Personal Air Purification

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Whether you’re a sufferer of extreme allergies or chemical sensitivity, you’ve probably already come to appreciate modern indoor air purification. Taking that tech with you is an even better way to ensure you’re not being negative effected by the surrounding air.

That’s the idea behind Papr Mask. This wearable personal air purifier creates a no smog zone around your breathing space that destroys bacteria and viruses while also eliminating odors, chemical contaminants, dust and second hand smoke. It fits lightly around the neck and rests comfortably on the shoulders so you can breathe easy!

Designer: Myeonghoon Lee

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Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute

Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats the best Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute

How was your week? We got to spend a couple of days trekking around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, PA to check out some of the latest projects from the school's world renowned Robotics Institute -- a trip that culminated with the bi-annual induction ceremony from the CMU-sponsored Robot Hall of Fame. Given all the craziness of the past seven days, you might have missed some of the awesomeness, but fear not, we've got it all for you here in one handy place -- plus a couple of videos from the trip that we haven't shown you yet. Join us after the break to catch up.

Continue reading Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute

Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AirBot and WaterBot help localize pollution data collection (video)

AirBot and WaterBot help localize pollution data collection video

Want to do something about pollution in our water and air? Carnegie Mellon's CREATE Lab is working on a few interesting solutions to the problem of localizing pollution data with a trio of devices aimed at making the process accessible and affordable for regular people. First up is AirBot, a "particle counting robot" that monitors pollutants that can contribute to breathing problems like asthma. Aimed at a $99 price point, the little black boxes are portable enough to bring around with you, so you can, say, compare the air quality in areas when apartment hunting. The lab has made six prototype devices (one of which was on-hand during our visit), and is aiming to bring them to market next year.

WaterBot, meanwhile, is set to bring the solution to streams near you. Stick one end in a body of water near your home and it will upload water purity information to the web via a built-in ZigBee module. CREATE's also cooked up the CATTFish, a method for recording such information in your home via, yes, your toilet. Dip one end in the reservoir and the box on top of the tank, and it will give you a reading of the cleanliness of the water being used to refill. That information can then be uploaded to the web via a USB port. The lab is shooting for a $50 price tag on the device.

The big thing here is the ability to let the community take its own readings to build a bigger picture of water and are purity levels through online applications. More information on all of the above devices can be found in the video below.

Continue reading AirBot and WaterBot help localize pollution data collection (video)

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AirBot and WaterBot help localize pollution data collection (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 22:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gates Foundation collaborates with Manchester University to develop potable toilet water

Gates Foundation collaborates with Manchester University to develop potable toilet water
It's an unsettling thought, having to drink water from that bowl in your bathroom, but if the need ever arose, wouldn't you be glad to know it was clean and safe? Dr. Sarah Haigh, a researcher into the properties of nanomaterials at Manchester University, is currently pursuing this goal with a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. With the help of nanomaterials and bacteria, Haigh believes that hydrogen can be easily extracted from not only the water, but human waste itself, which could then be processed into clean water. Should the system work effectively, Haigh stands to receive an additional $1,000,000 grant to further her research and develop inexpensive purification systems for use in nations without modern infrastructure. And you thought nothing worthwhile would come from purchasing Microsoft Office.

Gates Foundation collaborates with Manchester University to develop potable toilet water originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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