Posts tagged research

Small firm from Teesside, UK, creates fuel from water and air… sounds too good to be true?

Air Fuel Synthesis, based in Stockton on Tees, was featured on the BBC website last week because it has found a way to convert carbon dioxide and water into a hydrocarbon fuel. And the process is carbon neutral. And they’ve already used the fuel to run a small motorised scooter. Pretty amazing huh? There are still tests to be done to check the energy efficiency of the process and to seewhat happens when production is scaled up. But we think it’s pretty amazing that they got this far.

They made the front page on the Independent and the Material World programme on Radio 4 will be re-broadcast today at 9pm. Makes you think doesn’t it… is it really impossible to create a future where we’re not dependent on fossil fuels?

So… what’s your impossible? And isn’t it about time you got started on it?

Nothing can measure someone’s potential. It’s impossible to tell what people are capable of once they catch fire

Carole Dweck

“We are going to make an invisible bike helmet.”

Think about the reaction in the room when someone first said this out loud. What do you think this was?

– “Sure, go for it!”

– “Hey, where do I make my investment?”

– “Sign me up for your first product launch!”

Somehow, I don’t think this was the first reaction…

Take a look at this movie, which I found over on Brene Brown’s blog, Ordinary Courage:

This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, watching this story unfold before my eyes, and having my breath taken away at the end. The courage and determination of these women is exemplary and inspirational all at the same time.

“Easy, only took us seven years!”

“We’ve been good at raising venture capital. Ten million dollars”

“Once a man wanted to tell a story about female managers. Get a rooster, and there will be order!”

“If people say it’s impossible, then we have to prove them wrong”

“Creating an invisible bicycle helmet, people said it was impossible. If we can do that, we can do anything”

These are all incredible statements, in their own way, and spoken with such assurance and humility. How would you motivate yourself to achieve “the impossible”?

When was the last time someone told you, “that’s impossible!”? What did you do?

I can’t wait until my breath is taken away like this again! If you have any similarly inspiring stories of the impossible becoming possible, please post them here.