Technolgies useful for Indian problems

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 Oct 2009 04:49

I saw a Time magazine ref to a wood stove developed in PRC by DAXU which costs $50 and burns straw or any biomass. I went to their website and found different models even providde hot water and are very efficient ~ 40%.

PDF of one award for them

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 11 Oct 2009 09:52

Jawbone Reconstructed from Stem Cells

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 15 Oct 2009 04:09

Pulse charger: Stanford backs Delhi girl’s idea

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 27 Oct 2009 10:55

Excellent WSJ article on Indian Technology. Apologies if posted earlier:

Indian Firms Shift Focus to the Poor

The trend that surfaced when Tata Motors' tiny $2,200 car, the Nano, hit Indian roads in July, has resulted in a slew of new products for people with little money who aspire to a taste of a better life. Many products aren't just cheaper versions of well-established models available in the West but have taken design and manufacturing assumptions honed in the developed world and turned them on their heads.

For the farmer who wants to save for the future, one Indian entrepreneur has developed what is, in effect, a $200 portable bank branch. For the village housewife, a wood-burning stove has been reinvented to make more heat and less smoke for $23. For the slum family struggling to get clean water, there is a $43 water-purification system. For the villager who wants to give his child a cold glass of milk, there is a tiny $70 refrigerator that can run on batteries. And for rural health clinics, whose patients can't spend more than $5 on a visit, there are heart monitors and baby warmers redesigned to cost 10% of what they do elsewher

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 29 Oct 2009 10:48

Internet addresses set for shake-up

Really its pathetic regarding Indian vernacular fonts, each of them having their own ASCII sets, why cant GOI standardize a common set for vernacular fonts, so that every body follows them, and in the long run, running using different vernacular fonts for wikipedia, office products, etc will be synchronized seemingly. Right now every vendor and every developer uses their own ASCII set impeding inter-portability. I think its time to wake up GOI so that they can standardize ASCII set for vernacular fonts.

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 01 Nov 2009 21:37

A farmer's field of dreams buries climate change war
Aussie farmer modified his tractor in the very best "jugaad" tradition to inject his tractor's diesel fumes into the soil directly when ploughing.

But Mr Linklater is literally ploughing ahead, injecting his tractor's fossil fuel exhaust fumes directly into the ground, where they enhance the biochemical interaction between plants and soil microbes. And it seems his home-grown version of carbon sequestration, introduced in 2007, is getting results, with this year's crop, aided by better rainfall, his best since 2001.

"It might not seem that emissions from one tractor could do a lot, but per hectare it emits 1100 kilos of carbon," Mr Linklater says.

Adapting methods developed by Canadian farmer Gary Lewis, of BioAgtive Technologies, Mr Linklater spent $20,000 customising equipment that cools the tractor's fumes to 30 degrees then expels them into the soil as gas fertiliser when he sows his crop.

His trials, which are being replicated in Canada, Britain and South Africa, are gaining global attention and are now the focus of scientific research. ''When I heard about it, I listened and the science of it seemed to make sense, but with fertiliser costs at about $1200 to $1500 a tonne, the economics of it got me into gear,'' Mr Linklater says.

At today's prices it would have cost him $500,000 in phosphorous and nitrogen fertilisers to prepare 3900 hectares for planting. But in the two years since he and his sons began trialling the new technique, no fertiliser has been applied. The saving is enough to wipe a healthy chunk off the debt that he, like many drought-stricken farmers, has racked up through years of meagre rain and below-break-even wheat prices.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 15 Nov 2009 01:25

TIME magazine's top 50 inventions for 2009:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packa ... 27,00.html

Lots of wild and new interesting ideas.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 15 Nov 2009 08:25

Honda's U-3X is a segway-style "unicycle" that provides 360-deg mobility:

To me, it looks like it could be useful for office workers who could stay semi-seated while moving around to different workstations, or for workers in a factory or workshop. They could motor around this way, instead of having to get up and sit down over and over again repeatedly. Perhaps even the elderly could make good use out of it.

