Quote the pretext of the 'Best of What's new '08': 'Finally! For decades, we've fantasized about watching paper-thin TVs, soring hundreds of feet with personal jet packs, riding in cars that drive themselves, and regrowing organs. The 21st annual Best of What's New celebrates all of those dreams coming true. Turn the page to learn about these achievements and 96 other breakthroughs that, whether long awaited or completely unexpected, are equally amazing.'
Home Entertainment:
1. Sony XEL-1 OLED TV---3mm thickness, produces stunning colors and the highest contrast possible. Only 11-inch screen now since there is great difficulties in tech to produce larger OLED screen. But Sony promises 27-in models soon. By 2011, 32 inchs or more would be available.
2. Sony BOV-IT1000ES BRAVIA theater system---giant speakers are replaced with thin bars you can hang on the wall. The dimensions of the new design with same sound effect is 22*1*0.5 by inchs.
Auto Tech:
1. 2009 Nissan GT-R---a car under 80 grand whose performance matches that of a $200,000 supercar. Some features:
3.5 seconds from 0 to 60 mph
480 horsepower
193 mph as the max speed
twin-clutch system
adjustable shock-absorber system which can stiffen up so this car can feel like a Ferrari F430
videogame-inspried control panel that displays steering angle and brake-pedal pressure
2. Honda FCX CLARITY---the first hydrogen production car; Three-year lease for $600 a month; honda.com
The fuel cell Honda develops on its own produces more energy from a 65 percent smaller space
Nothing comes out of the tailpipe but water vapor.
3. Infiniti Scratch shield---The clear coat contains a synthetic resin that, when activated by daytime heat and sunlight, flows into surface wounds, repairing the damage in anywhere from a day to a week, erase scrapes caused by car washes or stray branches.
4. Ford ECOBOOST Engines---Ford is aming for up to 20 percent cuts in CO2 emisiions by putting EcoBoost engines in 90 percent of its models by 2013.
EcoBoost uses direct-injection and turbocharing to squeeze more power out of smaller, more efficient engines, replacing V8s with V6s and V6s with four0cylinders.
Green Tech:
1. The cleanest walls---requires less energy to make, therefore reduces the greenhouse gases.
85 percent of the material to make this wall are industrial by-products. They just react chemically when mixed with water and bind together into a paste that's poured into sheets.
The oven-free process uses just 20 percent of the energy of the typical method (which spews out 20 billion pounds of greenhouse gases a year).
And its not pricey---costs about the same as high-end drywall.
seriouslmaterials.com
2. Safer kitchens in the developing world---a cookstove that can cut emissions by more than 80 percent and use half as much fuel.
More than half the worlds' population cooks over open fires or small charcoal or biomass stoves. Fuel burn incompletely, producing CO and smoke, causing 1.5 millions deaths a year.
The can-shape new design stove has a precisely measured opening that lets in enough air to fan the flames, yet not enough to cool it and slow down combustion.
From $15; envirofit.org
3. Wind Power new design---the first vertical-axis turbine that can start in slow winds without help from a motor or inefficient scoops or wings.
The Windsprire captures breezes at 30 feet and below. mariahpower.com
4. Plastics from Pig Pee---Urea, a chemical for plastics, that's identical to millions of tons sold every year, now could be filters out from pig urine, instead of produced from fossil fuel.
Equipping the collector nationwide could meet all the US' s urea needs. agroplast.info.
Health:
1. A helmet for your head and spine---in the head first impact, this helmet reduces force on the neck by up to 56 percent
This helmet is the first designed to guide the spine.
In a head-first impact, the top of the head tends to stop abruptly while the torso continues plowing forward, compacting the spinal cord.
With the Pro-Neck-Tor, a traditional outer shell blunts direct force, while an inner shell slides froward along a track, guiding the head down to reduce force on the neck.
The team created a prototype this year and hopes to have a commercial version for football, cycling and other spine-snapping sports soon. pronecktor.com
---since I hit my elbow badly falling off from my bike, I pay attention to cycling more and this news is pleased to know.
2. First 3D printer for crowns and bridges
Technicians sculpt a digital model of the mouth onscreen using a haptic pen that simulates the fell of real was. A 3D printer then produces a resin prototype , which is case in metal fro insertion, all in half the time of conventional methods. sensable.com
---I don't think I understand this totally, but since I really had/will continue long history of dental treatment, this news look encouraging.
3. A microscope on your mobile
In rural areas and developing countries, clinics often lack the equipment and staff for up-close evaluations of malaria, parasites, blood diseases and skin conditions.
The Cellscope is a 5x to 60x microscope attachment for camera phones that takes photos of skin and blood cells and transmits the images to experts for diagnosis.
It was successfully tested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August and could be soon used by cancer patients in the US to take white-blood-cell counts at home. blumcenter.berkeley.edu
Too much great stuff were created that I think we are pleased to know and would make the planet a better place to live. I'll post the part II of this about aviation&space, computing, engineering and recreation next Sunday.
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