New technology, like the three examples below, not only provide entertaining reading, but stir up our creative thinking as we tackle the day-to-day problems in our businesses and personal lives.
And there are few things more inspiring and intriguing than a young inventor, a genius who has just discovered their gift, creating something marvelous–as we see in this first new tech story that has been making headlines recently:
The Coffee Mug We Will All Want
18-year-old Ann Makosinski has invented something that will earn the undying adoration of coffee lovers and coffee shop devotees everywhere: a mug that charges your phone.
However, before she invented the mug, she solved a significant real-world problem for her friend in the Philippines. Her friend had no electricity and thus no light in which to do her homework. Ann invented a battery-free flashlight powered only by the heat of the hand holding it. It gave just enough light for her friend to do her homework. This was a big deal for her friend because she had been failing school because of the homework issue.
But Ann, who won a first place prize in the 2013 Google Science Fair, and who has appeared on the Tonight Show, didn't stop there. She invented the eMug. It generates electricity from the heat of the coffee and charges your phone for 30 minutes.
So how do her inventions work? They incorporate Peltier tiles. According to Popular Science, Peltier tiles “generate electricity when one side is hotter than the other, to draw energy from the heat difference between hand and air.”
Switchmate: A Smart Lighting System Apparently Designed By A Jedi
If you'd like to jump into the world of smart lighting in your home but you have the electrician skills of a three-year-old and would likely electrocute yourself, you will love Switchmate. Or if you do have plenty of skills but you just don't feel like going through all the motions, you will get a kick out of this invention, which seems to have been invited by Jedis. By some magic, you simply place a box over your conventional light switch, and suddenly your lighting system becomes smart.
According to TechNewsWorld: “It fixes magnetically to the screw of your existing light switch and you seemingly can start using it immediately through the accompanying app. You don't even need a wireless home network, as it operates over Bluetooth. You can set timers for lights to turn on or have them illuminate automatically as you get home.”
And the price tag isn't too bad: $40 for a Switchmate.
The Eternal Camera (Because It Never Runs Out of Power)
This is something that Ann Makosinski, as she is a fan of self-sustaining devices. She might have invented a flashlight powered by the heat of the human hand and a phone charge powered by coffee, but a computer vision lab at Columbia University has invented a camera that is powered by the very same light it uses to create its pictures. It powers itself, in other words–thus the term “eternal camera.”
But wait, you might be thinking, aren't you just describing a solar-powered camera? No. The Eternal Camera is not limited to sunlight. It can use any light to power itself for taking pictures. As long as there is some kind of light, you're ready to snap pictures.
The company has some big plans for this device, as reported here: “The group next plans to reduce the camera’s size while increasing its speed and resolution. That way it could be used for specialty projects where size and access to power are concerns: to track wildlife as part of conservation projects, to use less power on space-exploration missions, or to provide round-the-clock security.”
The Joy Of Living In The Tech Era
It might be one of the most fun things about living in this time period of human history. Every week it seems, there is more news about technology that has been invented to enrich life.
And thanks to the fruits of ongoing innovation, as long as you have a warm cup of coffee on hand, your phone will never die.
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