Daily Tech News

Even today's best rechargeable lithium batteries do lose their ability to hold a charge after a while, and are considered toxic waste once discarded. In just a few years, however, they may be replaced by batteries that are refillable and biodegradable, and that will also have a higher energy density yet a lower price ... and they'll run on sugar. "Sugar is a perfect energy storage compound in nature," says Virginia Tech's Prof. Y.H. Percival Zhang, who is leading the research. "So it's only logical that we try to harness this natural power in an environmentally friendly way to produce a battery." Zhang's isn't the first experimental  sugar battery , although he claims that its energy density is "an order of magnitude higher than others." It's actually a type of enzymatic fuel cell. For fuel, it utilizes maltodextrin, which is a polysaccharide made from the hydrolysis of starch (polysaccharides are chains of sugars). ...

Whenever the topic of  plant-derived biofuels  is raised, the issue of turning valuable arable land over to the task of growing feedstock is generally not far behind. A discovery by the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SRBC) that desert plants fed by seawater can produce biofuel more efficiently than other well-known feedstocks could help alleviate such concerns. The SRBC, which is affiliated with the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, is receiving funding from Boeing, Etihad Airways and Honeywell UOP to develop and commercialize a sustainable biofuel that emits 50 to 80 percent less carbon through its lifecycle than fossil fuels. Plants called halophytes, which are highly salt tolerant, could be the answer. SRBC researchers found that halophyte seeds contain oil suitable for biofuel production and that the entire shrub-like plant can be turned into biofuel more effectively than many other feedstocks. To test their findings, the SRBC...

Every now and then we get demonstrations of really innovative new technologies and concepts that almost no one has any chance of being able to own anytime soon. The best place to undergo this particular form of torture is at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This year at  CES , a really fantastic "smart mirror" concept from Toshiba fit the bill. There was little information available on this novel idea, which brings the tech from countless late 1990s and early 2000s era science-fiction films to life. Simply called "Multi Display in Black Mirror," the concept combines the functionality of something like a tablet alongside your reflection. The mirror was shown in two different environments: In a bathroom, where the reflective screen presents information to help you start your day such as the weather alongside data from connected devices like a personal fitness monitor; and in the kitchen, where the system can assist in finding, adjustin...