Dean Kamen, creator of the Segway and robotic arms, continues to pop out innovations like Hollywood stars adopt foreign babies. The latest creations are designed for the developing world and deal with the two of the three of life's essentials: clean water and electricity (the third is, obviously, free WiFi).
The Slingshot is a water purifier which uses vapor compression distillation to pull water out of anything remotely wet. It does this using just 2% of the power of alternatives, and can supply 1,000 liters of fresh water a day from nothing more than ditchwater and piss.
The companion power generator is equally scatological, and will runs on anything that burns, including cow dung. Again, high efficiency is the name of the game, and Kamen's generator is based on a Stirling Engine, one of the most efficient around, and in this case produces a constant output of one Kilowatt, enough to power 70 light bulbs or one high-end gaming PC.
Segway creator unveils his next act [CNN via Red Ferret]
Colbert and Kamen Solve the World's Water Problems [Wired Science]
Photo of Dean Kamen by danielernst/Flickr
