Engineering

Zumo Unveils Futuristic Vision: Inflatable Skyscrapers with Sustainable Design

June 8, 2023

Architecture firm Zumo has captured the imagination of many with its recent Instagram post, featuring breathtaking images of inflatable skyscrapers that promise both awe-inspiring design and sustainable innovation.

Described as “colossal balloons” that could transform city skylines, Zumo’s revolutionary concept envisions towering structures that are lightweight, flexible, and environmentally friendly. Although the images are currently part of the firm’s imaginative exploration, Zumo believes that these inflatable skyscrapers could soon become a reality.

The illustrations depict the inflatable skyscrapers gracefully floating above iconic cities such as New York, Tokyo, London, and Dubai. The structures appear to be constructed from materials that are both lightweight and flexible, ensuring their ability to take on dynamic and transformative shapes. Most importantly, Zumo asserts that these architectural marvels are designed with sustainability at their core.

Engineering

Zoomlion Releases World’s First Hybrid All-terrain Crane, Driving Industry’s New Energy Revolution

April 29, 2022

CHANGSHA, China, April 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (“Zoomlion”; 1157.HK) has released the world’s first hybrid all-terrain crane ZAT2200VE863 on April 11, marking another innovative milestone following the previous release of the world’s first pure electric crane.

With superior hybrid output performance, the ZAT2200VE863 has achieved the advantage of a dual electric and fuel power system and driven by a gasoline-electric dual-engine, the model is even more powerful with a maximum output of 360kW.

“Driven by policy incentives and market demand, the construction machinery industry is accelerating into the era of new energy, the ZAT2200VE863 is the latest achievement of Zoomlion’s innovative product R&D. The hybrid machinery products are low in fuel consumption, pollution and noise with high energy efficiency, and it’s conducive to promoting energy transformation and the technological upgrading of the industry,” said Luo Kai, vice president of Zoomlion and general manager of Zoomlion engineering crane branch.

Engineering, Science & Technology News

New Quantum Microscope Can See Tiny Structures in Living Cells

June 12, 2021

An artist’s depiction of the quantum microscope at work.Illustration: The University of Queensland

By Isaac Schultz

The microscope exploits quantum entanglement to avoid destroying what it’s trying to observe.

A team of researchers in Germany and Australia recently used a new microscopy technique to image nano-scale biological structures at a previously unmanageable resolution, without destroying the living cell. The technique, which employs laser light many millions of times brighter than the Sun, has implications for biomedical and navigation technologies.

The quantum optical microscope is an example of how the strange principle of quantum entanglement can feature in real-world applications. Two particles are entangled when their properties are interdependent—by measuring one of them, you can also know the properties of the other.

The sensor in the team’s microscope, described in a paper published today in Science, hinges on quantum light—entangled pairs of photons—to see better-resolved structures without damaging them.

“The key question we answer is whether quantum lightcan allow performance in microscopes that goes beyond the limits of what is possible using conventional techniques,” said Warwick Bowen, a quantum physicist at the University of Queensland in Australia and co-author of the new study, in an email. Bowen’s team found that, in fact, it can. “We demonstrate [that] for the first time, showing that quantum correlations can allow performance (improved contrast/clarity) beyond the limit due to photodamage in regular microscopes.” By photodamage, Bowen is referring to the way a laser bombardment of photons can degrade or destroy a microscope’s target, similar to the way ants will get crispy under a magnifying glass.

Engineering, Inventions, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

The first camera for blind people

November 27, 2020

2C3D is a camera that enables the blinds to see. The camera, is a development and design of a tactile camera concept for the vision impaired. The camera creates 3D photos and videos and has a 3D screen. The screen, inspired by “Pin Toy,” is built by numerous 3D pixels that shift depending on the photo to forms the 3D shot on the screen surface (giving the term “touch screen” a new and more literal interpretation).

