Last May, researchers at ICD Stuttgart revealed the Elytra Filament Pavilion—a vast, carbon fiber structure woven with the industrial arm of a modified Kuka robot. Now, in a thesis project led by Maria Yablonina, the same lab has managed to shrink the scale, from massive industrial-line robots, to a pair of drones that can crawl up your wall to weave smaller structures like tag-teaming spiders spinning silk.
Continue reading… “Wall-Crawling Robots Could Weave A Room For You”
Science fiction that features wires connecting brains to computers might now be obsolete. Wireless powered implants, each smaller than a grain of rice, could serve as “neural dust” that can one day scan and stimulate brain cells. Such research could one day help lead to next-generation brain-machine interfaces for controlling prosthetics, exoskeletons and robots, as well as “electroceuticals” to treat disorders of the brain and body.
Continue reading… “‘Neural Dust’ Could Monitor Your Brain Wirelessly”
A battery-free electronic patch that sticks onto skin like a temporary tattoo can be powered wirelessly by smartphones to help monitor health, researchers say.
A variety of wearable technology is on the market to monitor life signs, but these mostly possess hard components that have to be strapped onto the body. Scientists have been developing stretchable electronics that can fit better onto people, but these were limited by the size and weight of their batteries.
Continue reading… “Wearable Patch Can Help Monitor Health. No batteries required.”
3D food printers have been able to create very basic food items, such as sugar sculptures and very simple pizzas — but now a team of researchers at Columbia University has developed a machine that can make more complex snacks.
Continue reading… “Snacks: The killer app of 3D printing”
Scientists are working to take “wearable” technology to a whole new level. Or, more accurately, to new depths.
A group of Tufts University-led researchers recently announced that it created a first-of-its kind “smart” thread that can be sutured into human tissues. The goal? To collect data on tissue health, as well as monitor wounds or infections, all of which can be sent to a computer or phone.
Continue reading… “‘Smart’ Thread Could Be a Game-Changer for Doctors”
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”
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”
George Matus was 11 years old when he flew his first drone. “I was immediately hooked,” the young man tells me with a grin. By age 16 he was competing as a professional drone racer and acting as a test pilot for new aircraft. Now 18, he recently finished high school but decided to defer college, opting instead to pursue a fellowship offer from tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
Continue reading… “Fastest consumer drone in the world records 4K video at 85 miles per hour”
Here’s a tattoo your mom might actually condone you getting.
The temporary, electronic “tattoo,” developed by a team of scientists at Tel Aviv University’s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, sticks to skin and uses a carbon electrode and a conductive polymer to measure biometric signals for hours. When worn on the face, the electrodes are sensitive enough to record variations in muscle activity, which can identify expressions and even emotions, according to a paper published last month in the journal Scientific Report.
Continue reading… “Can an electronic face ‘tattoo’ biometrically map your mood swings?”
MIT researchers have invented a radical pixel-mapping printing technique by bypassing computer-aided design (CAD) software. They have quickly and efficiently modeled and printed thousands of hair-like structures.
Continue reading… “3-D print hair, brushes, and fur”
Scientists just took a big, “positive” step towards developing what could be the first ‘universal cancer vaccine’. The results from early trials in humans and research in mice, have just been published. They suggest that the new technique could be used to activate patients’ immune systems against any type of tumour, no matter where it is in the body.
Continue reading… “Scientists performed the first trials of a ‘universal cancer vaccine’”
US and South Korean scientists discovered catalyst materials that could make it possible to create lithium-air (Li-Air) batteries that can potentially store five times more power than lithium-ion (Li-On) batteries do today. Lithium-air batteries work by taking oxygen from the air and then using it in chemical reactions that will produce electricity, rather than storing an oxidiser internally like lithium-ion batteries.
Continue reading… “Lithium-air catalyst could make car and phone batteries last five times longer”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.