Great New Product – Page 5

Great New Product, Housing, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy

Cooling/heating window film captures and releases solar energy

July 24, 2019

The MOST window film keeps rooms from heating up during the day, but warms them at night(Credit: Yen Strandqvist/Chalmers University of Technology )

A couple of years ago we heard about the MOlecular Solar Thermal (MOST) system, in which solar energy is stored in a liquid medium, then later released as heat. Now, the technology has been applied to a clear film that could be applied to the inside of windows in energy-efficient buildings.

Developed at Sweden’s Chalmers University, the MOST film incorporates a norbornadiene–quadricyclane molecule. This causes the transparent polymer film to take on an orangey-yellow color when not being directly exposed to sunlight.

Once the sun rises in the morning and its rays strike the material, however, much of the sunlight’s solar energy is absorbed by the molecule. More specifically, the molecule captures some of the incoming photons, causing it to isomerize – this means that it temporarily becomes another type of molecule, with exactly the same atoms but in a different arrangement.

Continue reading… “Cooling/heating window film captures and releases solar energy”

Great New Product, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

The Band-Aid of the future knows when you’re healed

July 22, 2019

The Band-Aid of the future knows when you’re healed

It’s easy to imagine these wearable circuits on the shelves of CVS.

The Apple Watch is an enticing product, but it hasn’t revolutionized personal health the way its cheerleaders have promised. It can track steps, but it can’t see how your body is moving. It can measure your heart rate, but it can’t see how you are healing. The Apple Watch really only scratches the surface of what we imagine for intimate, wearable electronics.

But a new research project out of Carnegie Mellon is nearly as easy to put on as an Apple Watch and a whole lot more capable and customizable. Dubbed ElectroDermis, it’s a spandex bandage topped with stretchable, electric wiring and the sorts of circuits and sensors you find in any mobile electronic. “We were inspired by traditional medical bandages, as they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, soft and conformal, and can be placed anywhere on the body” for more accurate readings, says the paper’s co-lead Eric Markvicka.

Continue reading… “The Band-Aid of the future knows when you’re healed”

Entertainment, Great New Product, Music, Science & Technology News

Bose Frames review: smart audio sunglasses are a blast

July 21, 2019

Music without earbuds looks and sounds surprisingly good, making these smart glasses the antithesis of Google Glass

The Bose Frames are the answer to the question: what if your sunglasses were also a set of smart, hidden headphones with no earbuds or no bone-conduction system, just a set of personal speakers?

As a wearer of true wireless earbuds, that’s not a question I ever thought I would ask. But the Bose Frames are delightful and leaving your ears free of buds or headphones has a clear and obvious case.

The term “smart glasses”’ might conjure up visions of Google’s ill-fated Glass, but the Bose Frames are not in the same league. There’s no screen, camera or any visible signs of “smart” from the front. Instead they have built-in sensors and a pair of hidden speakers, which pipe music to your ears.

Continue reading… “Bose Frames review: smart audio sunglasses are a blast”

Architecture, Great New Product, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

This self-sustaining plant ecosystem helps you light up your home

July 21, 2019

You love plants, plants love light, you love light, you’ll both love the Mygdal plantlight! It’s a revolutionary lighting solution not just because the luminaire is a completely self-sustaining ecosystem where the plants can grow-undisturbed, but also because of its one-of-a-kind electrically conductive glass coating. It actually streams the electricity invisibly along the surface, so there’s no need for a cable connection between the power source and the LED. Bring even windowless spaces to life with a plantlight!

Continue reading… “This self-sustaining plant ecosystem helps you light up your home”

Great New Product, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

This spray-on nanofiber ‘skin’ may revolutionize burn and wound care

July 19, 2019

Hey Shaped like a gun, Nanomedic’s SpinCare device emits a web of electrospun polymer nanofabric that stays put for weeks—no dressing changes required.

Imagine if bandaging looked a little more like, well, a water gun?

Israeli startup Nanomedic Technologies Ltd., a subsidiary of medical device company Nicast, has invented a new mechanical contraption to treat burns, wounds, and surgical injuries by mimicking human tissue. Shaped like a children’s toy, the lightweight SpinCare emits a proprietary nanofiber “second skin” that completely covers the area that needs to heal.

Continue reading… “This spray-on nanofiber ‘skin’ may revolutionize burn and wound care”

Fashion, Great New Product, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

This fully biodegradable “leather” is welded together from waste

July 11, 2019

This fully biodegradable “leather” is welded together from waste

Mirum is the latest entry in the attempt to make a cheap, sustainable cow-free leather.

Vegan leather shoes are typically made from plastics like polyurethane–so even though they might avoid the carbon footprint and animal welfare issues of raising cattle, they aren’t exactly environmentally friendly. Even plant-based leather typically uses plastic resin or glue to hold the material together. And while some companies work on lab-grown collagen or leather made from mushroom roots, those aren’t widely available and can be difficult to scale up. A new leather brand thinks it has technology that could make plant-based leather–without any plastic–mainstream.

“The foundation of the company is plants, not plastic,” says Luke Haverhals, the founder and CEO of Natural Fiber Welding, the company making a new brand of leather called Mirum. The product has a similar cost to plastic alternatives, but can be made from agricultural waste and is fully biodegradable.