Lilo · Post by **Lilo** » 18 Nov 2009 06:47

By Pranav Mistry -

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_ ... ology.html

I feel this + beagleboard will tear down the digital barriers through out the world (with no exception) - and its going to be open source

once the cost of the microprojector is solved its going to be an ultra cheap computing device

beagleboard( 500MHz, 256MB cpu on 3 by 3 inches board, fanless computer) and it runs linux.. looking for a micro projector.. they are all too costly..

It's almost a computer ( mother board + processor + ram + video card).. you can connect a TV and mouse and you have a working computer (with decent GUI). consumes < 2W power while running linux and hence doesn't require a fan. , has an onboard DSP too. its also more powerful than the current smartphones.
has a usb hub through which you can connect any peripherals. all this in a 3 inches by 3 inches board! check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuVwh_VrIxk&feature=fvw

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 23 Nov 2009 19:14

Generating Power from Freshwater-Saltwater Osmosis:

http://www.physorg.com/news178183113.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 28 Nov 2009 00:12

Plasma Device Offers Safe, Efficient Hygiene by Killing Germs

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 06 Dec 2009 15:06

Low cost homes for Laborers in China

http://us.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2 ... using.cctv

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 06 Dec 2009 18:41

Charlie wrote:Low cost homes for Laborers in China

http://us.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2 ... using.cctv

nice.. can be adapted in mumbai...

vipins · Post by **vipins** » 08 Dec 2009 21:03

Low cost water purifier from Tata Chemicals

Tata Chemicals on Monday unveiled `Tata Swach’, a unique and innovative water purifier. The product requires no energy or running water to operate. The replaceable filter-based product, which is portable and based on low-cost natural ingredients, delivers safe drinking water at a new market benchmark of Rs 30 a month for a family of five.

The Tatas have invested Rs. 100 crore in the project in the last few years and from a production of one million units, the aim is to reach three million units annually in five years, said company Managing Director R. Mukundan. The replaceable bulb is priced at Rs. 299 while two variants of Tata Swach are at Rs. 749 and Rs. 999.

The product will be launched in Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal by the end of the year and the plan is to go national over 5-6 months.

Speaking at the launch, Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata said, ``the social cost of water contamination is already enormous and increases every year. Although the announcement is about giving millions more people affordable access to safe water, it is an important step in the long-term strategy to find a solution to provide affordable access to safe water for all. We have taken a hitherto unorthodox form of filtration and applied modern technology to it and have come out with a product that can provide safe drinking water at affordable price.” ‘Tata Swach’ is a result of years of collaboration between several Tata companies, including TCS, Tata Chemicals and Titan Industries. The product is based on an innovative concept developed by the TCS Innovation Labs – TRDDC and combines low-cost ingredients such as rice husk ash (RHA) with superior nano-technology.

Titan Industries has been involved in the precision engineering for the manufacturing process which was set up at a low cost. “The bulb can purify up to 3,000 litres of water after which the cartridge stops water flow. The efficiency of the product has been tested to meet internationally accepted water purification standards. We have filed 14 patents for the technology and the product,” said Tata Chemicals Chief Scientific Officer Murali Sastry. “The product does not require electricity or running water and has a tamper proof sealed body.” The container has a life-span of 5-6 years.

Water-borne disease is the single greatest threat to global health with diarrhoea, jaundice, typhoid, cholera, polio and gastroenteritis spread by contaminated water. The product will be able to tackle six such bacterial diseases. Mr. Mukundan recognised that certain parts of the country have the problem of water contamination through arsenic and fluoride. ``We are working on different versions to tackle these which will be subsequently launched.”

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 09 Dec 2009 09:14

Super Muscle Drug Undergoing Clinical Trials

Apparently, this myostatin-blocking drug can turn anyone into Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 15 Dec 2009 09:25

Russian Capillary Array is Hydrogen Storage Breakthrough

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 17 Dec 2009 05:28

India's CDAC had made its mark by developing the Param architecture for supercomputers. Now what needs to be done is to pursue a similarly new path using vector processors, or GPGPUs:

http://www.dvhardware.net/articles25_fa ... puter.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 18 Dec 2009 10:13

More on

Sun-assisted Desalination

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 18 Dec 2009 10:30

Nanoparticles Engineered for Rapid Blood Clotting

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 18 Dec 2009 10:54

Hot Electrons Could Double Solar Cell Efficiency

Because of the way ordinary solar cells work, they can, in theory, convert at most about 35 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity, wasting the rest as heat. Making use of hot electrons could result in efficiencies as high as 67 percent, says Matthew Beard, a senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 18 Dec 2009 22:08

I think this will help Indians a lot. it does away with echo cardiograms.

