Now, charge your mobile phone with water

 

Researchers in Sweden have developed a new technique where you can charge your devices anywhere without electricity.

 Researchers in Sweden have developed a new technique where you can charge your devices anywhere without electricity, provided there is a water source nearby. Just add a spoonful and get instant power, anytime anywhere. 

Handy for anyone who spends time away from electricity, the small, lightweight PowerTrekk could power critical devices for warfighters and aid workers deployed to remote areas of the world, Fox News reported. 

Developed by a team in Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology and made by MyFC, it's the world's first water-activated charging device that powers using fresh or salt water, the developers claimed. It can extend battery life up to 3 watts. 

So if you take an iPhone, the charge would be enough for between 25 and 100 per cent of its battery capacity. Any convenient water can be harvested for power, from a kitchen faucet through to a puddle in the jungle. 

Solar charging can be affected by the weather and the position of the sun, of course, and not hugely helpful if your urgent power shortage hits at night. Water charging isn't hindered by these external factors. Even in a desert, a spoonful of water from your thermos can give you power. 

The new device leverages the team's more than 15 years of research on micro fuel cell technology and small flat Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells at the Department of Applied Electrochemistry at KTH. 

To use the PowerTrekk charger, you fill-up water compartment with about one tablespoon, close the lid and connect it to the electronic device with a USB cable. It starts charging automatically as the water inside interacts with a small disposable metal disc causing hydrogen gas to be released. 

When the gas combines with oxygen it converts chemical energy into electrical energy. While in many ways fuel cells are similar to batteries, they are different in that electrodes do not become consumed making them finite. 

Instead provided water and air is provided to the electrodes, these fuel cells will run. Very green power, water vapor is the only by-product. 

Currently, Powertrekk works with devices like cell and smartphones, digital cameras, iPods and GPS. The company is looking into developing their fuel cells to function for larger devices like laptops.

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Tropical forests more resilient to global warming

The work suggests that the risk of climate-induced damage to tropical forests will be relatively small.

Tropical forests are less likely to lose biomass — plants and plant material — in response to greenhouse gas emissions over the 21st century than previously thought, a new study has claimed.

An international research team led by Dr Chris Huntingford from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in the UK, used computer simulations with 22 climate models to explore the response of tropical forests in the Americas, Africa and Asia to greenhouse-gas-induced climate change.

They found loss of forest cover in only one model, and only in the Americas.

Although the work suggests that the risk of climate-induced damage to tropical forests will be relatively small, the paper does list where the considerable uncertainties remain in defining how ecosystems respond to global warming.

“The big surprise in our analysis is that uncertainties in ecological models of the rainforest are significantly larger than uncertainties from differences in climate projections,” Huntingford said.

“Despite this we conclude that based on current knowledge of expected climate change and ecological response, there is evidence of forest resilience for the Americas (Amazonia and Central America), Africa and Asia,” he said.

“This study highlights why we must improve our understanding of how tropical forests respond to increasing temperature and drought,” co-author Dr David Galbraith from the University of Leeds said.

“Different vegetation models currently simulate remarkable variability in forest sensitivity to climate change. And while these new results suggest that tropical forests may be quite resilient to warming, it is important also to remember that other factors not included in this study, such as fire and deforestation, will also affect the carbon stored in tropical forests,” he said.

The study was published in Nature Geoscience.
Source:PTI

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Indian American Eesha Khare invents wondrous 20-sec charger, Google eyes bid

An 18-year-old Indian-American girl has invented a super-capacitor device that could potentially charge your cellphone in less than 20 seconds. 

Eesha Khare, from Saratoga, California, was awarded the Young Scientist Award by the Intel Foundation after developing the tiny device that fits inside mobile phone batteries, that could allow them to charge within 20-30 seconds.

The so-called super-capacitor, a gizmo that can pack a lot of energy into a tiny space, charges quickly and holds its charge for a long time, NBC News reported.

Khare has been awarded USD 50,000 for developing the tiny device. She has also attracted the attention of tech giant Google for her potentially revolutionary invention.

According to Khare, her device can last for 10,000 charge-recharge cycles, compared with 1,000 cycles for conventional rechargeable batteries.

"My cellphone battery always dies," she said when asked about what inspired her to work on the energy-storage technology.

Super-capacitors allowed her to focus on her interest in nanochemistry "really working at the nanoscale to make significant advances in many different fields."

The gadget has so far only been tested on an LED light, but the good news is that it has a good chance of working successfully in other devices, like mobile phones, the report said.

Khare sees it fitting inside cellphones and the other portable electronic devices proliferating in today's world.

"It is also flexible, so it can be used in rollup displays and clothing and fabric. It has a lot of different applications and advantages over batteries in that sense," Khare added. 

Source: Indian Express

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Consumers not responsible for meter theft, tampering, PSERC

Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) has given relief to consumers. In case a meter was installed outside the premises of a consumer, he would not be held responsible for damage or theft to the apparatus or tampering with the seal. 

'Supply code' regulations have been amended after it came to notice that although the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) had installed meters outside premises of consumers, theft cases were registered if seal was found broken or tampered with although the meters were consumers custody.

The clause in a new notification states that in case the meter was installed outside the consumer's premises, he would not be held responsible for damage to the meter or theft or tampering with the seal.

In the same notification, another clause has been amended wherein it has been provided that in case the cost of burnt meter was charged on the consumer, he must be provided with a investigation report giving reasons for the damage.

A third amendment has been made for calculating the penalty in case of 'unauthorised use of electricity' (UUE). The penalty under UUE is charged if consumer is found to be using some load for other purpose(s) or has extended the supply to other premises. In such cases, the PSPCL was charging penalty on the total load but now onwards it would charge only for the unauthorised load.

Fom now onwards the area lineman and junior engineer concerned would be liable to protect the pillar boxes to ensure no damage was done to meters. Most of times the PSPCL employees didn't seal the pillar boxes in which meters were installed outside the house.

Amended clause 21.2 of supply code:
In case a meter is installed outside the premises of a consumer the entire cost of installing the meter outside the premises and providing a display unit within the premises will be borne by the licensee. However, the cost of display unit will be treated as part of the meter cost while determining meter rentals. The display unit may not be installed by the licensee if the consumer so opts. In such an event, monthly rentals on this account will not be levied. In a case where the meter/metering equipment is installed by the licensee outside the premises of a consumer, the consumer will not be responsible for the protection of the meter from theft or damage to the seals/meter or tampering of the seals /meter."

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