The skies will get a bit safer for birds with the wind turbine, which will use no blades at all. The turbine will capture up to 80 percent of the wind's kinetic energy (current turbines only capture about 30 percent). Instead of spinning blades, the wind will be harnessed by a sail that will move in a non-rotational back and forth motion. The motion will then be converted to a hydraulic pressure that can either be stored or instantly converted to electricity via a hydraulic motor...

Microbes bearing tiny solar panels may be the next step in creating a more efficient way of converting the sun's energy than is possible with current methods. The process will mimic photosynthesis. By placing tiny solar panels on microbes, it will be possible to create a system for artificial photosynthesis which will harness sunlight and, in turn, create energy to drive the production of hydrogen. The photocatalysts will be able to harness solar energy for the manufacture of...

A plant-based gel will be able to stop bleeding instantly and promote healing. The gel will be created using plant polymers that will solidify quickly when applied to open wounds. Basing his gel upon the skin's extracellular matrix (ECM), it is possible to synthesize the ECM using plant polymers that become liquid when separated. When the plant-based gel is applied to the wound, the synthetic ECM will recognize the skin's actual ECM and link with it, halting the bleeding instantly. The...

Why not develop a way to harvest the energy generated during photosynthesis to create a greener form of energy and a new generation of solar panels? During photosynthesis, light is turned into chemical energy by the splitting of water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen. The electrons are then used to create sugars to feed the plant. The idea is to find a way to collect those electrons before they are turned to sugars. The technique will involve interrupting the paths along which...

By building wind turbine towers from concrete instead of steel, the top height of a turbine column could be increased by 20 meters. To determine if concrete would be a viable replacement for steel, hydraulic equipment was used to test the load-bearing capabilities of three column-and-panel segments connected in different ways. All three versions were able to withstand 150,000 pounds of lateral load, with is 20 percent more than the maximum load of current turbine columns of the...

Taking inspiration from nature, I suggest developing a self-healing solar cell that will repair itself with its synthetic vascular system. The self-regenerating solar cell will be designed with a network of channels that will mimic the vascular system of leaves, and will be composed of a water-based gel core, electrodes and light-sensitive, organic dye molecules. The dye molecules will produce electricity when they are "excited" by the sun's rays, but they will eventually degrade...

New sunglasses will do more than protect your eyes from UV rays - they will also harness power from the sun to top off mobile gadgets. The sunglasses will be made from a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses that have been fitted with photovoltaic cells on the plastic ear pieces. The cells will collect solar rays to charge a battery embedded in the frame, and the ear pieces can be removed to reveal a microUSB or Lightening connector that can be used to charge an iPhone.

Forget fingerprints and iris scans--a new form of biometric identification will use body odor to identify the individual. Every person's individual body odor is unique, and can be used to identify an individual with an accuracy rate of more than 85 percent. The odor-identification method may provide a more subtle alternative to the current biometric techniques like fingerprints and iris scans--techniques that are often associated with criminal records and could cause people to be...

The Rain house will be made of a special bio-concrete that will allow it to filter rain water. The concrete will be both PH neutral and bio-compatible with water, which will enable it produce sun-distilled water naturally. Rain water is believed to be the purest source of freshwater, and bio-concrete technology could democratize fresh water supplies by providing access to affordable clean water for small and big scale users, from families to big companies, leaving the...

By boosting the cells' performance with a coating of perovskite, it is possible to develop spray-on solar cell technology that will be both efficient and affordable. Spray-painted solar cells have been being manufactured for some time now by using organic semi-conductors, but their efficiency has been traditionally very low. However, I suggest developing a spray-on technology that will use perovskite. It will create very little waste and can be scaled up to high-volume...