Electronic Stethscope with Cardioscan software

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 20 Dec 2009 06:00

Tapping Coal's Power Without Digging It Up

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 29 Dec 2009 03:48

Plastic Bag Dissolves in Warm Water

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 30 Dec 2009 06:42

80% efficient solar panel - works at night

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 31 Dec 2009 00:20

vera_k wrote:80% efficient solar panel - works at night

Yeah, I posted that one way back - it's an array of nano-sized antennae capable of absorbing infrared wavelengths, including even the residually scattered ones existing at night.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 31 Dec 2009 03:57

Method Found to Keep Stem Cells from Dying Too Quickly After Implantation

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 31 Dec 2009 23:35

Luminescent Wallpaper Could Replace Lightbulbs

Glowing walls could kill off the light bulb
Ben Webster, Environment Editor

Organic LEDs could kill off the light bulb, first created by Thomas Edison

Light-emitting wallpaper may begin to replace light bulbs from 2012, according to a government body that supports low-carbon technology.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 02 Jan 2010 09:14

ChotuKool - A Fridge for Rural India

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 03 Jan 2010 04:41

GE VScan pocket sized ultrasound

Ongoing VScan development for maternal and fetal medicine

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 03 Jan 2010 13:18

This should be useful in those solar based lighting systems used in Indian homes.

Panasonic aiming for battery-powered homes by 2011

archan · Post by **archan** » 08 Mar 2010 20:47

Olive Telecom India announces AAA-powered handset

it's dual-powered: not only does it pack a rechargeable Li-ion battery, but should that run out you can get an additional hour's worth of talk time from any standard AAA battery. Indeed, this is a pretty sweet deal if you're living / traveling in an area without consistent power. Throw in a decent price point ($37) and we're guessing this would do pretty well in Madhya Pradesh. Get a closer look for yourself after the break.

Interesting idea. Anyone seen these? I didn't know a company by that name existed. Also, looks like videshis are learning obscure names of desi states. Good.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 13 Mar 2010 09:27

Archan - similar technology (lot of work R&D is been done in IIT' for really long lasting power sources BTW) recently in the news:
MIT researchers discover new energy source

What this article (and a stories published even in Indian Newspapers today) does not mention is that
one of the researcher in this gorup is ex IITian - Dr. Aravind Vijayaraghavan.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 20 Apr 2010 02:22

Here's an example of a phytoremediation technique using "perfume grass" to remove antibiotics from the water supply:

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea ... ter-supply

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 20 Apr 2010 09:39

Company develops process to recycle and re-use vulcanized rubber from old tires, by freezing and shattering it into tiny micron-sized pieces:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/25155/?a=f

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 21 Apr 2010 05:25

Solid state lighting has been found to increase vegetable growth:

http://www.gizmag.com/solid-state-light ... ens/14834/

archan · Post by **archan** » 28 Apr 2010 06:06

IR-detecting OLED film could mean cheap night vision on everything

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 03 May 2010 02:00

Laser Beams Used to Create Rainclouds:

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100502/ ... 0.213.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... rmany.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 03 May 2010 10:01

NRI invents "ambrosia" to preserve organs harvested for transplant:

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25198/?a=f

SK Mody · Post by **SK Mody** » 03 May 2010 15:10

OT deleted

SK Mody · Post by **SK Mody** » 05 May 2010 00:54

OT deleted

Last edited by archan on 04 May 2010, 00:29, edited 1 time in total.
why post that in this thread?

Well you are right of course. But you have to see the
humour in it. After all toilets would certainly qualify
as a technology useful for Indian problems.