Dutch scientists develop first bus to run on formic acid

DutchNews, July 6, 2017

A hybrid bus in Eindhoven. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

There could be a sting in the tail on the way for bus passengers – Dutch scientists have unveiled the first electric passenger vehicle to run on formic acid. 

A team at Eindhoven University of Technology have built the prototype bus, which uses formic acid to generate hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Formic acid is the poison carried in the stings of ants, wasps and nettles. 

Max Aerts, head of the development team, said formic acid was a cost-effective way to create hydrogen as fuel. ‘The big advantage of formic acid is that you can put it in the fuel tank’, he said. ‘The cost of rebuilding a petrol station is relatively low.’ 

Formic acid is easy to synthesise and cheaper and easier to store than pure hydrogen, which has to be kept in pressurised containers, Aerts explained. 

Aerts told Omroep Brabant he expected the first buses adapted for formic acid to be running on the roads within one to four years. 

Dutch students win electric car competition in the UK

24 Oranges, Orangemaster, 16 July 2015 

Engineering students from the Delft University of Technology have done it again, winning this year’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Formula Student competition for the second time in a row.

The Formula Student competition requires engineering students to design, build and race a single seat racing car in just one year. Cars are assess on their acceleration, endurance, fuel economy, design and business cases.

Thousands of the world’s best young engineers were at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England on 8-12 July. There were 135 teams in total, with 49 from the UK and teams from as far as Australia, Turkey and Ukraine. Team Delft claimed the prize at Silverstone this weekend with a total score of 909.3 out of a total score of 1,000 points. Germany’s UAS Zwickau claimed second place with 792.5 points, University of Stuttgart came third with 750.8 and the University of Bath was the top UK team, coming fourth with 748.4 points.

(Link: phys.org, Photo of the unrelated Forze IV hydrogen-based formula race car by Richard van het Hof)

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Toyota to give away fuel-cell patents to boost industry

Yahoo – AFP, 6 Jan 2015

A man refuels Toyota Motor's fuel cell vehicle "Mirai" at a hydrogen station

in Tokyo on November 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

Tokyo (AFP) - Toyota will give away thousands of patents for its fuel-cell cars, it said Tuesday, in an effort to encourage other automakers into the new industry.

The world's largest vehicle maker said it will allow royalty-free use of about 5,680 patent licences, including 1,970 related to fuel-cell stacks and 3,350 concerning fuel-cell system control technology.

The firm also said the free patent licences will include about 290 items related to high-pressure hydrogen tanks.

Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor's fuel

 cell vehicle "Mirai" is displayed in Tokyo

on November 18, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Yoshikazu Tsuno)

The cost-free licences will be allowed "through the initial market introduction period" of fuel cell vehicles (FCV), which the company expects to last until about 2020.

Toyota will also open about 70 patent licences related to hydrogen stations -- the equivalent of gas stands for internal combustion vehicles, and a vital link in the chain for drivers -- indefinitely for manufacturers and operators.

"By allowing royalty-free use of FCV-related patent licences, Toyota is going one step further as it aims to promote the widespread use of FCVs and actively contribute to the realisation of a hydrogen-based society," the automaker said in a statement.

The announcement came after Toyota last month rolled out the world's first mass market fuel-cell car -- the four-door Mirai sedan -- in Japan.

The car -- whose name means "future" in Japanese -- will hit the US and some European countries, including Britain, Germany and Denmark, in 2015, Toyota has said.

It hopes to sell more than 3,000 units of the car by the end of 2017 in the United States, and up to 100 annually in Europe.

Fuel-cell cars are seen as the Holy Grail of green cars as they are powered by a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, which produces nothing more harmful than water at the point of use.

But a limited driving range and lack of refuelling stations have hampered development of fuel-cell and their cousin, all-electric cars, which environmentalists say could play a vital role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and slowing global warming.

The Mirai can travel about 650 kilometres (400 miles) without refuelling, some three times further than an electric car, and its tank can be filled in a few minutes like gasoline engine vehicles, according to Toyota.