The user can touch the screen while photographing and feel what the camera is seeing, in real time. When the users like what they feels, they can click and save the photo. The saved 3D file can be felt again later. The 2C3D performs as a camera for blind and as physical-digital photo album.

Continue reading… “The first camera for blind people”

Engineering, New Inventions, new technology, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Smart concrete could pave the way for high-tech , cost-effective roads

November 26, 2020

Every day, Americans travel on roads, bridges, and highways without considering the safety or reliability of these structures. Yet much of the transportation infrastructure in the US is outdated, deteriorating, and badly in need of repair.

Of the 614,387 bridges in the US, for example, 39 percent are older than their designed lifetimes, while nearly 10 percent are structurally deficient, meaning they could begin to break down faster or, worse, be vulnerable to catastrophic failure.

The cost to repair and improve nationwide transportation infrastructure ranges from nearly US$190 billion to almost $1 trillion. Repairing US infrastructure costs individual households, on average, about $3,400 every year. Traffic congestion alone is estimated to cost the average driver $1,400 in fuel and time spent commuting, a nationwide tally of more than $160 billion per year.

I am a professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering and the director of the Center for Intelligent Infrastructures at Purdue University. My co-author, Vishal Saravade, is part of my team at the Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technology (SMART) Lab. The SMART Lab researches and develops new technologies to make American infrastructure “intelligent,” safer, and more cost-effective. These new systems self-monitor the condition of roads and bridges quickly and accurately and can, sometimes, even repair themselves.

Continue reading… “Smart concrete could pave the way for high-tech , cost-effective roads”

Engineering, new technology, quantum computing, Science & Technology News

New approach to circuit compression could deliver real-world quantum computers years ahead of schedule

November 25, 2020

Compression of a circuit that has an initial volume of 882 using the proposed method. The reduced circuit has a volume of 420, less than half its original volume.

A major technical challenge for any practical, real-world quantum computer comes from the need for a large number of physical qubits to deal with errors that accumulate during computation. Such quantum error correction is resource-intensive and computationally time-consuming. But researchers have found an effective software method that enables significant compression of quantum circuits, relaxing the demands placed on hardware development.

Quantum computers may still be far from a commercial reality, but what is termed ‘quantum advantage’—the ability of a quantum computer to compute hundreds or thousands of times faster than a classical computer-has indeed been achieved on what are called Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices in early proof-of-principle experiments.

Continue reading… “New approach to circuit compression could deliver real-world quantum computers years ahead of schedule”

Alternative Transportation, Engineering, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Hyper loop achieves 1,000 KM/H speed in Korea, days after Virgin passenger test

November 24, 2020

South Korea hopes to launch first hyperloop network in 2024

A hyperloop prototype in South Korea has reached speeds over 1,000km/h, just days after a rival system performed the first successful passenger test using the technology.

The Korean Railroad Research Institute (Korail) announced on Wednesday that a “hyper-tube train” travelling through a vacuum hit a top speed of 1,019km/h (633mph).

The test took place on a scale model and is the first of its kind in the world, according to Business Korea. The previous top speed, also set by Korail, was 714km/h.

South Korea is hoping to launch a hyperloop network by 2024, cutting the journey time between Seoul and Busan from three hours to 30 minutes.

Continue reading… “Hyper loop achieves 1,000 KM/H speed in Korea, days after Virgin passenger test”

3D Printer, Biotech, Engineering, Nanotechnology, Science & Technology News

‘Like having billions of tiny 3D printers’: Scientists train BACTERIA to build complex microscopic structures

November 22, 2020

Researchers at Finland’s Aalto University have successfully turned bacteria into a microscopic workforce of nanobots, using molds made of hydrophobic material to create incredibly intricate three-dimensional objects.

The researchers placed the Komagataeibacter medellinensis bacteria in a mould with water and the requisite amount of nutrients like sugar, proteins and air. Once sufficiently fuelled-up, the bacteria begin to produce nano cellulose structures, in line with the hydrophobic (water repellant) mold in which they were placed.

