Recycling astronaut urine for energy and drinking water

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140409103409.htm

Ew! That sounds disgusting. It did to me once I read the title of this article. Instead of just releasing the astronaut pee in the unknown space, why not reuse it for a better need? Scientists are trying to develop a way to reuse space urine for drinking water. Collecting urine, and shower waste water and process it using forward osmosis. This filters the the garbage in the urine. Their new Urea Bioreactor Electrochemical system (UBE) efficiently converted the urea into ammonia in its bioreactor, and then turned the ammonia into energy

 with its fuel cell. The system was designed with space missions 

in mind, but "the results showed that the 

UBE system could be used in any wastewater treatment systems containing urea and/or ammonia,"

Thermoelectric generator on glass fabric for wearable electronic devices

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140410131458.htm

Wearing computers sounds pretty amazing. This is the next generation thinking. This goes from smart watches, to smart glasses, to smart pacemakers. Lightweight, and flexibility make this capable for a person to wear an electronic gadget. The type of battery affects buyers, is it one battery that needs replacement? Is it a rechargeable battery, or a battery that runs on sunlight, or even one that does not even need a battery.  Scientists have now proposed a solution to this problem by developing a glass fabric-based thermometric (TE) generator that is extremely light and flexible and produces electricity from the heat of the human body.

Genetically modified tobacco plants as an alternative for producing bioethanol

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140414092002.htm

Instead of chewing tobacco using it as an alternative for producing bioethanol is way more productive. Tobacco, as seen below is mowed seven times in the cycle. It is suitable for producing bioethonal. It produces 160 tons per hectare. Some tobacco plants were genetically engineered to produce more starch and sugar.As Jon Veramendi, head of the plant Agrobiotechnology research group, explained, "tobacco plants as a source of biomass for producing bioethanol could be an alternative to traditional tobacco growing which is in decline in the USA and in Europe because it cannot compete with emerging countries like China."

Engineers develop new materials for hydrogen storage

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140415094401.htm

At the University of California, engineers created ceramic materials to increase and ensure hydrogen storage safely. This was part of a 1.2 million dollar project.Mixtures of calcium hexaboride, barium hexaboride, and strontium were used to make this. Combustion synthesis was the cheap process involved. Combustion synthesis is an attractive technique to synthesize a wide variety of advanced materials including powders and near-net shape products of ceramics, intermetallics, composites, and functionally graded materials.
They were looking solid materials that can store and release hydrogen easily.