The tech we see above ground in New York City is undeniably cool, but underground, where the wild things are, things are not going so smoothly. A giant aquifer, completed in 1944, is leaking up to 36 million gallons of water a day. For New Yorkers, who on average use 150 gallons per day, that’s unacceptable. Trouble is, fixing the leak involves some extreme diving, 14 tractor trailer trucks worth of gear, and a 24-foot room that divers will live in for a month, breathing helium.
Festo, the same company that brought us the Air Ray robot last year, have developed yet another graceful robot inspired by a creature of the sea. In fact, they have developed two versions, both based on the common jellyfish: the AquaJelly and the AirJelly. According to Festo, the AquaJelly is “an artificial autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system.” Apparently the idea is to have several of the robots autonomously working together using a communication system comprised of Zigbee short-range radio on the surface and LEDs when underwater. More info and videos after the break.
Apple’s numbskull design decision to make it so that regular earphone jacks can’t fit in its iPhone have inconvenienced nearly everyone who bought it, but now Helium Digital steps up with a $3.99 solution to the problem. That’s the cheapest one yet. Check out our market overview of problem-solvers—none of which is made by Apple—after the jump.
After sucking our planet dry of any useful resources, we turn our eyes upward to the skies and search for another beautiful planet to rape. Scientists are hoping to mine helium-3 (He3) gas from the lunar surface — a gas that’s rare here on Earth but is like a veritable Starbucks on the Moon. The gas is considered to be perfect for radiation-free nuclear fusion but, say other, smarter scientists, is probably completely ridiculous to start mining anytime soon.
Our current experience with the experimental He3 reactor here on Earth requires 1 kilowatt of power to generate 1 milliwatt of electricity. Which, if anyone is counting, is not at all worth it. So, aside from it taking a few decades before we figure out how exactly to use He3, and then taking a few more decades to actually build an He3 mining facility on the moon, and then having us, the Human Race, survive that long — well, chances are slim, is what we’re saying. Still, science is cool, huh? [Treehugger via SciFi]
