Important Innovations Collection

New, Transformative Device to Generate Power from Night Sky Source:   UCLA Renewable and Complements Solar Power This new, inexpensive thermoelectric device may be transformative in energy generation.  It harvests the coldness of space during the night to generate electricity - enough right now to power a LED light at nighttime, but the inventors say it's very scalable.  The device is a significant new innovation from engineers at UCLA and Stanford University.  The gadget works at night when solar systems don't.  The inventors say it's a new approach to power generation when power at night is needed.  It complements solar power that doesn't work at night, giving a 24/7 approach to green, renewable energy. Phenomenon Like Frost Formation The device takes advantage of radiative cooling, the process by which frost forms on grass during above freezing temperatures at night.  The sky facing surface of the technology passes heat to th...

New Battery that's Shatterproof and Nonflammable Source:  Washington University at St. Louis Energy Inspired by Rust Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have invented an ultra strong supercapacitor.  The team hit the supercapacitor with a hammer forty times and it still maintained 74% of its energy storage efficiency.  They also tested it against an impact equivalent to a 30 mph. car crash. It took the hitting and kept on working.  The inspiration for this new energy storage device came from the formation of rust on wet steel. Innovation from Rust The team created the device by controlling the formation of rust in a solution to grow a mat of conducting fibers onto a flexible layer of organic plastic.  The Washington University researchers say the mat of polymer nanofibers with a textile-like structure that's flexible is ideal for storing energy in a supercapacitor. New Energy This new energy storage device is shatterproof and nonflam...