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Tesla gives up patents to 'open source movement'

Super material has chink in its armour

Yahoo – AFP, 26 Nov 2014

Subatomic proton particles, as produced by this "Synergium" machine, can
penetrate super material graphene, it has been discovered (AFP File)

Scientists said Wednesday they had found a chink in the impermeable armour of graphene, the world's thinnest material, and one of the strongest.

The team said they were surprised to see the super material known to repel all gases and liquids, let through sub-atomic particles called protons.

And they hailed the unexpected finding as a potential breakthrough for fuel cells -- a non-polluting version of a traditional battery.

"The discovery could revolutionise fuel cells and other hydrogen-based technologies as they require a barrier that only allow protons -- hydrogen atoms stripped of their electrons -- to pass through," said a statement from Manchester University, whose researchers took part in the work.

Protons, along with neutrons, make up the nuclei of atoms, the building blocks of matter.

At just one atom thick -- many times thinner than a human hair, graphene is stronger than steel and acts as a barrier to even the smallest of atoms, hydrogen -- making it a perfect ingredient for impermeable coatings and packaging materials.

Led by physicist Andre Geim, awarded the Nobel in 2010 for his work on graphene, a research team set out to test whether protons, like atoms and molecules, would also be repelled by graphene.

They "fully expected that protons would be blocked, as existing theory predicted as little proton permeation as for hydrogen," said the statement of the findings published in the journal Nature.

"Despite the pessimistic prognosis, the researchers found that protons pass through the ultra-thin crystals surprisingly easily, especially at elevated temperatures..."

This made graphene an excellent candidate for proton-conducting membranes key to efficient fuel cell technology, said the statement.

Fuel cells, a kind of battery used in some electric cars and backup power generators, for example, use oxygen and hydrogen as a fuel and convert chemical energy into electricity.

They require membranes that allow protons to pass through, but not other particles.

"It looks extremely simple and equally promising. Because graphene can be produced these days in square metre sheets, we hope that it will find its way to commercial fuel cells sooner rather than later," said study co-author Sheng Hu.

Graphene was aired as a theoretical substance in 1947. But for decades, physicists thought it would be impossible to isolate, as such thin crystalline sheets were bound to be unstable.

The problem was resolved in 2004 by Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who used ordinary sticky tape to lift a layer from a piece of graphite.

That layer was itself pulled apart using more tape, and the process repeated until just the thinnest of layers remained -- a graphene sheet.

Lockheed Martin claims breakthrough on nuclear fusion reactor

Lockheed Martin, the American defense contractor, has claimed a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion as an energy source. The company said it would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year.

Deutsche Welle, 15 Oct 2014

Lockheed Martin said Wednesday it was developing a compact power source based on nuclear fusion that was 10 times smaller than any existing fusion reactor.

In an online statement, the company said it planned to have a prototype ready in five years and deploy an operational reactor within "as little as ten years."

"Our compact fusion concept combines several alternative magnetic confinement approaches, taking the best parts of each, and offers a 90 percent size reduction over previous concepts," said Tom McGuire, head of the Skunk Works' Revolutionary Technology Programs.

While the company did not go into more detail online about what such an energy source might look like, the Reuters news agency, citing McGuire, said Lockheed Martin had shown it could build a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet (two meters by three meters) - small enough to fit on the back of a large truck.

McGuire noted that Lockheed Martin was now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.

An inexhaustible source of energy

If realized, Lockheed's fusion reactor would put mankind one step closer to finding an inexhaustible source of energy.

Reuters cited McGuire as saying the reactor would use deuterium-tritium fuel, which can generate nearly 10 million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuel.

Nuclear fusion is the merging of hydrogen atoms - the process that occurs on the Sun. This differs from nuclear fission, the splitting of atoms - mostly uranium - that is common to conventional nuclear power plants.

