Emanuel Sachs, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, has found a way to improve the efficiency of a type of silicon solar cells while keeping manufacturing costs about the same.

1366 Technologies, founded in part by Sachs, claims that it has improved the efficiency of its new multicrystalline silicon solar cells by 27 percent, putting them on par with today’s standard cells made from single-crystal silicon. Read more »

The folks at Studio Roosegaarde have designed an interesting contraption called Liquid Space 2.1. The sculpture is an interactive artwork that changes its appearance in response to humans.

Studio Roosegaarde’s description: “Liquid Space 2.1 is an interactive space which physically changes its form in relation to human sounds and motion. This interactive fusion of mechanisms, embedded electronics and software creates a real-time dialogue with its visitors. In this play of defining and letting go the space evolves its behavior towards the visitors, creating a sensual co-existence.”

Liquid Space 2.1 uses a variety of LEDs and electroluminescent lighting to create the effect of movement. Sensors, embedded electronics, and special software combine to control a mechanism which responds to the presence of humans. The sculpture measures in at 4 × 4 × 4 meters.

It will be interesting to see what this work of art will look like when humans are interacting with it. Liquid Space 2.1 looks like a great addition to a museum of modern art, or even as a tourist attraction in a famous city.

[via Studio Roosegaarde]

Scientists at the University of Melbourne in Australia have created the world’s smallest diamond ring, measuring a measly 5 microns (millionths of a meter) in diameter and 300 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in thickness.

Granted, this tiny ring probably isn’t what you want to use to propose. However, if you happen to be a scientist developing quantum information processing, then this ring just might be a fit for you.

The ring is used as part of a device that can produce and detect single particles of light, called photons. These photons, set in different states, can carry information. However, unlike today’s computer memory which can hold either a 1 or 0 at each bit, they can hold both states at once.

If scientists can figure out how to take advantage of this property, they could expand the possibilities for computer memory and storage. This is a brand new development, so applications for the ring are obviously very scant. Hopefully we will see some clever uses in time, such as using the ring to increase the amount of data we can store in a certain amount of space.

Do you see the ship in the picture? No? That’s because scientists at the Britannia Royal Navy College are working on a technology that can make ships invisible.

The scientists are trying to use metamaterials, which can refract light in such a way that it bends around an object, to make the ships seem as if they were never there. Of course, running into an invisible ship is a whole different story - it will most definitely still be there.

This technology would only make the ships invisible to the naked eye. Researchers are also working on eliminating the ship from radar and heat-seeking missile targeting systems using nanomaterials. To top it off, they want the ships to be completely quiet and impossible to detect based on their impact on the Earth’s magnetic field. That’s some serious stealth.

The technologies used in this research are extremely advanced and nowhere near ready. However, they could lead to some interesting fleets (perhaps even planes can join in on the fun) that would completely redefine the way we wage war. It will be interesting to see if and when this technology can be made possible.

A Greener Gadget Award has been given to Clay Moulton, a Virginia Tech student, for his floor lamp powered entirely by gravity.

The Gravia, as it is called, has 10 LEDs and is powered by a weight which is manually raised once a day and slowly falls to the bottom as the day progresses. There is no power cord in sight. The entire column, measuring just over 4 feet high, gets a soft, diffuse glow as a result.

The best part? Moulton estimates that the Gravia can last about 200 years with daily use, and that its lifespan is only limited by the LEDs which will go out by then.

This is definitely one of the greenest gadgets around. Who doesn’t want a device that will power itself as long as you live? Although probably not the brightest lamp around, at a reasonable price the Gravia would make a welcome addition to many homes.

Mauricio Clavero has designed a street lamp that is solar powered and only uses a third of its energy unless its built-in motion detectors sense someone walking by. The lamp is built using LEDs and can be placed in area with no access to electricity due to its attached solar panels.

It comes in two versions: urban and country side. The differences between the two? Well, you got us there, but there’s most likely a difference in performance since you don’t often see streetlights in the countryside.
This is great for money conservation, but it could be a bit weird to be the only person walking down a street at night and having each lamp you pass turn on fully. It’s an interesting idea, nonetheless.

A new kind of street lamp called a “Seagull Light” has been spotted at Panasonic’s technology center in Tokyo. These lamps generate the power required to drive them by harvesting wind and solar power. Their cost is quickly covered by the money saved on electricity bills, says Panasonic. As an added bonus, they look very stylish, especially when the wind turbine is spinning.

We think it’s great that Panasonic is developing ways to save electricity and money in such an eco-friendly way. So far it is not clear whether the new lamps will become a commercial product or not, but replacing as many traditional lights as possible with these could save many a penny on electricity bills for cities worldwide.