Scientists have developed a wearable device that uses your body heat as a battery.

Our bodies maintain a constant temperature of around 37 degrees celsius to allow the chemical reactions that keep us alive to happen. But it isn’t a particularly efficient process and a lot of that heat we generate is lost through our roughly two square metres of skin.

This new device uses thermoelectric generators to harness the difference in temperature between your skin and the surrounding air, turning that heat energy into electricity.

Created by a team at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) in the US, it is made from a stretchy material that fits close to the skin and can be worn as a ring or a bracelet.

It is also self-healing which means it can reconfigure and fix itself as you move. If the device tears, it can be pinched back together sealing itself within a matter of minutes.

POWER YOUR SMARTWATCH USING BODY HEAT

Currently, the ‘wearable’ can generate around 1 volt of electricity for every square centimetre of skin. Although this is less than most batteries it is enough to power something like a watch or fitness tracker.

Jianliang Xiao, senior author of the study, says that the new development means in the future wearable electronics could be powered without a battery.

“Whenever you use a battery, you’re depleting that battery and will, eventually, need to replace it. The nice thing about our thermoelectric device is that you can wear it, and it provides you with constant power.”

During outdoor activities, the side of the device that isn’t harvesting your body heat (the “cold-side”) also deflects solar radiation and increases something called “radiative sky cooling” to make it more efficient.

This process cools an object by allowing heat to escape the atmosphere as a particular wavelength of light into the universe. Similar principles have been used in the past to create solar panels that are able to generate electricity at night.

RECYCLING WEARABLE TECH

The team at CU Boulder say the materials this wearable tech is made of are easily recyclable.

When you are done with the device it can be placed into a special solution that dissolves the stretchy polyamine base and separates out the electrical components so that they can be used again.

The liquid can then also be turned back into a new polyamine film which the team of scientists used to create a new device. Despite being broken down into its component parts and then remanufactured, this new device was found to have a power output that was similar to the original.

“We’re trying to make our devices as cheap and reliable as possible, while also having as close to zero impact on the environment as possible,” Xiao says.

He believes the tech could be on the market within 10 years “delivering the next-generation high-performance, adaptable, customizable, durable, economical, and eco-friendly energy-harvesting devices”.

Source: https://www.euronews.com/living/2021/03/01/next-generation-wearable-tech-turns-your-body-heat-into-electricity

Nasa SpaceX launch: Astronaut crew heads to orbit

By Jonathan Amos

Four astronauts - three from the US and one from Japan - have launched from Florida on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The crew rode to orbit in a rocket and capsule provided by the SpaceX company.

It's only the second time the firm has supplied the service.

The US space agency Nasa has said it is now entering a new era in which routine astronaut journeys to low-Earth orbit are being conducted by commercial providers.

The four individuals making their way up to the ISS are the Americans Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and the highly experienced Japanese space agency (Jaxa) astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

By participating in this mission, Noguchi becomes only the third person in history to leave Earth in three different types of space vehicle, having previously flown on Soyuz and shuttle hardware.

It took 12 minutes for the Falcon to get the Dragon into the right part of the sky and drop it off.

"Well done, that was one heck of a ride," crew commander Mike Hopkins radioed down to controllers. "Congratulations to everyone. Resilience is in orbit."

"Resilience" is the name the astronauts have given their capsule.

The ship will use its own thrusters to complete the rest of the journey up to the station. A docking with the orbiting platform is set for about 0400 GMT on Tuesday.

Joe Biden reacts

"Congratulations to NASA and SpaceX on today's launch. It’s a testament to the power of science and what we can accomplish by harnessing our innovation, ingenuity, and determination. I join all Americans and the people of Japan in wishing the astronauts Godspeed on their journey."

Having seven people on the 410km-high outpost will triple the amount of science that can be performed in its special microgravity environment.

SpaceX has signed contracts with Nasa valued in excess of $3bn (£2.3bn) to develop, test and fly an astronaut taxi service.

As part of this relationship, the company ran a demonstration mission in May in which astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were taken to the station and then returned safely to Earth.

The contracted arrangements also call for six "operational", or routine, missions - this flight being the first.

"The big milestone here is that we are now moving away from development and test and into operational flights. And in fact this operational flight was licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. So this is a truly a commercial launch," commented Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

Nasa has a similar deal with the Boeing aerospace company, although its service is more than a year behind SpaceX.

The agency says its new model of contracting out transportation to low-Earth orbit is saving billions of dollars in procurement costs.

It intends to use these economies to fund its Moon and Mars ambitions. To that end, Nasa is close to testing the giant new rocket it has commissioned to take astronauts back to the lunar surface, a goal it hopes to attain in 2024, or soon after.

Just before they return to Earth, they'll be joined aloft by another SpaceX-launched crew for a brief handover.

Indeed, the coming year is going to be very busy for the Californian service provider with plenty of trips up to the station being made by both its crewed and cargo-only versions of Dragon.

"In the next 15 months, we should be flying roughly seven Dragon missions. And this mission represents the initiation of a Dragon in orbit continuously - knocking on wood - and certainly is really the beginning of a new era in human spaceflight," said SpaceX's Gwynne Shotwell.

The company president was in attendance at Kennedy, carrying out media duties in place of founder and CEO Elon Musk who is said to be suffering a mild case of Covid.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54938444