We should be able to creat ultra light sound proofiing material by now, incredibly thin but able to dampen sound waves.

Why not use the single celled algae to experiment with extracting lipids from it and using the lipids to make biodiesel. Because algae grows very quickly and does not require much land, it can provide a more continuous source of material at a lesser cost than conventional plants.

The idea is to create a way to make foam from paper mill waste, simultaneously reducing waste and creating a useful product. Some of the finer waste fibers from paper making are excellent feed-stock for nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC). Why not develop a method of processing the NCC into composite foams by adding a furan resin to the unprocessed foam. Paper mills create millions of tons of waste product annually, much of which could be re-used in this new method of foam...

The idea is to create a new body fluid testing device, made of paper and designed with the medical needs of developing nations in mind. The paper will be based around the idea of using origami properties to create a three-dimensional microfluidic biosensor that can be shipped flat and easily put together. A printer will be used to deposit a hydrophobic material into tiny canyons on the paper, which will guide the fluid samples to reagents. The reagents will then react by changing...

The new bottle is supposed to encourage environmental awareness by allowing the user to keep track of how many plastic bottles they have saved from the landfill. The bottle features a stainless steel canister with an integrated, rubberized dial that lets the user mark off each plastic bottle saved at each refill. It also includes an iPhone app that can translate the saved plastic bottles into oil savings or allow the user to track progress collectively with friends.

A new method of manufacturing blue jeans is making them greener while saving energy and materials. The advanced denim process will reduce the amount of water necessary to make a pair of jeans by up to 92 percent while also generating 87 percent less cotton waste, and producing less greenhouse gasses and waste-water. The process will use a single dyeing vat and replace conventional indigo dyes with eco-advanced liquid sulfur dyes that will require only one sugar-based reducing...

A new way of boiling water without creating bubbles could help to reduce the risk of explosions in nuclear reactors and chemical plants. The technique is based on Leidenfrost effect, which causes water dropped on an extremely hot surface to evaporate and form a vapor layer on which the liquid floats without bubbling. Once the surface layer cools, however, the vapor layer collapses and the water will begin to bubble violently. To counteract this, it is possible to develop a...

I wish we had a store where it was possible to buy all the staff for the case of disaster. People would be able to find some special devices there, i.e. modified in some way so as to be the most helpful. For example, an ordinary flashlight could combine a radio and a cell phone charger as well.

The water resistant nanocoating will protect smartphone from water intrusion without affecting usability or adding bulk. The coating will be applied to the device as a vapor, which will penetrate the entire device and all its nooks and crannies. It will be bonded to the surface at the molecular level, which will create an extremely long life-span.

A new plastic able to 'bleed' and heal like human skin will self-repair while also sending a signal of its damage. The plastic will be incorporated with molecular bridges which will cross the polymer chains making up the plastic. When a bridge is broken due to damage to the plastic, they will change color to red. Exposure to light will allow the connections to repair themselves, and the red color will fade as the damage 'heals'.