Ben Curtis Engineer

[bengineer-blog]

This Breakthrough Book About Water Safety Can Filter 4 Years’ Worth of Clean Water

[bengineer-blog]

25 Fascinating Charts Of Negotiation Styles Around The World

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/communication-charts-around-the-world-2014-3

[bengineer-blog]

NASA's elctromethanogenesis approach brings a turn-key, energy saving solution to industrial wastewater management

An automated natural gas plant that uses general waste and to create clean water, biogas and electrical and head energy - EcoVolt is an anaerobic treatment process enhanced by newly discovered electrically active microbes.

"EcoVolt generates clean electricity and clean heat directly from industrial wastewater streams.  High quality, renewable biogas created within the reactor is captured and used as a fuel in a combined heat and power system.  A typical installation can create 30 – 200 kW of power."

http://cambrianinnovation.com/solutions/ecovolt/

[bengineer-blog]

There's another type of plastic in the ocean...

Harvard researchers help develop more viable methods to make biodegradable plastics from Chitosan - the second most abundant organic material on Earth, found in insect and crustacean shells.

“Our scalable manufacturing method shows that chitosan, which is readily available and inexpensive, can serve as a viable bioplastic that could potentially be used instead of conventional plastics for numerous industrial applications.”

[bengineer-blog]

Fuelling Americas armies and God knows what else from the heavens...

The Pentagon look to high orbit solar arrays to assist in mobile energy availability. 

[bengineer-blog]

Tesla’s Gigafactory is gaining popularity and exciting investors with the possibility of cheaper batteries for the consumer market… with applications from electric cars to mobile phones. Supporters are also suggesting that a cheaper battery could revolutionise the energy market, finally making it affordable to power houses independently with solar panels and battery arrays. Alternatively, in a step towards self sufficiency and cost saving, houses could use affordable new or retired Tesla batteries to store grid energy during low cost periods - to be used during higher tariff periods.

[bengineer-blog]

The robot of the future looks like animated tubleweed

"This is a fundamentally new approach to building robots," says one of its creators.

NASA's revolutionary space rover could find unexpected applications on our own soil.

[bengineer-blog]

Cut your losses with Bluetooth Locators

Stick N Find Technologies are about to turn your Smartphone into a Radar using innovations in Bluetooth technology. 

Keep track of anything or anyone within 800m with the GPS assisted Bluetracker

http://www.indiegogo.com/blutracker

Find misplaced or wandering items within 30m with the StickNfind

http://www.indiegogo.com/sticknfind

With the release of an API, app developers should be able to come up with some handy applications for this affordable and versatile technology.

[bengineer-blog]

Carbon Neutral Refineries Could Fuel The Future

A small British company has developed a process that uses air and electricity to create synthetic fuel.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/10/fuel-from-air/

[bengineer-blog]

Let the EV conversion revolution begin

"The Zagreb-based automaker Rimac Automobili – primarily known for its outlandish supercar concept – has overhauled a 1984 BMW E30 and created the fastest-accelerating electric vehicle in two classes"

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/10/croatia-ev/

[bengineer-blog]

Thinking under the influence, the creative approach to problem solving

How being tipsy can improve creative problem solving

[bengineer-blog]

TomTom Integral to Berlin Traffic Management

TomTom have announced a 10-year partnership with VMZ Berlin, the operator of Berlin's Traffic Information Centre. TomTom will provide VMZ Berlin with highly accurate real-time traffic information for Berlin and for selected parts of the State of Brandenburg. By using TomTom's highly accurate HD Flow traffic product, traffic management in Berlin can react faster to traffic congestion and improve traffic information for citizens, enterprises and media.

http://corporate.tomtom.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=700822

Image taken from the TomTom website live traffic feature

http://www.tomtom.com/livetraffic/

[bengineer-blog]

Waze making waves

An enlightening interview with Uri Levine, the co-founder of crowd sourced traffic application - Waze. Over 20 million users and growing, the smarp phone app is paving the way for a new approach to data sourcing and feedback. The more users, the greater the quantity and reliability of route guidance and road incident information.

[bengineer-blog]

Crowd sourced traffic information looks to be a key feature of Apple's own Maps Application; due to be released with iOS 6 this month. Android devices will also have access to real time traffic information through Google Maps, potentially ushering in a new age of highly reliable trip time estimations and route selection features... 

http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/features/featurecrowd-sourced-traffic-data-android-smartphone/

[bengineer-blog]

The Planar Clarity Matrix range of flat panel LCD's offer a unique approach to removing heat and noise from the workroom or the display area (great for retail installations) by seperating the screen component and the video driver and power supply. The video driver and power supply can be seen as the rack mounted components on the lower right, capable of driving the screens from a distance of 38m (150m with extenders).

This installation uses the one power supply and video driver to drive all four screens.

Planar also offer a mounting system that simplifies screen alighment, servicing and removal.

The full HD 55" screen provides a mullion width of 5.7mm pixel to pixel, contrast ratio of 3000:1 and brightness of 700cd/m2 running at 354W.

[bengineer-blog]

The Mitsubishi VS Series offer what I believe to be the best display wall service bracket currently available. Simply flip out the bracket tabs and slide the screen forward like a drawer. In addition, each screen has two large handles on the rear for safe and easy handling.

[bengineer-blog]