While both processes release enormous amounts of energy, fusion power has its advantages. The supply of hydrogen for fuel is virtually unlimited because seawater can be used, for one, and fusion power does require the long-term storage of radioactive waste.

uhe/cjc (Reuters, lockheedmartin.com)

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

“… The energy of your time is now appropriately ready for some of the theories that were before their time, which were just as accurate then as they are now. Watch for entirely new science to suddenly erupt with solutions for problems that you have been working on for years, solutions where you say, "Why didn't they think of that before?"

Expect cold fusion, by the way. I've told you this before. The experiment with cold fusion was accurate [speaking of the much-discounted Ponds and Fleshman experiment in the past]. The experimenters could not repeat their discovery because they were not aware of the attribute of magnetics that was influencing their experiment [which was done in a basement with the electric utility panels around them]. They thought it was simple chemistry. It wasn't. It was an accidental discovery of physics that remains a mystery at the moment, but that combines chemistry with magnetics, which few are trying. The same thing happened to Tesla, where he was actually able to observe an object fly off the bench, but really didn't know why. He knew it had to do with the design of magnetics, but couldn't begin to do the design with the tools and technology of the day. Can you imagine such a thing? Now you understand his depression. Such is the way advancement often happens on the planet. …”

 "Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

Urine: a new renewable energy source?

The search for renewable energy has made use of the sun, the sea - and now potentially our wee. Researchers in England have been using urine to create small electrical charges, which could be scaled up to a fuel source.

Deutsche Welle, 17 Sep 2014

At the "wet lab" in the Bristol Robotics laboratory in southwest England, there's a not-so-pleasant smell. It's "similar to the smell of a toilet, of the gents," explained scientist Ioannis Ieropoulos.

Scientists have known for some time that microbes can generate electricity. When microbes break down organic material such as food waste or grass clippings, electrons and protons are freed, which can work to push electronic current around a circuit like a battery.

Ieropoulos had been studying this process for more than a decade to see if it could be used to power robots - but it was only recently that he realized the power of urine.

For eight or nine years, Ieropoulos said, the researchers at the Bristol lab "tried grass clippings - we tried prawn shells, we tried dead insects, we tried rotten fruit, we tried waste water."

The "eureka moment," Ieropoulos said, was when they tried urine. "We'd never before reached that level of power output."

Small system already developed

In fuel cells, chemicals are converted to
electricity - the one pictured here uses
hydrogen and oxygen

Ieropoulos found that by adding fresh urine to his microbes, he could increase the power output three fold.

The doctor created a simple system: a urinal that is linked up via a microbial fuel cell to a USB port, which generates enough electricity to charge small electronic devices like mobile phones.

The invention impressed the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation so much that it gave the lab a grant to improve the technology and get it working in the real world.

Ieropoulos said that they're aiming for large-scale implementation. But he added that their larger goal is to do "something for society."

Systems could be implemented, for example, to help tackle health and sanitation issues, and "deliver useful electricity to remote communities that are not connected to the grid," Ieropoulos said.

Improving sanitation, helping the environment

The Gates Foundation grant enabled Ioannis to travel to Delhi to showcase his invention, which he's named "Urinetricity."

Sarina Prabasi, CEO of Water Aid America, said that Urinetricity could play a vital role in improving sanitation in developing areas. Prabasi thinks that it could provide the incentive communities need to deal with their waste, which is often lacking.

"If there's something where people can turn this in to a business, then the incentive will be there," Prabasi said.

It's hoped that large-scale application
of "Urinetricity" can help grow crops

Combining the fuel cells with water purification technology could also make a difference provide environmental benefits. John Greenman, a professor at the University of the West of England in Bristol, is working with microbes that produce clean water and fertilizer, which can help grow crops.

This could, for example, be combined with Ioannis' system to create a "super toilet."

Unprocessed urine cannot be applied directly to cropland. But microbes separate the organic material out of the waste, Greenman explained. "The fluid that comes off at the other end is a lot cleaner, and can be put out into nature," he said.