Continue reading… “This fully biodegradable “leather” is welded together from waste”

AI, App, Great New Product, Science & Technology News

Meet your new chief of staff: An AI chatbot

July 5, 2019

Navigator, the new project from the creators of Mailbox, launches with $12M

Years ago, a mobile app for email launched to immediate fanfare. Simply called Mailbox, its life was woefully cut short — we’ll get to that. Today, its founders are back with their second act: An AI-enabled assistant called Navigator meant to help teams work and communicate more efficiently.

With the support of $12 million in Series A funding from CRV, #Angels, Designer Fund, SV Angel, Dropbox’s Drew Houston and other angel investors, Aspen, the San Francisco and Seattle-based startup behind Navigator, has quietly been beta testing its tool within 50 organizations across the U.S.

Continue reading… “Meet your new chief of staff: An AI chatbot”

Food, Great New Product, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

How Oat Milk conquered America

June 23, 2019

The Swedish company Oatly won over American baristas and launched a massive trend

When Chicago barista Dominic Rodriguez first heard about oat milk, he was skeptical. He had latte-making down to a fine art — at coffee competitions, he sculpts swan-necked turkeys and roses out of foam — and in his experience, plant-based milks didn’t foam correctly. “I’m a milk guy, I don’t need milk alternatives,” he said. But then Intelligentsia, a well-respected coffee shop he frequents, started serving oat milk, and Rodriguez thought there was no way they’d promote it if they didn’t think it was good.

He gave it a shot. It needed less steam than cow’s milk, but more heat, and frothed into a stable textured foam that was easy to pour. He examined his drink. It looked normal. He sipped it — it didn’t taste exactly like cow’s milk, but it was sweet and thick and rich, not watery like most almond milks. He liked it. But would his customers agree? Resoundingly, yes. Now, around 40% of all drinks ordered at his workplace, Metric Coffee, use oat milk; his matcha oat milk latte is a top seller.

Continue reading… “How Oat Milk conquered America”

Automobiles, Great New Product, Science & Technology News, Transportation

No more flats: Michelin and GM to bring airless tires to passenger cars by 2024

June 15, 2019

Plenty of things can go wrong when you’re driving a car, though thankfully the vast majority of trips go without a hitch.

Tire punctures, for example, are a real headache, but thanks to a collaboration between Michelin and General Motors (GM), the deflating experience could soon be a thing of the past.

Following years of research, Michelin announced this week that it’s ready to hit the road with UPTIS, its “unique puncture-proof tire system,” and is partnering with GM for real-world trials using Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles. Testing starts this year and if all goes well, airless tires could be coming to a passenger car near you as early as 2024.

Continue reading… “No more flats: Michelin and GM to bring airless tires to passenger cars by 2024”

Augmented Reality, Google, Great New Product, Science & Technology News

Google says the new Google Glass gives workers ‘superpowers’

May 29, 2019

A new version of the device–Glass Enterprise Edition 2–comes with a new look, a faster processor, and a brighter display.

In the workplace, nobody calls them Glassholes. Employees at hundreds of companies are wearing Google Glass, the heads-up display glasses that have found a new home in factories and healthcare facilities after getting off to a rough start in the consumer space.

Now Google has a new version of the device–Glass Enterprise Edition 2–with a new look, a faster processor, and a brighter display. The glasses actually come in two parts: Google makes the right side of the glasses–the side that holds all the technology–and Smith Optics makes the safety glasses that the Glass attaches to. This makes it possible for multiple employees to own their own pair of safety glasses and share one Glass.

Continue reading… “Google says the new Google Glass gives workers ‘superpowers’”

Great New Product, Green Friendly, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

This countertop machine lets you mix your own shampoo and cleaning products at home

May 22, 2019

It’s like a Soda Stream for personal care products.

It looks a little like a SodaStream, but a new appliance is designed to make your shampoo or laundry detergent, not drinks. Instead of buying products in new plastic bottles with every purchase, the system uses small pouches and reusable bottles.

“We wanted to harness the power of reuse and local production across virtually all products in the home and body care categories,” says Nick Gunia, cofounder and CEO of Cleanyst. The system, which launched on Kickstarter today, comes with the countertop appliance, reusable bottles, and pouches of plant-based concentrate for 10 different products, from dish soap and fabric softener to body wash and conditioner.

Continue reading… “This countertop machine lets you mix your own shampoo and cleaning products at home”

Great New Product, Green Friendly, Inventions, Science & Technology News

Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of plastic could change that

April 28, 2019

Most plastics have a chemical history that makes starting a new life a challenge. The dyes and flame retardants that make them perfect for say, a couch cushion or a bottle of detergent, make them tough to transform into a desirable end product—one of the reasons just 10% of plastic in the United States gets recycled. Now, researchers have created a plastic with a special chemical bond that helps it separate out from those additives, turning it back into a pure, valuable product that can be reused again and again.

To make the new material, researchers tweaked a type of vitrimer, a glasslike plastic developed in 2011, by adding molecules that change the chemical bonds holding it together. These new bonds, called dynamic covalent diketoenamine bonds, require less energy to break than those in traditional plastics.

Continue reading… “Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of plastic could change that”