Does Technology Have To Be Technical?
Nike and several other shoe companies are making shoes that look like gloves for feet with a pocket for each toe. This new trend in running shoes is designed for wannabe barefoot runners, runners who are 'efficient and biomechanically gifted runners' that want to protect the soles of their feet. Those are runners who don't need features for stability and motion control that are built into more traditional running shoes. Running shoes were invented in the 70's by then Oregon University track coach Bill Bowerman, who poured rubber compounds into his wife's waffle iron. Bowerman later became co-founder of Nike and a 'shoeper' success.
Scientists at Missouri University have developed a blast-resistant glass that's both thinner and lighter and can withstand hand-grenade-strength explosions. Because it is less than ½ inch thick, it's less expensive to manufacture. Because there is a composite of glass fibers embedded in plastic between two sheets of laminated glass ' instead of a strong layer of plastic - the composite layer doesn't puncture even if the glass cracks. This new glass could be used to protect federal buildings from terrorist attacks, as well as protect homes from hurricanes and earthquakes. This glass is a breakthrough that doesn't break.
Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, has invented the 'Slingshot' ' a portable water purifier for use in remote villages. The machine boils, distills and vaporizes contaminated liquid in one tank, delivering pure water to another tank. Using less electricity than a hair dryer, it's turned river and ocean water, as well as raw sewage, into pure drinking water. One machine can supply 250 gallons a day ' enough for 100 people. Presently a Slingshot costs several hundred thousand dollars, but further engineering could reduce the price of this mini water purifier to $2000 ' which would be much easier to swallow.
Missouri's James River Power Station is one of hundreds of U.S. coal-burning power plants. However, in 2009 the plant experimented with burning torrefied wood ' roasted wood chips that look like dark sawdust. Some think torrefied wood is a cleaner alternative to coal ' which is responsible for more than one-third of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. Both give off carbon dioxide when burned, but burning wood basically returns previously absorbed carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Although the wood that's used will supposedly be only cleared wood, the fuel will still be 90% coal; and torrefaction will still be a dirty word.