"And the electricity generated could be used to run water treatment plants - so you get benefits in both ways," Greenman stated. In a green factory, for example, such a system could break down waste while producing electricity.

Overcoming the taboo

Ieropoulos acknowledged that one of the hurdles for his project is the discomfort some people might have around the source of the new electricity.

"There are taboos, cultural and religious issues that prevent people from talking about the topic of human waste and how that can be exploited or utilized," Ieropoulos said.

Although many people might struggle to keep a straight face about the topic, the benefits to for people and the environment will hopefully outweigh squeamishness around using urine for electricity.

Related Articles:

Scientists power mobile phone using urine

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Three of the four inventors of the urine-powered generator

(Eric Hersman)

Dutch civil service urine used to make the grass grow greener

Ready for use: lawn fertiliser made from city officials' urine

Nuclear fusion breakthrough raises hopes for ultimate green energy source

Scientists have moved a step closer to achieving sustainable nuclear fusion and almost limitless clean energy

• Explaining nuclear fusion: is it the way to cheap energy?

theguardian.com, Ian Sample, science correspondent, Wednesday 12 February 2014

The sun is powered by nuclear fusion, which smashes hydrogen nuclei
together to make helium. Photograph: EPA/Corbis

US researchers have achieved a world first in an ambitious experiment that aims to recreate the conditions at the heart of the sun and pave the way for nuclear fusion reactors.

The scientists generated more energy from fusion reactions than they put into the nuclear fuel, in a small but crucial step along the road to harnessing fusion power. The ultimate goal – to produce more energy than the whole experiment consumes – remains a long way off, but the feat has nonetheless raised hopes that after decades of setbacks, firm progress is finally being made.

Fusion energy has the potential to become a radical alternative power source, with zero carbon emissions during operation and minimal waste, but the technical difficulties in demonstrating fusion in the lab have so far proved overwhelming. While existing nuclear reactors generate energy by splitting atoms into lighter particles, fusion reactors combine light atomic nuclei into heavier particles.

In their experiments, researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California use a bank of 192 powerful lasers to crush a minuscule amount of fuel so hard and fast that it becomes hotter than the sun.

The process is not straightforward. The lasers are fired into a gold capsule that holds a 2mm-wide spherical pellet. The fuel is coated on the inside of this plastic pellet in a layer as thin as a human hair.

When the laser light enters the gold capsule, it makes the walls of the gold container emit x-rays, which heat the pellet and make it implode with extraordinary ferocity. The fuel, a mixture of hydrogen isotopes called tritium and deuterium, partially fuses under the intense conditions.

The scientists have not generated more energy than the experiment uses in total. The lasers unleash nearly two megajoules of energy on their target, the equivalent, roughly, of two standard sticks of dynamite. But only a tiny fraction of this reaches the fuel. Writing in Nature, the scientists say fusion reactions in the fuel released at best 17 kilojoules of energy.

Though slight, the advance is welcome news for the NIF scientists. In 2012, the project was restructured and given more modest goals after six years of failure to generate more energy than the experiment consumes, known as "ignition".

Results from the NIF facility will help scientists work out how to build a fusion reactor, but the centre is funded primarily to help the US understand how its stockpile of nuclear weapons is ageing. The experiments help to verify computer models that are used in place of nuclear tests, which are now banned.

Omar Hurricane, the lead author of the report, said the latest improvement came by controlling the implosion of the spherical pellet more carefully. In previous experiments, the pellet distorted as it was crushed, which seemed to reduce the efficiency of the process. By squashing the fuel more softly, helium nuclei that are produced in the fusion reactions dump their energy into the fuel, heating it up even further, and driving a cycle of ever more fusion.

"We are finally, by harnessing these reactions, getting more energy out of that reaction than we put into the DT fuel," Hurricane said. The report appears in the journal Nature.

The dream of controlled fusion remains a distant hope, and Hurricane said it was too early to say whether it was even possible with the NIF facility. The researchers need to get a hundred times more energy from the fusion reactions before the process can run itself, and more for it to deliver an overall surplus of energy.

