Recharging a smartphone in 30 seconds may become a reality in 2016 with StoreDot technology

By: Brittany Wagner

Is your phone running low on battery and you are running low on time? StoreDot, a company based in Israel, is in the process of fixing this dilemma.  According to Mashable.com, the prototype is a battery which uses nanotechnology to recharge a phone from 0% to 100% in 30 seconds. StoreDot demonstrated the new technology during Microsoft’s Think Next Symposium. 

The new technology StoreDot is utilizing is the battery, not the charger. StoreDot uses “nanodots” which are derived from bio-organic material and help rapid charging. StoreDot says the electrical properties of these “nanodots” allow the electrode to charge more rapidly while still having the discharge rate of a lithium-ion battery.

In the video, the size of the battery is much larger than than the one in the Samsung Galaxy and does not have as much capacity, so it will not last nearly as long as the regular lithium-ion battery in the phone. According to Time.com, The company itself also faces challenges in terms of raising money for funding further development and mass production, as well as getting through the testing phase of safety and longevity.Currently, the company has not revealed any information as far as pricing is concerned, but they are expected to begin production in late 2016. 

If StoreDot can successfully and adequately produce technology to recharge a smart phone in 30 seconds, I think it may just change the world. If they can figure out how to make the battery the size of a regular cell phone battery but have the ability to hold a charge longer and charge faster, the battery will revolutionize all kinds of batteries. Cars, computers and alkaline batteries can all adopt this technology and people will not have to constantly worry about how low their batteries are getting. I cannot wait to see if StoreDot can actually make this prototype a reality. 

Night Vision Contacts

By: Brittany Wagner

Technology has influenced almost every aspect of our human lives. Television, internet, navigation, cell phones, e-readers, iPods and more, what could they possibly do next? Technology is touching every thing we do, why should it not touch our eye sight? Google has created Google Glass, where you can get access to virtually everything on the internet through glasses. Well, to take it a step further, scientists at the University of Michigan have developed an Infrared sensor which could potentially be used in the production of night vision contacts. So, if you are afraid of the dark, you may no longer have a reason to fear. 

Usually infrared technology involves multiple technologies to view all layers of the spectrum. In addition, infrared technology requires bulky cooling equipment. Thanks to graphene, the scientists at the University of Michigan have been able to put infrared technology into a compact size that can operate at room temperature. 

“Our work pioneered a new way to detect light,” Zhaohui Zhong, an assistant professor at the university, said in a statement. “We envision that people will be able to adopt this same mechanism in other material and device platforms.”

I think night vision contacts would be awesome to have. As a female and someone who is afraid of the dark, I would benefit from having contacts that would help me see at night. These contacts could potentially help other fields of work including doctors, police officers, and military personnel. I am interested to find out how well these contacts will react with the human eye and what side effects will occur.