The Titan Arm

I read this article on BigThink, a website we saw in class. The inventors of this bionic arm, known as the Titan Arm, from the University of Pennsylvania, created a bionic, exoskeleton arm, which increases strength by up to 40%. This innovation won the team a $45,000 grant from The James Dyson Foundation. "The Dyson Award is an international competition that challenges teams of university students to "design something that solves a problem."" The designers were able to manufacture this prototype for less than $2,000, and hope to market if for less than $10,000. Similar exoskeleton arms can retail for over $100,000. Currently, the intended use for this bionic arm are in rehabilitation situations. The designers also envision a use for disaster relief efforts in clearing debris. http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/this-affordable-robotic-arm-increases-strength-by-40-percent

OrbSys

I recently read an article on CNN discussing the future of water conservation in the world. Water conservation is something that I personally don't think about too often. Not to say I intentionally waste water just because it's always been there, but I don't think of water as finite. At some point, fresh water runs out if it isn't replaced quickly. I thought the article was interesting, especially after discussing Coke's plan to provide solar power lanterns and cell phone chargers in India.

Mehrdad Mahdjoubi thought if we can supply fresh water for astronauts, we should be able to supply it for people on earth. Mahdjoubi invented the OrbSys Shower; it recycles water and purifies it while you wash. The water goes through a loop, where after it goes through the drain, it is instantly purified to drinking standards. This process saves 90% in water usage, and 80% in energy costs. If people in industrialized countries began using this system, they could save at least $1,351 per year on energy bills.

According to the EPA, 1.2 trillion gallons of water are used every year for showering in the United States alone. And yet, across the world more than three times the population of the States lacks access to any clean water at all.

Unfortunately, there isn't much information on the company's website about the technology behind it. I'm not sure how something can be instantly purified to drinking standards and be an inexpensive item. My guess is there is UV light used purify the water, but that's just a guess. There also isn't any information regarding upkeep. I'm thinking that there would probably be some maintenance involved with keeping the components running effectively. While there haven't been many sites to implement these showers, it seems like a promising idea that could be useful to introduce to areas with poor access to clean water. At this time, that seems unlikely, as the system has a control panel and some electric component to it. If the instant purification component can be kept while not utilizing electricity, then it would be a very important piece of technology for the not-yet-industrialized nations. 

Here's the link to the article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/11/tech/innovation/futuristic-water-recycling-shower-orbsys/index.html

The company's website: http://orbital-systems.com/