Steven Cowley, director of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy near Abingdon in the UK, said the study was "truly excellent" and began to address the core challenges of what is known as inertial fusion in the lab. He said the team may need a bigger laser, or a redesigned capsule that can be squashed more violently without becoming unstable. "Livermore should be given plenty of time to develop a better capsule. It strikes me that we have only just begun to understand the fusion regime," Cowley told the Guardian.

The Culham lab has taken a different approach, called magnetic confinement. As long ago as 1997, the facility generated 16MW of power with 24MW put into the device. "We have waited 60 years to get close to controlled fusion. We are now close in both magnetic and inertial. We must keep at it. The engineering milestone is when the whole plant produces more energy than it consumes," Cowley said.

The experimental fusion reactor Iter, which is being built in France, is expected to be the first plant to produce more energy than it consumes. The project has faced delays of more than two years and overrun budgets, but is still an international flagship for fusion research. "Iter is going slowly but progress is happening," said Cowley.

Related Articles:

SVT Documentary Andrea Rossis Ecat (Cold Fusion)

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

“… The energy of your time is now appropriately ready for some of the theories that were before their time, which were just as accurate then as they are now. Watch for entirely new science to suddenly erupt with solutions for problems that you have been working on for years, solutions where you say, "Why didn't they think of that before?"

Expect cold fusion, by the way. I've told you this before. The experiment with cold fusion was accurate [speaking of the much-discounted Ponds and Fleshman experiment in the past]. The experimenters could not repeat their discovery because they were not aware of the attribute of magnetics that was influencing their experiment [which was done in a basement with the electric utility panels around them]. They thought it was simple chemistry. It wasn't. It was an accidental discovery of physics that remains a mystery at the moment, but that combines chemistry with magnetics, which few are trying. The same thing happened to Tesla, where he was actually able to observe an object fly off the bench, but really didn't know why. He knew it had to do with the design of magnetics, but couldn't begin to do the design with the tools and technology of the day. Can you imagine such a thing? Now you understand his depression. Such is the way advancement often happens on the planet. …”

Hyundai’s fuel cell ‘flop’ is big leap forward

Car and Van News, July 16, 2013

Hyundai plans to have around 15 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles operating in London by the end of this year, and 40 or more by the close of 2014.

Through initiatives not only in the capital but across the country, the UK is emerging as a champion of these long-range all-electric cars.

Hyundai recently became the first manufacturer in the world to put a fuel cell car into full production, with plans to build 1,000 hydrogen ix35s by 2015 and another 10,000 cars beyond.

“These are not hand-built prototypes; they are proper series production models,” Hyundai UK CEO Tony Whitehorn tells Headline Auto.

“We have broken the chicken-and-egg cycle as to which should come first – the cars or the infrastructure to support them.”

Fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) are all-electric vehicles making their own electricity on the move through chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in a metal box known as a fuel stack. They have roughly the same range on a tank of fuel as a conventional petrol/diesel vehicle, but the only waste product is water vapour.

Whitehorn likens the arrival of FCEVs to the introduction of the Fosbury Flop in high jumping. “At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 Dick Fosbury arrived at the bar head first and backwards – and incidentally won the event,” he says. “Now everybody does the Fosbury Flop. This is our Dick Fosbury moment.”

The take-up of FCEVs in the UK is being encouraged by organisations such as the UK and Scottish Hydrogen Fuel Cell Associations, UK H2 Mobility, the London Hydrogen Partnership and London H2 Network Expansion.

“To establish hydrogen fuel cells you need collaboration between the vehicle manufacturers, the infrastructure companies and government,” says Whitehorn. “That is happening in the UK.”

The aim is to have 300 hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK by 2025 and 1,150 only five years later. The Sainsbury and Morrison supermarket chains recently joined UK H2 Mobility, prompting hopes that they may start to roll out refuelling pumps at their sites.

