Year: 2018

Impact Lab > 2018
Batteries, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, China, Energy

Where 3 million electric batteries will go when they retire

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GM, Toyota and BYD are part of a potential $550 billion industry.

The first batches of batteries from electric and hybrid vehicles are hitting retirement age, yet they aren’t bound for landfills. Instead, they’ll spend their golden years chilling beer at 7-Elevens in Japan, powering car-charging stations in California and storing energy for homes and grids in Europe.

Lithium-ion car and bus batteries can collect and discharge electricity for another seven to 10 years after being taken off the roads and stripped from chassis—a shelf life with significant ramifications for global carmakers, electricity providers and raw-materials suppliers.

Continue reading… “Where 3 million electric batteries will go when they retire”

Great New Product, Inventions, mobile technology

A German student has invented an airbag for your phone: a case that detects when it’s falling and deploys springs to prevent breaks

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The active dampening (AD) phone case, patented by German student Philip Frenzel, is a slim alternative to bulky phone cases, but comes with a nifty trick.

So far it’s only a prototype — but the AD case can detect when the phone is falling and protract springs to make the phone bounce when it hits the ground, which should prevent any scratches or cracks on flat surfaces.

Once you pick the phone back up, you just fold the springs back in.

Continue reading… “A German student has invented an airbag for your phone: a case that detects when it’s falling and deploys springs to prevent breaks”

Analysis, Big Problems, Human Behavior

Only 23% of Americans get enough exercise, a new report says

Less than a quarter of Americans are meeting all national physical activity guidelines, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Federal physical activity guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, in addition to muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week. But according to the new NCHS report, which drew on five years of data from the National Health Interview Survey, only about 23% of adults ages 18 to 64 are hitting both of those marks. Another 32% met one but not both, and almost 45% did not hit either benchmark.

Continue reading… “Only 23% of Americans get enough exercise, a new report says”

Analysis, Health & Fitness

How long can we live? The limit hasn’t been reached, study finds

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The mortality rate flattens among the oldest of the old, a study of elderly Italians concludes, suggesting that the oldest humans have not yet reached the limits of life span.

In Acciaroli, a hamlet in southern Italy, about one-in-60 residents are over the age of 90. A survey of about 4,000 Italians found that mortality rates in old age plateau around 105, suggesting that the ceiling for human lifespan has not yet been reached.CreditGianni Cipriano for The New York Times

Since 1900, average life expectancy around the globe has more than doubled, thanks to better public health, sanitation and food supplies. But a new study of long-lived Italians indicates that we have yet to reach the upper bound of human longevity.

“If there’s a fixed biological limit, we are not close to it,” said Elisabetta Barbi, a demographer at the University of Rome. Dr. Barbi and her colleagues published their research Thursday in the journal Science.

Continue reading… “How long can we live? The limit hasn’t been reached, study finds”

Engineering, Military, mobile technology, Wearables

Power-multiplying exoskeletons are slimming down for use on the battlefield

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The technology has been long-anticipated by military commanders.

With exoskeletons, soldiers don’t have to consume as much oxygen to perform a given task. Taking that edge off has associated benefits, including cutting the risk of bone and muscle injuries.

Continue reading… “Power-multiplying exoskeletons are slimming down for use on the battlefield”

Automation, Big Problems, Housing, Robotics, Science & Technology News

With construction workers scarce, homebuilders turn to robots, software

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BALTIMORE – The construction of an American house embodies the spirit of the nation’s workers and the dreams of its citizens.

It’s also perhaps the least-efficient endeavor in the U.S. economy.

Dozens of workers turn a plot of land into a small factory, sawing wood, nailing it together, cutting holes for windows, running wires and pipes and installing drywall and other finishes. Four months or so later, voila: A home for generations of families.

Continue reading… “With construction workers scarce, homebuilders turn to robots, software”

Breakthrough Thinking, Food, People Making a Difference, Shopping

Toronto pay-what-you-can store aims to tackle landfills and hunger

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Initiative aims to reduce dumping of ‘waste’ and sell it at prices set by buyers.

In a bright, airy Toronto market, the shelves are laden with everything from organic produce to pre-made meals and pet food. What shoppers won’t find, however, is price tags. In what is believed to be a North American first, everything in this grocery store is pay-what-you-can.

The new store aims to tackle food insecurity and wastage by pitting the two issues against each other, said Jagger Gordon, the Toronto chef who launched the venture earlier this month.

Continue reading… “Toronto pay-what-you-can store aims to tackle landfills and hunger”

cutting edge, Engineering, Inventions, Science & Technology News

This beautiful golden chamber contains water so pure it can dissolve metal

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It can detect dying stars.

Hidden 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) under Mount Ikeno in Japan is a place that looks like a supervillain’s dream.

Super-Kamiokande (or “Super-K” as it’s sometimes referred to) is a neutrino detector. Neutrinos are sub-atomic particles which travel through space and pass through solid matter as though it were air.

Studying these particles is helping scientists detect dying stars and learn more about the universe. Business Insider spoke to three scientists about how the giant gold chamber works – and the dangers of conducting experiments inside it.

Continue reading… “This beautiful golden chamber contains water so pure it can dissolve metal”

Amazon.com, Business, Employment, People Making a Difference

Amazon is recruiting people to start delivery businesses. Here’s why I think some people could get rich

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There’s risk in any business. But if you asked me to invest in a business with these built-in advantages, I’d certainly listen.

I know a lot of people who have made a ton of money on Amazon.

Now, Amazon says it wants to recruit entrepreneurs to build a national network of small, independent delivery companies–driving leased vans with Amazon branding. If you’ve aspired to start your own business, and you have leadership ability and access to a relatively small amount of capital, it could be well worth looking at.

Continue reading… “Amazon is recruiting people to start delivery businesses. Here’s why I think some people could get rich”

Amazon.com, Space, Space Flight, Tourism

Jeff Bezos’Blue Origin will start selling tickets to space next year

Blue Origin, the space-tourism startup owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, says it will start selling passenger tickets for trips into space in 2019.

The timeline came from Blue Origin senior vice president Rob Meyerson, whose comments at an Amazon Web Services event were reported by Space News. Meyerson did not say how much the tickets would cost when they go on sale.

The company also plans to conduct crewed test flights of its New Shepard rocket “soon” — meaning Bezos’s company could, at least by one metric, get a jump on rival SpaceX.

Continue reading… “Jeff Bezos’Blue Origin will start selling tickets to space next year”

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