A new way of boiling water without creating bubbles could help to reduce the risk of explosions in nuclear reactors and chemical plants. The technique is based on Leidenfrost effect, which causes water dropped on an extremely hot surface to evaporate and form a vapor layer on which the liquid floats without bubbling. Once the surface layer cools, however, the vapor layer collapses and the water will begin to bubble violently. To counteract this, it is possible to develop a...

I wish we had a store where it was possible to buy all the staff for the case of disaster. People would be able to find some special devices there, i.e. modified in some way so as to be the most helpful. For example, an ordinary flashlight could combine a radio and a cell phone charger as well.

The water resistant nanocoating will protect smartphone from water intrusion without affecting usability or adding bulk. The coating will be applied to the device as a vapor, which will penetrate the entire device and all its nooks and crannies. It will be bonded to the surface at the molecular level, which will create an extremely long life-span.

A new plastic able to 'bleed' and heal like human skin will self-repair while also sending a signal of its damage. The plastic will be incorporated with molecular bridges which will cross the polymer chains making up the plastic. When a bridge is broken due to damage to the plastic, they will change color to red. Exposure to light will allow the connections to repair themselves, and the red color will fade as the damage 'heals'.

The new "smog eating" panels will be designed to be attached to the exterior walls of a building, where they will absorb pollutants from the air. The panels will be coated with titanium dioxide, which will break down pollutants into harmless matter when exposed to direct sunlight. The matter will then be washed away at the next rainfall. 10,000 square feet of panels are supposed to clean the same amount of air as about 80 trees.

A new paint able to show areas of strain could help alert engineers to areas of compression and stress. The "strain paint" is made up of nanotubes that, when damaged, will glow under near-IR light. The paint can map stress in any direction across a large area, allowing an inspector on the ground to create a strain map of an aircraft wing simply by using a handheld IR spectrometer. The coating could also be used on spacecraft, allowing astronauts and automated systems to check...

The composition consists of suspension polyvinylchloride, stabilizer and filler. The new idea is to use chemically precipitated chalk as the filler. The composition includes components in the following mass parts: 1. Suspension polyvinylchloride - 100 2. Dioctyl phthalate - 60-120 3. Epoxidized vegetable oil - 10-20 4. Chemically precipitated chalk - 100-200 5. Barium stearate - 0.25-0.5 6. Cadmium stearate - 0.25-0.5 Suggested...

A new floating wind turbine will be able to generate more energy by harnessing higher altitude winds, and could be used at remote sites. The turbine will be contained within an inflatable tube-shaped shell filled with helium, which will allow it to rise to the strong winds at high altitudes while remaining tethered to the ground. Besides harnessing more powerful winds, the turbine will require little maintenance.

A paper strip test will be able to detect E. coli in water and indicate whether the water is safe for swimming. The strips will be coated with chemicals that change color in the presence of E. coli. They will be printed using conventional inkjet printer technology. Results will be returned within 30 minutes, with different colors representing the different concentrations and types of bacteria in the sample. It could be possible to create strips capable of indicating water...

A new polymer that kills bacteria and germs when exposed to sunlight could open the door to a wide range of self-cleaning furniture and gadgets. The titanium dioxide-doped polymer coating works through an electrochemical reaction. UV light from the sun causes the titanium dioxide to produce free radicals, which degrade cell walls and cell DNA, thus destroying bacteria and fungi. Smudges and fingerprints also disappear from the material after an hour of exposure to sunlight.