Spray-on Liquid Glass that Can Cover Any Surface

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Invented in Turkey and patented by Nanopool, a German company, the spray-on liquid glass might become one of the most useful inventions in the field of nanotechnology. The product was tested at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials. Currently the representatives of the German company are in UK negotiating with several firms and the National Health Service on the widespread use of the liquid glass.
It is worth mentioning that the invention is transparent and non-toxic. The liquid glass can protect any type of surface from damages caused by water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. Besides, it is flexible and breathable, which means that the liquid glass can be applied on plants and seeds as well. The invention was tested in vineyards where researchers found that the spray considerably increases the resistance of plants to fungal diseases. The trials also showed that the sprayed seeds grew faster.
The main ingredient used in the liquid glass is silicon dioxide that is obtained from quartz sand. Depending on the type of surface that is to be covered, researchers can add water or ethanol to the spray. Scientists say that their latest invention boasts a long-lasting anti-bacterial effect. The spray produces a coating that is just 100nm thick. This coating can be easily cleaned using water or a damp cloth.
According to Neil McClelland, UK project manager with Nanopool, due to its capabilities, the spray-on liquid glass can become of the most useful inventions around the world, ending up being used by a lot of industries that will cover their products. Currently the invention is being used by a train company and a hotel chain in the UK, as well as a hamburger chain in Germany that are carrying out tests of the liquid glass for various uses.
The spray-on liquid glass was also tested in a Lancashire hospital, where it showed "very promising" results, being used to cover equipment, medical implants, catheters, sutures and bandages. The invention could be also used on clothing, because it cannot be seen by the naked eye, thus clothes could become stain resistant. Due to its unique properties, the liquid glass can be used to cover bathrooms, tiles, sinks and many other surfaces in the home. According to the researchers, the spay-on glass can last for a year. It is expected to hit the DIY stores across Britain at a price of GBP5 ($8).

Latest Invention: Flexible E-paper from LG

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The South Korean tech giant LG recently presented its latest invention - flexible e-paper which resembles the traditional newspaper. The device could save tons of paper, wastewater and considerably cut carbon emissions.
LG presented a model that has a 19-inch screen and is just 0.3mm thick, which is equivalent to five sheets of paper. The device weights 130 grams and is different from other e-readers due to the fact that it features a new technology that allows it to bend and return to initial shape.
Because of the resemblance to the traditional newspaper, the company expects high demand for its invention.
Not only does the invention represent an alternative for traditional newspapers and such devices as the Amazon Kindle; due to the debates about the environmental impact of other e-readers and the concerns regarding the harvesting of hundreds of millions of trees to produce paper, LG's latest invention can truly become a mass product.

Currently there is no information on the amount of energy the device is going to consume. But it is known that the 19-inch display was developed only for the show and that the product that will hit the markets is going to have an 11.5-inch display, informs DigiTimes. The company's latest invention will appear in the first half of 2010.

The World's Fastest (Steam-Powered) Car

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On Aug. 25, Charles Burnett III smashed a record that had stood for more than a century: the land-speed record for a steam-powered car. On a track at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Burnett was clocked at up to 151 m.p.h. (243 km/h) in his British Steam Car, which is 25 ft. (7.6 m) long, has 12 separate boilers and contains more than 2 miles (3 km) of tubing. It's affectionately nicknamed "the fastest kettle in the world."

The Fashion Robot

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It might have the diet of a model — and at 95 lb. (43 kg), the weight — but at 5 ft. 2 in. (1.6 m), the HRP-4C robot model lacks the height of the Giseles and Naomis of catwalk fame. That didn't stop the HRP-4C from making its debut in March, modeling a wedding dress by designer Yumi Katsura on its black-and-silver frame. Researchers at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology developed the $2 million HRP-4C, which is equipped with doelike eyes and shoulder-length hair, as well as sound-recognition sensors and motors in her face to mimic human expressions. But with the HRP-4C's unusually long arms, rigid gait and expected price of about $200,000, flesh-and-blood models needn't worry about losing their jobs to futuristic fashionistas quite yet.

The Tank-Bred Tuna

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At 8:47 a.m. on March 12, fish history happened in Port Lincoln, Australia. A tankful of southern bluefin tuna — regal, predatory fish prized for their buttery sashimi meat — began to spawn, and they didn't stop for more than a month. "People said, 'It can't be done, it can't be done,'" says Hagen Stehr, founder of Clean Seas, the Australian company that operates the breeding facility. "Now we've done it." Scientists believe the breeding population of the highly migratory southern bluefin has probably plummeted more than 90% since the 1950s. Others have gotten Pacific bluefin to spawn and grow in ocean cages, but by coaxing the notoriously fussy southern bluefin to breed in landlocked tanks, Clean Seas may finally have given the future of bluefin aquaculture legs. (Or at least a tail.)

The $10 Million Lightbulb

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With the flick of a switch, Philips Electronics may have just dramatically lowered America's electric bill. In September the Dutch electronics giant became the first to enter the U.S. Department of Energy's L Prize competition, which seeks an LED alternative to the common 60-watt bulb. Sixty-watt lights account for 50% of the domestic incandescent market; if they were replaced by LED bulbs, the U.S. could save enough electricity per year to light 17.4 million households. If Philips wins the L Prize, it will claim a cash award and federal purchasing agreements worth about $10 million.
Philips' LED bulb emits the same amount of light as its incandescent equivalent but uses less than 10 watts and lasts for 25,000 hours — or 25 times as long

Teleportation

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Inching our reality ever closer to Star Trek's, scientists at the University of Maryland's Joint Quantum Institute successfully teleported data from one atom to another in a container a meter away. A landmark in the brain-bending field known as quantum information processing, the experiment doesn't quite have the cool factor of body transportation; one atom merely transforms the other so it acts just like the original. Still, atom-to-atom teleportation has major implications for creating super-secure, ultra-fast computers.