Science & Technology News – Page 149

3D Printer, NASA, Science & Technology News, Space

Project Olympus : ICON chosen by NASA to develop moon base 3D printing tech

October 18, 2020

The hype around additive construction continues to grow. Unlike the days in which WinSun would “3D print” a six-story apartment building, we’re seeing numerous projects undertaken by a variety of firms around the world. All of this seems to demonstrate that, despite the hype, there is real technological value there. When that same value will be exhibited for the new space industry and 3D printing buildings on the moon remains unclear, but we can’t rule the possibilities out entirely.

The latest news combining the yet-to-be-fulfilled new space frontier with additive construction is called Project Olympus, a NASA-funded initiative aimed at developing a method for robotic building on the moon. Olympus is being driven by a firm that has been steadily making a name for itself in construction 3D printing: ICON. Adding to its $44 million raised from investors so far is the recent Small Business Innovation Research government contract from NASA to 3D print habitats on the moon using local materials and creating no waste.

Continue reading… “Project Olympus : ICON chosen by NASA to develop moon base 3D printing tech”

Automobiles, Batteries, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Battery Breakthrough enables ‘Holy Grail’ of super fast-charging electric cars

October 18, 2020

Tesla vehicles and other electric cars have a range of around 500km but the battery takes around an hour to charge

Recharging a car could be almost as quick as refueling.

Engineers say they are close to achieving the “holy grail” of batteries after a major breakthrough brought forward the possibility of charging electric vehicles in mere minutes.

The advance could provide electric cars with 500km of range from just 10 minutes of charging, researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) said.

“The combination of high energy, high [charging] rate, and long cycle life is the holy grail of battery research, which is determined by one of the key components of the battery: the electrode materials,” said USTC professor Hengxing Ji.

Continue reading… “Battery Breakthrough enables ‘Holy Grail’ of super fast-charging electric cars”

Cancer, Medical Breakthrough, mobile technology, new technology, Science & Technology News

Researchers create hand-held device for patients to read levels of cancer biomarker in their own blood

October 18, 2020

Newswise: Researchers create hand-held device for patients to read levels of cancer biomarker in their own blood

Newswise — HAMILTON, ON, Oct. 8, 2020 — Researchers at McMaster and Brock universities have created the prototype for a hand-held device to measure a biomarker for cancer, paving the way for home-based cancer monitoring and to improve access to diagnostic testing.

The device works much like the monitors that diabetics use to test their blood-sugar levels and could be used in a medical clinic or at home, all without lab work, greatly simplifying the process for testing blood for cancer’s signature.

A user would mix a droplet of blood in a vial of reactive liquid, then place the mixture onto a strip and insert it into a reader. In minutes, the device would measure an antigen that indicates the degree to which cancer is present.

The prototype has been designed to monitor prostate specific antigen (PSA) and the technology can readily be adapted to measure other markers, depending on the form of cancer or other chronic disease.

Continue reading… “Researchers create hand-held device for patients to read levels of cancer biomarker in their own blood”

Alternative Transportation, Aviation, Engineering, Science & Technology News, Transportation

This $500,000 motorcycle transforms into a flying quadcopter in just 60 seconds

October 17, 2020

For decades, we have been waiting for a fully-functional flying car – an idea mostly made popular by sci-fi movies. However, it still remains to be an unrealized dream. But, guess what? It turns out that someone has been successful in building a motorcycle, instead of a car, that can fly! A French company called Lazareth recently demonstrated a futuristic-looking motorcycle, which looks like it came straight out of the sets of Transformers, and it can actually transform into a flying hoverbike in just 60 seconds. Called the Lazareth LMV 496, the flying motorcycle is being hailed as “the very first motorcycle in the world that can be transformed into a quadricopter.” Affectionately dubbed La Moto Volante, it’s the brainchild of designer Ludovic Lazareth and his team. The company even published a video of the motorcycle showcasing its capabilities.

Continue reading… “This $500,000 motorcycle transforms into a flying quadcopter in just 60 seconds”

Automation, Automobiles, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Drone truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling

October 17, 2020

The company’s cab-less prototypes are set to hit the road in 2021

Einride, the Swedish autonomous trucking startup, unveiled a new vehicle type that the company hopes to have on the road delivering freight starting in 2021. The vehicles, dubbed Autonomous Electric Transport (AET), came in four different variations. And much like Einride’s previous prototypes, they come without steering wheels, pedals, windshields, and, in general, no cab at all.

Einride has been in the business of releasing interesting, eye-catching prototype vehicles since it was founded in 2016. There was the cab-less Pod, released in 2017, which has been used in partnership with German logistics firm DB Schenker. The company also has electric trucks hauling freight for Oatly, the Swedish food producer. A year later, the company unveiled the T-Log, built to be more powerful than its predecessor for the job of (you guessed it) hauling tons of giant tree logs. Now it has a next-generation vehicle that it hopes it can put into production.

