The idea is to use carbon nanotubes to create battery-free 'smart curtains' able to automatically respond to changes in light. The curtains will be developed by laying carbon nanotubes on the surface of a plastic polycarbonate membrane. When the nanotubes absorb light, they will quickly convert it to heat that will then be transferred to the surface of the membrane. This heat will cause the plastic to expand while the nanotube layer will remain unchanged, in turn causing the...

The new device will expand the horizons of wearable sensors, and will be programmed to handle wide range of tasks. It will be equipped with an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, barometer, thermometer and microphone as well as 2 GB of storage and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Because its functions will not be pre-set, the device can be programmed by the user with "when/do" statements to recognize gestures or certain conditions, and then react accordingly. Some examples of its...

Digital light bulbs will do more than illuminate your room--they will also help enhance your moods. The LED bulbs will fit standard sockets and will be available in two types: one to help enhance alertness and one to ease a person into sleep. The Awake and Alert light will produce extra blue light, which is said to increase energy, while the Good Night bulb will emit less blue light (Blue light is believed to interfere with melatonin production).

A new early-detection test for malaria will not require a blood sample, and instead will detect the presence of the disease by listening for it. The method will be based on the presence of hemoozion, a nanoparticle produced inside the red blood cell by the malaria parasite. Subjecting the homozoin to a short wave laser pulse will cause it to create a short-lived, vapor nanobubble that will emit a signature sound when it pops. This sound can be picked up by a sensitive acoustic...

The idea is to create a Bluetooth music receiver for use in old-style cassette decks. The cassette adapter Bluetooth will need to be inserted into the tape deck to instantly allow the car's cassette player to receive Bluetooth signals. Although there are other devices on the market that allow the user to listen to MP3s, the Bluetooth device will function without wires, eliminating tangles or limited range, and can be used to take hands-free calls when paired with a phone. The...

The device will alert ice-anglers via smartphone when a fish has taken the bait. The device will be a wireless transmitter that will attach to the ice fishing tip-up, a spring-loaded metal arm that pop up a flag when a fish is on the line. Although the flag will signal a bite, ice fishers must constantly check the holes to see if a flag is up, and too much delay could allow the fish to escape. The device will eliminate the need for visual checks by sending a smartphone alert when a...

A new smartphone-connected thermometer will make checking a child's temperature less stressful while also keeping track of health trends both in the family and around town. The thermometer will be used like a conventional thermometer. It will connect to a smartphone through the headphone jack and make use of the phone's processing power to record and display temperature, which will streamline the thermometer design. The app will display entertaining animations on the smartphone...

To track the movements of sharks I suggest using solar-powered tags able to beam location information to satellites. The sensor-laden tags will be used to track certain endangered shark species in order to understand their migration patterns. Previous tags relied on battery power to remain operative and the batteries would often die before all the information could be transmitted. Because most sharks do not stay long near the surface of the water (where the sunlight would...

The foldable helmet will be able to expand in order to accommodate different head sizes. The helmet will feature a lateral middle section bracketed by two side sections. The side sections can be pulled out and locked in place to create the best fit while still meeting the ski helmet safety standards. As an added bonus, the expandable design will provide good ventilation and allow the helmet to pack down more compactly for transport.

In order to reduce the number of shark attacks, I suggest tagging the sharks with a device that will send a Twitter message as a warning to surfers and swimmers. To create so-called Shark Monitoring Network, it is necessary to attach transmitter tags to sharks to track their location along the coast. The tags will communicate with a network of floating monitoring devices that will pick up the signal of an approaching shark and trigger an alarm that will be sent on a Twitter feed....