A tweet posted last week by Peter Singer, a co-author of the book Ghost Fleet and a strategist at the New America Foundation, shows his book couched up against what appears to be a Battelle DroneDefender anti-drone rifle in a tent at Fire Base Bell outside Makhmour, Iraq.
Continue reading… “The U.S. appears to be using anti-drone rifles against the Islamic State”
Protective clothing is critical to the health and safety of workers who handle hazardous chemicals. A new fabric coating promises to not only neutralize toxins, but also to heal tears and holes on its own while the clothes go through the laundry.
Continue reading… “Scientists create self-healing fabrics that also protect from harmful chemicals”
The best things in life may be free, but that doesn’t mean they won’t take time, sweat, and perseverance to acquire.
That’s especially the case when it comes to learning important life skills.
To ascertain which talents are worth the investment, one Quora reader posed the question: “What are the hardest and most useful skills to learn?”
We’ve highlighted our favorite takeaways, as well as a few other skills we thought were important.
Continue reading… “13 skills hard-to-learn skills that will pay off forever”
Batteries are becoming more and more crucial in our lives every year. From our smartphones to our laptops, and increasingly even our cars, batteries make the world go round. The only problem is that today’s generation of lithium batteries are increasingly incapable of providing energy on a scale that we need – especially when it comes to the charges they hold and the time it takes to recharge them. But there is a solution on the horizon, and it is being made possible by a radical material shift. For scientists from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a new battery (technically speaking a supercapacitor) made from 3D printed graphene, which can hold a larger charge of energy, is recharged in a matter of seconds and will last a lifetime.
Continue reading… “New 3D printed graphene super batteries will last a lifetime”
The spectacular growth of the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market in China continues; state media reports that sales were up a massive 162% to 170,000 units in the first half of the year. NEVs include pure-electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).
The 170,000 NEVs were divided by 134,000 EVs and 36,000 PHEVs.
Continue reading… “Chinese Electric Car Sales Up 162% So Far This Year”
Another breakthrough has been made in the world of 3D printing as new tiny cameras have now been developed using this technology that is small enough to be injected into the human body with just a standard syringe. That is pretty impressive! These tiny, microscopic cameras are the size of a grain of salt, but they could transform the world of healthcare as we know it.
Continue reading… “3D Breakthrough: Printed Tiny Cameras”
Recent attacks on civilians in the U.S. and Europe have exposed a gap in the intelligence community’s efforts to track suspected extremists and prevent mass killings, a half dozen American, British and French counterterrorism officials told Reuters.
The attacks have a common theme of being carried out by actors with an apparent history of mental illness – but few if any direct links to extremist groups.
Mobile phones hold a trove of personal information that can be valuable to law enforcement investigating serious crimes, but they are notoriously hard to get into without a passcode or the owner’s fingerprint.
Police in the US found a way around this difficulty by 3D printing a murder victim’s finger to gain access to their smartphone and hopefully find evidence that would lead to the perpetrator of the crime.
Continue reading… “Police unlock murder victim’s phone by 3D printing his finger”
Designer and entrepreneur Massoud Hassani hopes to rid the planet of its estimated 100 million buried land mines within 10 years. That’s why several years ago, he developed the Mine Kafon – a device that rolls across minefields like a tumbleweed, tripping mines as it goes. While it’s a clever idea, he still wanted something that works faster. To that end, he is now developing the Mine Kafon Drone.
Continue reading… “Mine-hunting drone could make the world a safer place”
Religious leaders and institutions have taken part in efforts to address important social issues throughout American history, from slavery to civil rights to today’s advocacy in areas such as reducing poverty.
But Americans appear to be growing more skeptical of how much of a difference churches and other houses of worship make in tackling social concerns. A majority of U.S. adults still say religious institutions contribute either “a great deal” (19%) or “some” (38%) to solving important social problems. But the combined figure of 58% has fallen significantly in recent years, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. About four-in-ten Americans (39%) now say religious institutions make little to no contribution in this area.
Continue reading… “Fewer Americans now think churches are important to solving social problems”
A few days ago, Facebook announced the success of the first test flight of Aquila — the social networking company’s solar-powered, high-flying, laser-shooting drone meant to bring speedy internet access to the furthest reaches of the globe.
Continue reading… “Video: The successful first flight of Aquila — Facebook’s internet beaming drone”
Disney Research has been on a serious roll with its 3D printing innovations and 3D printing patents. Fromhigh-res 3D printing processes, to replicating reflective properties onto 3D printed surfaces, to 3D printed wall-climbing robots, it seems as though Disney is looking to redefine how movie merchandise is made using 3D printing technology. But their latest study shows that they are also keen to bring 3D printing principles to other industries, for they have developed a new compiler that lets knitting machines behave like 3D printers and easily produce customized objects.
Continue reading… “Disney Research lets knitting machines behave like 3D printers”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.