 pieces to use as plugs for fiberglass molds. The plugs are the basis on which the fiberglass is formed.
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Before 3D printers become as ubiquitous as cellphones, they could form the basis of small-scale manufacturing concerns and have huge potential both here and for developing countries, where access to many products is limited.
Associate Professor Joshua Pearce, a Michigan Technological University researcher posits the following: “Say you are in the camping supply business and you don’t want to keep glow-in-the-dark tent stakes in stock. Just keep glow-in-the-dark plastic on hand, and if somebody needs those tent stakes, you can print them. It would be a different kind of capitalism, where you don’t need a lot of money to create wealth for yourself or even start a business.”
3D printers deposit multiple layers of plastic or other materials to make almost anything, from toys to tools to kitchen gadgets. Free designs that direct the printers are available by the tens of thousands on websites like Thingiverse. Visitors can download designs to make their own products using open-source 3D printers, like the RepRap, which you build yourself from printed parts, or those that come in a box ready to print, from companies like Type-A Machines.
3D printing isn’t quite as simple as 2D printing a document from your home computer — at least not yet.
“But you don’t need to be an engineer or a professional technician to set up a 3D printer,” Pearce said. “Some can be set up in under half an hour, and even the RepRap can be built in a weekend by a reasonably handy do-it-yourselfer.”
It’s not just about the money. 3D printing may herald a new world that offers consumers many more choices as everything can be customized. Cellphone accessories, a garlic press, a shower head, a spoon holder, and the like are as few as three clicks away, and we’re not talking about miles. 3D printers can save consumers even more money on high-end items like customized orthotics and photographic equipment.
It’s not just about the money. 3D printing may herald a new world that offers consumers many more choices as everything can be customized.
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The aluminum-clad wood house is 8.2 feet wide by 9.8 feet long by 11.5 feet high. It features two rainwater tanks attached to a boiler, a composting toilet, triple-glazed windows and insulated walls that can withstand temperatures from minus 10 degrees to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Electricity comes from three rechargeable batteries that plug into an external power source. Diogene is expected to be produced in three years and will cost about $45,000. A deluxe model with rooftop photovoltaic panels will be about $75,000. The prototype can be seen on Vitra’s campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany.

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