Cellulose is the main component found in the cell walls of plants and substances like wood and cotton.

This type of guided growth through the use of superhydrophobic materials, which also minimize the accumulation of dust and microorganisms, could soon be used for extremely intricate tissue regeneration and organ repair in the human body.

Continue reading… “‘Like having billions of tiny 3D printers’: Scientists train BACTERIA to build complex microscopic structures”

AI, cutting edge, Engineering, Robots, Science & Technology News

Disney’s robot can perform realistic eye movements & social interaction

November 15, 2020

In the past few years, scientists and engineers have developed robots for automated systems such as performing repetitive tasks. Meanwhile, Disney Research has been developing human-like robots with abilities ranging from performing stunts to having eerie eye interactions.

Disney Research recently published a paper that described a realistic and interactive gaze with the Audio-Animatronic humanoid. Previous robot developments have focused on technical implementation with human interaction. The team’s latest advancements include creating a gaze interaction “through the lens of character animation where the fidelity and believability of motion are paramount,” wrote the authors.

For nearly three decades, Disney has been developing animatronic figures, or life-like robots combined with audio and visual elements. These animal or human characters are seen in Disney theme parks around the world.

Continue reading… “Disney’s robot can perform realistic eye movements & social interaction”

3D Printer, Engineering, People Making a Difference, Robotics, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Tunisian Startup 3D prints solar-powered bionic hands

November 14, 2020

A Tunisian startup is developing a 3D-printed bionic hand, hoping the affordable and solar-powered prosthetic will help amputees and other disabled people across Africa.

Unlike traditional devices, the artificial hand can be customised for children and youths, who otherwise require an expensive series of resized models as they grow up.

The company Cure Bionics also has plans to develop a video game-like virtual reality system that helps youngsters learn how to use the artificial hand through physical therapy.

Continue reading… “Tunisian Startup 3D prints solar-powered bionic hands”

Alternative Transportation, Elon Musk, Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News

Virgin Hyperloop hits an important milestone : The first human passenger test

November 10, 2020

For the first time, two people rode a hyperloop pod through a nearly airless tube at 100 mph

VirginVirgin Hyperloop announced that for the first time it has conducted a test of its ultra-fast transportation system with human passengers.

The test took place on Sunday afternoon at the company’s DevLoop test track in the desert outside Las Vegas, Nevada. The first two passengers were Virgin Hyperloop’s chief technology officer and co-founder, Josh Giegel, and head of passenger experience, Sara Luchian. After strapping into their seats in the company’s gleaming white and red hyperloop pod, dubbed Pegasus, they were transferred into an airlock as the air inside the enclosed vacuum tube was removed. The pod then accelerated to a brisk 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) down the length of the track, before slowing down to a stop.

It’s an important achievement for Virgin Hyperloop, which was founded in 2014 on the premise of making Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s vision of a futuristic transportation system of magnetically levitating pods traveling through nearly airless tubes at speeds of up to 760 mph (1,223 km/h) a reality.

Continue reading… “Virgin Hyperloop hits an important milestone : The first human passenger test”

Driverless vehicles, Engineering, Military, Science & Technology News

Researchers create robots that can transform their wheels into legs

November 6, 2020

Concept illustration of the adaptable Wheel-and-Leg Transformable Robot currently being developed under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract.

A team of researchers is creating mobile robots for military applications that can determine, with or without human intervention, whether wheels or legs are more suitable to travel across terrains. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has partnered with Kiju Lee at Texas A&M University to enhance these robots’ ability to self-sufficiently travel through urban military environments.

The DARPA OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program awarded Lee, associate professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution and the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, and a team of graduate students another contract after her prior successful accomplishments on developing a mixed-reality swarm simulator with embedded consensus-based decision making for adaptive human-swarm teaming as part of the OFFSET Sprint-3. This project was showcased at OFFSET’s third field experiment (FX3) with other participating teams.

Continue reading… “Researchers create robots that can transform their wheels into legs”