Comments on: Saturday Links

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:49:02 +0000

You know, if Kamen is looking for an idea to market this thing, why not approach the producers of “Survivor”? Give it as a reward in one of the first challenges and have it set up in the middle of the camp. The winning team gets the advantage of not having to go to the well and boil their water, Kamen gets his publicity and we get a 39 day, real-world test of how well this device actually works when running off of coconut husks, shredded clothing and other detritus located around whatever location they shoot at next.

I’ll take $10,000 for the idea.

By: John

John — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:06:02 +0000

thank you!

By: Jon H

Jon H — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:13:27 +0000

“Can’t seem to find any info on the water purification project. I saw the Colbert with the interview. Didn’t say how it was powered.”

It’s powered by the Segway you have to buy to get the filter.

By: Highway

Highway — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 05:03:56 +0000

mtc, I think that’s part of the point of this new thing: There’s no ‘filtering’ to separate the contaminants. So yes, it might need energy, but that’s all it needs: no membranes, no filters, no consumables.

I know that Kamens had been working on a way to use a stirling engine as a power source for water distillation. Those are very low power, just using heat differentials. I’m guessing he couldn’t get it that low power, tho.

By: j a higginbotham

j a higginbotham — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 04:47:09 +0000

It seems to be a combination of microloan financing of mini powerplant with heat generated use to distill water. This could be very beneficial, but overhyped in Kamen’s usual style.

http://www.time.com/time/2003/inventions/invwater.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Kamen
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/16/technology/business2_futureboy0216/index.htm
http://www.nextbillion.net/newsroom/2005/10/07/segway-grameenphone-founders-team-up-for-distributed-clean-water
http://www.solvent–recycling.com/azeotrope_1.html

Perhaps Radley would like this, if he could control the aiming:
Kamen has also invented a compressed-air-powered device which would launch a human into the air in order to quickly launch SWAT teams or other emergency workers to the roofs of tall, inaccessible buildings. (wikipedia)

By: Glen Raphael

Glen Raphael — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 03:21:22 +0000

A little more googling found this summary:

http://www.time.com/time/2003/inventions/invwater.html

By: Glen Raphael

Glen Raphael — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 03:19:41 +0000

Apparently the key to the water purification system is that it’s a package deal - there’s a small generator that works along *with* the water purifier. The generator can burn just about anything (e.g.: cow dung) and the waste heat from the generator’s exhaust pipe makes the water purifier more efficient.

By: mtc

mtc — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:06:13 +0000

What mistermike said. Energy is the problem. To me there doesn’t seem like there should be any thing tricky about distilling pure water out of whatever crap it was originally mixed in. You vaporize it into a gaseous form and then somewhere separate from the contaminants, condense it back to liquid form. Easy. Just takes a lot of energy. Unless its operates with some trifling amount of power (like a little solar cell array or a handcrank), this seems like about as revolutionary as the Segueway.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:44:37 +0000

the key to get faster is to listen, not watch.

By: Nick M.

Nick M. — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:03:37 +0000

Rocketing Rabbit - Avg. Time 0.1642 sec. - Sheep 1 = 0.000 sec.

By: Chris Berez

Chris Berez — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:28:57 +0000

I can’t get past “bobbing bobcat” either. Neither can my friend. But her husband got to the top level really easily.

This game is going to be the end of my sanity.

By: Mikestermike

Mikestermike — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:30:44 +0000

Can’t seem to find any info on the water purification project. I saw the Colbert with the interview. Didn’t say how it was powered. If those areas that need water also need a butt ton of electricity or other fuel, the chances of it having a large impact is minimal.
We have had pressurized membrane technology for some time. My employer uses it to extract chlorine and hydrogen from brine. Making pure water is a snap, but it takes lots of juice, at least the way we use it.

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:37:01 +0000

Your crazy if you want one of those shirts.

By: Psion

Psion — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:53:02 +0000

Rocketing Rabbit …

I guess I’m quicker than Radley!
[insert smiling emoticon here]

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:17:17 +0000

Rocketing Rabbit .1742 seconds

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:01:23 +0000

the t-shirt is mine. I just wish they had one for the various forms of there/eir/y’re too.

good stuff

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:26:58 +0000

Try playing with a real mouse, and not your laptop.

By: KBCraig

KBCraig — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:59:17 +0000

No link to the NCAA basketball scores? How ’bout them Hogs, Bradley?

Of course, it’s probably out last win of the tourney.

By: UCrawford

UCrawford — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:07:19 +0000

I’m okay with Bobbing Bobcat. The goal in being a good shepherd is to keep the flock intact, not to be the best at shooting sheep

By: Jason Nelms

Jason Nelms — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:30:56 +0000

I just made Rocketing Rabbit. =)