Solar technology is beginning to heat up, thanks to researchers at Rice’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP). Scientists have developed a method of solar thermal heating that generates steam at the nanoparticle level. The new “solar steam” process is so efficient that vapor can be created from icy cold water. In addition to electricity generation, the new technique also has applications in water purification and sanitation.

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Post tags: acs nano, bill and melinda gates foundation, laboratory for nanophotonics, lanp, naomi halas, rice university, solar steam

Bill Gates helped to invent the personal computer and now, through his philanthropic foundation, he plans to help reinvent the toilet. On Tuesday, the billionaire awarded the California Institute of Technology with a $100,000 first-place prize for its work on a solar-powered toilet. The self-contained unit, which recycles water and breaks down waste into useable energy, has become the focus of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s efforts to provide sanitation to the developing world.

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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports work in education and global development to a degree that few other foundations can claim – and now it’s even taking on the problem of global agriculture production. In a speech on Thursday in Rome, Gates called on world leaders to join him in attempting to create a stable global food supply. Though specifics weren’t mentioned, he did say he thought a plan could be in place by the end of the year to get all nations on Earth to compete in a race to create an agricultural system robust enough to solve the global food supply crisis.

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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is looking to reinvent the classic commode. Two and a half billion people in the world — about 40% of the population — don’t have access to a safe and sanitary way to dispose of their waste. The Gates Foundation realized that handing out water-guzzling porcelain bowls is probably not the answer, so they’ve partnered with the German government to support scientists that are working on the problem. The foundation envisions a water-free device that separates excrement from urine in order to dry them separately.

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A team from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are working on mobile phones that could be charged by simply putting them in contact with microbes living in the soil. It is hoped that the technology could improve and transform the conditions of poorer communities in the world.

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