Top TechTop Tech #40: Artificial Photosynthesis; Thumbnail trackpad, Printed plush
Promising products and interesting innovations
By Paul Worthington
Today’s Top Tech:
• Revolutionary advance in artificial Photosynthesis
• Trackpad on your Thumbnail
• Disney prints plush toys
“Revolutionary” advance in artificial Photosynthesis
An artificial photosynthesis breakthrough captures carbon dioxide emissions before they are vented into the atmosphere and convert them into chemical products — using only solar energy.
The output can vary from biodegradable plastics, pharmaceutical drugs, and liquid fuels, reports Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
“Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California Berkeley have created a hybrid system of semiconducting nanowires and bacteria that mimics the natural photosynthetic process by which plants use the energy in sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water,” the lab reports here. “This new artificial photosynthetic system synthesizes the combination of carbon dioxide and water into acetate, the most common building block today for biosynthesis. We believe our system is a revolutionary leap forward in the field of artificial photosynthesis.”
Trackpad on your Thumbnail
Talk about wearable tech: this Bluetooth-enabled controller adheres to your thumbnail, and can even sport different covers to match your outfits.
Designed at the MIT Media Laboratory, the NailO prototype is a miniature wireless track pad that can let you scroll down the recipe on your iPad while cooking, for example, or answer the phone, or adjust any other device it’s synched with.
Kurzweil AI reports “as the site for a wearable input device, the thumbnail…is a hard surface with no nerve endings, so a device affixed to it wouldn’t impair movement or cause discomfort. And it’s easily accessed by the other fingers — even when the user is holding something in his or her hand.”
Disney prints plush toys
Most 3D “printed” objects are tiny bits of hard plastic. But a new method developed at Disney’s research lab yields a soft teddy bear.
Disney’s 3D printer outputs fabric, and uses laser cutting and layer printing “to create a unique printing method,” TechCrunch reports. “The machine builds the object up layer by layer by cutting shapes out of a sheet of adhesive felt, cramming/heating each layer together as it goes.”
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You can enjoy a large and fully-stocked house on 15 acres of mountain forest, with a deck and a great view — for less than the cost of a cramped hotel room.
Now with a new indoor hot tub — Reserve your vacation home now!
