A revolutionary new cheap, easy and effective method uses shockwaves for desalinating water, separating salt out by applying electric current in a process dubbed electrodialysis, thanks to Martin Bazant, engineering and mathematics professor at MIT, and his team.

Unlike straining and boiling, the process is not prone to clogs or energy-intensive. Salt-enriched and salt-depleted water separates when electrodes are attached to porous ‘frit’ made of small glass particles. The resulting flows are separated so the freshwater can be collected for use. Effectively, when the current is increased to a certain point, it generates a shockwave between these two zones, sharply dividing the streams and allowing the fresh and salty regions to be separated by a simple physical barrier at the center of the flow.

The current can kill problematic bacteria as well, helping filter as well as desalinate if needed in areas with contaminated water. This approach is “a fundamentally new and different separation system,” Bazant says. And unlike most other approaches to desalination or water purification, he adds, this one performs a “membraneless separation” of ions and particles (via Fastco and Inhabitat).

The post New MIT Desalination Tech ‘Shocks’ the Salt Out of Water first appeared on Gajitz.

Making a primitive battery from salt water and a bit of metal is a pretty common science experiment, but how about using the concept on a larger scale for the good of the planet? Engineer and environmental activist Aisa Mijeno created a lamp that uses this eco-friendly, renewable energy to provide light to homes with no electricity.

The SALt (Sustainable Alternative Lighting) lamp uses just one cup of water and two teaspoons of salt to provide light for eight hours. The lamp is meant as an alternative to kerosene lamps, which are the standard in most electricity-free homes in the Philippines. Kerosene lamps are dangerous due to fumes and to the fire hazard, but many households have no other option after the sun goes down.

SALt uses a galvanic cell battery; it involves two electrodes placed into the saltwater solution. One electrode discharges electrons and the other picks them up, thus creating a current that can be harnessed to light the bulb in the top part of the lamp. The lamp also has a USB port on the side that the inventor says receives enough power to charge a smartphone.

Like all other batteries, this one will eventually wear out. But according to Mijeno, the battery should last for a good six months even if you run the light eight hours a day, every day. Then it’s just a matter of replacing the anode, not the entire lamp, to make it run like new again.

If you live on the coast, you don’t even have to worry about mixing up a saltwater solution – just grab some ocean water and pour it in the chamber in the bottom of the lamp. You’ll get the same performance as you would with a homemade salt + water solution. Mijeno and the rest of the team behind SALt hope to launch their product by providing 600 of the lamps to Philippine towns. After that, they plan to bring it to market so anyone with access to water and salt can have a simple, safe, portable source of light.

The post Now Sea Here: This Lamp Runs on Nothing But Salt and Water first appeared on Gajitz.

This low-tech, beer-stashing solution uses the Earth’s naturally colder temperature to keep up to 24 cans of beer at ready-to-drink temperatures year round, all without needing an external energy source.

Far from being a futuristic idea, this eCool design owes a debt to a long history of storing beers in below-grade cellars that are naturally cooler yet don’t freeze, keeping your drinks in a reasonable temperature range during any season.

Once you lift the lid, a simple manual hand crank brings your next beer can up to the surface and deposits it handily on a little side flap. Being fully-mechanical with no electricity for any part of the equation makes it cheaper, easier, more versatile and robust.

Digging the three-foot hole could be most easily done with a garden drill, though the creators of eCool suggest you can also just use a shovel and get your hands a bit dirty – after all, the beer will taste even better after a bit of hard work.

The post Brew Stash: Secret Underground Power-Free Beer Cooler first appeared on Gajitz.

Deployed off the coast of Australia, the first electricity grid-connected wave power station on the planet has been switched on. If deployed broadly and at scale around Western Australia, this system could ultimately provide more than 10 times the entire power requirements of the state.

Developed by Carnegie Wave Energy, the specific technology is named CETO (after a Greek goddess of the sea) and converts ocean swell into zero-emission renewable power as well as desalinated freshwater. Being underwater, the system is designed to be safe from unpredictable and dangerous surface conditions.

The round, submerged buoys are tethered to seabed pump units, which are installed at a depth of between 25 and 50 metres. Waves crashing into the buoys drive the pumps, which push pressurised seawater through a pipeline beneath the ocean floor to an onshore hydroelectric power station. Here, the high-pressure water drives a turbine and generates electricity.

The process of creating freshwater utilizes elements of the same system. “The high-pressure water can be used to supply a reverse osmosis desalination plant, replacing or reducing reliance on greenhouse gas-emitting, electrically-driven pumps usually required for such plants.”

The post Down Under: World’s First Wave Power Station Tied to Grid first appeared on Gajitz.

Music is the universal language, and in the case of an instrument called SPARK, it could also be a lifesaver. SPARK, invented by Royal College of Art graduate Diana Simpson Hernandez and promoted by percussionist Sudha Kheterpal, is a percussion shaker that creates electricity as it creates music.

In developing countries like Kenya where up to 75% of the population has no access to electricity, kerosene lamps are often used for nighttime lighting. These lamps are deadly, causing 12,000 deaths per year in Kenya alone. But without them, schoolchildren have no way to do their homework or read.

The SPARK contains a copper coil with a magnet inside that moves back and forth as the SPARK is shaken. The motion gathers electricity which is stored in a rechargeable battery, allowing owners to jam in the daylight to save up enough electricity to light their homes at night. The SPARK happens to make a lovely sound when shaken, so it makes a great addition to a formal or impromptu musical gathering.

A USB light can be operated from the SPARK’s stored energy. This can provide precious time to read or do schoolwork at home. The SPARK can also be used to charge mobile phones, a service that is typically only available to Kenyans for a charge from street vendors.

The project’s Kickstarter campaign is an impassioned plea to bring a much-needed source of clean energy to developing nations. Because learning the inner workings of the tool is just as important as using it, the SPARK will be manufactured and distributed as an assembly kit. After testing the SPARK in several Kenyan villages, Kheterpal has discovered that the technology would make a huge positive difference in the lives of its users. Contribute at least £150 to the Kickstarter campaign to get your hands on one of the very first SPARK kits to be produced.

The post Instrument Sparks Love of Music + Brings Power to Homes first appeared on Gajitz.