Isn't that Interesting?
Last Updated on:  04/09/2008 08:58:26 AM

• Plasmatron -- A physicist from MIT by the name of Daniel Cohn has invented the Plasmatron which he claims allows low grade fuels to burn more efficiently in intern combustion engines. The system uses a high voltage discharge inside a reaction cell that mixes the fuel with some air before being injected into the engine. The device breaks down some of the fuels complex hydrocarbon bonds and produces hydrogen rich gases that burn with less pollution.

• Ink Stripper -- An inventor named Sushil Bhatia of Decopier Technologies, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, has come up with a method to remove only the black copy machine ink from paper. His process uses a sticky material to soften the ink which is then brushed off the page. His system allows the paper to be quickly recycled without being turned back into paper pulp. It can also replace a paper shredder since the process removes any sensitive information from the paper.

• Photonic Lattice -- A researcher named Shawn Lin at Sandia National Laboratory has devised a way to trap infrared light and bend it around corners. Tiny silicon slivers form a lattice network that act as infrared wave guides that can more efficiently send infrared light between a light source and a light detector. The wave guides are better then 90% efficient and will find uses in short range optical data communications systems.

• Super Sound Power Generator -- A company named MacroSonix Corp. has developed an usual sound resonator that can generate 200db sound intensities. The bowling pin shaped resonating chamber can be used to compress gas up to 500psi without any moving parts. Its first application is in the production of very efficient refrigeration systems. Future applications might include industrial air compressors and chemical/pharmaceutical processing .     

• Tiny Computer Hard Disk -- IBM has recently developed a tiny hard drive that is no bigger than a fifty cent piece. The drive will store about 340MB of data. I predict such a device will find uses on digital cameras, personal data assistants (PDA), music players and any system in need of information storage. The new drive is claimed to be less expensive per megabyte than solid state memory modules.

• MP3 Music Encoders/decoders -- MP3 is a new music compression scheme that is really catching fire. The process begins by sending the data from an audio CD through a MP3 encoder. The process is able to squash the information from the CD into a file that requires about one ten as many bits of information. When the information is played on a MP3 decoder the music quality is not perfect but very acceptable. Over one hundred fifty typical music selections can be stored onto a recordable audio CD if kept in the MP3 format. Expect to see portable battery powered MP3 players some time in 1999. Also expect to see many Internet sites trying to sell both legal and illegal copies of music.

• Frozen Food Monitor -- A Sandia Labs researcher by the name of David Martinez has developed an inexpensive device that can monitor when a food product has been thawed and then frozen again. The invention uses nitinol wire that changes shape during temperature changes. The wire permanently tears an indicator card when the product swings from cold to warm and back to cold.

• Optical Tape Recorder -- Looking much like a standard VHS tape cassette, Lots Technology out of Sunnyvale California is finishing up the development of a recording system that will store lots of information. Using write once optical tape media called LaserTape and looking much like thin plastic CD-ROM disk material, their system will be able to store 1000GBs (one Terabyte) of data. They boast a storage density of 80 Terabytes per cubic foot of space. Such systems will initially be used to store video information for the new high definition TV (HDTV) standard. With such data storage capability, a shoe box will be able to hold a lot more than some old letters and photographs.