Forecasters think there could be 10,000 FCEVs in the UK by the end of this decade, with sales increasing by 300,000 a year to a total of 1.6 million by 2030.

The establishment of a refuelling infrastructure is only one obstacle to the widespread take-up of FCEVs, however. The other is cost, which is why Hyundai will lease its initial batch of cars. Currently an FCEV would be priced at the same level as a supercar because the fuel stack is expensive to make, but with economies of scale this would tumble.

“Over the next 18 months we need to look at the cost element and bring down the percentage difference between a fuel cell vehicle and one with an internal combustion engine,” says Whitehorn. “The important thing is that fuel cells are within the reach of private buyers now.”

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Cell Vehicle

US teen designs compact nuclear reactor

Google – AFP, 1 March 2013 

Barrels containing high level radioactive nuclear waste is stored in a pool in

North England on September 26, 2002 (AFP/File, Odd Andersen)

LONG BEACH, California — Eighteen-year-old Taylor Wilson has designed a compact nuclear reactor that could one day burn waste from old atomic weapons to power anything from homes and factories to space colonies.

The American teen, who gained fame four years ago after designing a fusion reactor he planned to build in the garage of his family's home, shared his latest endeavor at a TED Conference in southern California on Thursday.

"It's about bringing something old, fission, into the 21st Century," Wilson said. "I think this has huge potential to change the world."

He has designed a small reactor capable of generating 50-100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power as many as 100,000 homes.

The reactor can be made assembly-line style and powered by molten radioactive material from nuclear weapons, Wilson said. The relatively small, modular reactor can be shipped sealed with enough fuel to last for 30 years.

"You can plop them down anywhere in the world and they work, buried under the ground for security reasons," he said, while detailing his design at TED.

"In the Cold War we built up this huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and we don't need them anymore," Wilson said. "It would be great if we could eat them up, and this reactor loves this stuff."

His reactors are designed to spin turbines using gas instead of steam, meaning they operate at temperatures lower than those of typical nuclear reactors and don't spew anything if there is a breach.

The fuel is in the form of molten salt, and the reactors don't need to be pressurized, according to the teenager.

"In the event of an accident, you can just drain the core into a tank under the reactor with neutron absorbers and the reaction stops," Wilson said.

"There is no inclination for the fission products to leave this reactor," he said. "In an accident, the reactor may be toast, which is sorry for the power company, but there is no problem."

Wilson, who graduated grade school in May, said he is putting off university to focus on a company he created to make Modular Fission Reactors.

He sees his competition as nations, particularly China, and the roadblocks ahead as political instead of technical.

Wilson planned to have a prototype ready in two years and a product to market in five years.

"Not only does it combat climate change, it can bring power to the developing world," Wilson said with teenage optimism.

"Imagine having a compact reactor in a rocket designed by those planning to habitat other planets. Not only would you have power for propulsion, but power once you get there."

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Leading scientists shocked by the achievements of Russian indigo-children


"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”

Urine-powered generator unveiled at international exhibition

Yahoo News, Eric Pfeiffer, Nov 12, 2012

Three of the four inventors of the urine-powered generator (Eric Hersman)

Four African girls have created a generator that produces electricity for six hours using a single liter of urine as fuel.

The generator was unveiled at last week's Maker Faire in Lagos, Nigeria, by the four teens Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, and Faleke Oluwatoyin, all age 14, and Bello Eniola, 15.

So how exactly does the urine-powered generator work?

• Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which separates out the hydrogen.
• The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder.
• The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas.
• This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator.

And as for delivering the fuel itself? Well, we'll leave that up to the consumer.

The Maker Faire is a popular event across the African continent, drawing thousands of participants who travel to Lagos to show their inventions and other practical creations.

As the NextWeb describes it, the Maker Faire is intended to highlight creations "that solve immediate challenges and problems, and then works to support and propagate them. Put another way, this isn't just a bunch of rich people talking about how their apps are going to change the world."