Continue reading… “Drone truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling”

Biotech, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Scientists claim to invent hydrogel that heals nerve damage

October 17, 2020

THEY SAY THE GEL CAN PROPAGATE NEURAL SIGNALS WHERE NERVES ARE INJURED.

A team of doctors and engineers have developed a new hydrogel that they say might be able to repair nerve damage more quickly and reliably than any other methods.

The hydrogel is essentially a porous and water-saturated material that can stretch, bend, and — most importantly — propagate neural signals. In animal trials, the team of Nanjing University researchers found that the hydrogel restored lost bodily function and helped the animals heal faster, according to research published Wednesday in the journal ACS NANO. Now, they’re hoping the gel will work in human medicine as well.

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Amazon.com, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Shopping

‘Future of last mile delivery’: Amazon reveals first custom electric delivery vehicle built with Rivian

October 17, 2020

Amazon is lifting the hood on one of three custom-designed electric delivery vans it built in partnership with Rivian.

The new vehicle is 100% electric and features various technology such as sensor detection, exterior cameras that provide 360-degree views, Alexa voice integration, and more.

“We combined Rivian’s technology with our delivery logistics knowledge, and the result is what you see here-the future of last mile delivery,” Ross Rachey, director of Amazon’s Global Fleet and Products, said in a blog post.

Rachey noted that Amazon is working to build technology that supports physical charging infrastructure and “enhancements and optimization of our delivery stations.”

Continue reading… “‘Future of last mile delivery’: Amazon reveals first custom electric delivery vehicle built with Rivian”

3D Printer, Automobiles, Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News

All-electric race car made possible with electron beam metal 3D printing

October 16, 2020

Supported by Innovate UK, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) works to speed up industrial growth in the UK by creating and embedding future skills and developing and proving manufacturing processes, such as 3D printing. The latter is specifically what the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (NCAM), part of the MTC, focuses on, and its DRAMA research project spent the last three years setting up a stronger AM supply chain for aerospace. But the NCAM also supports automotive and motorsports AM applications: a perfect example of this can be found in the recent work its Coventry team has done to help Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR), the Oxford Brookes University‘s formula student racing team, reach its 2020 all-electric goal.

OBR is one of the top UK formula student racing (FSUK) teams, and has worked with the MTC on a number of projects before. So the team knew that its NCAM would be the perfect partner to help them take things to the next level.

Continue reading… “All-electric race car made possible with electron beam metal 3D printing”

Artificial Intelligence, Biotech, Cancer, Medical Breakthrough, Nanotechnology, Science & Technology News

Biochip innovation combines AI and nanoparticles to analyze tumors

October 16, 2020

Electrical engineers, computer scientists and biomedical engineers at the University of California, Irvine have created a new lab-on-a-chip that can help study tumor heterogeneity to reduce resistance to cancer therapies.

In a paper published today in Advanced Biosystems, the researchers describe how they combined artificial intelligence, microfluidics and nanoparticle inkjet printing in a device that enables the examination and differentiation of cancers and healthy tissues at the single-cell level.

“Cancer cell and tumor heterogeneity can lead to increased therapeutic resistance and inconsistent outcomes for different patients,” said lead author Kushal Joshi, a former UCI graduate student in biomedical engineering. The team’s novel biochip addresses this problem by allowing precise characterization of a variety of cancer cells from a sample.

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AI, communication, Internet, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

New ‘A.I. lawyer’ analyzes your emails to find moneysaving loopholes

October 16, 2020

Email systems have gotten smarter. Whether it’s filtering out spam, prioritizing the messages we need to respond to, reminding us when we’ve forgotten to include a mentioned attachment, or suggesting appropriate responses, 2020 email has come a long way from the basic inboxes of yesteryear. But there’s still further they can go — and Joshua Browder, the creator of the robot lawyer service DoNotPay, believes he’s come up with a way to make email even more user-friendly. (Hint: It involves saving people money.)

Browder, for those unfamiliar with him, is the legal tech genius who has been creating automated legal bots for the past several years. Whether it’s helping appeal parking fines (where the original DoNotPay name came from) or aiding people in gaining unemployment benefits, he’s focused on one consumer rights area after the other to disrupt through automation.

Continue reading… “New ‘A.I. lawyer’ analyzes your emails to find moneysaving loopholes”

Alternative Transportation, Engineering, Hyperloop, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Virgin Hyperloop selects West Virginia to test its futuristic transport system

October 15, 2020

The certification center will serve as the location for testing, developing, and validating the technology

Virgin Hyperloop One announced its plan to build a $500 million certification center to advance its vision of the future of high-speed transportation in West Virginia. The state will serve as a locus for testing, developing, and validating the technology that underpins the still-theoretical hyperloop system.

There is no fully functional hyperloop in the world, and it has never been tested with human passengers. But the federal government has recently laid out the framework for regulating the hyperloop, giving hope to companies like Virgin Hyperloop One that it may eventually break ground on a full-sized operational hyperloop system. To do so, it will still need to raise millions of dollars in funding, acquire the enormous tracks of land, and certify that the hyperloop can be operated safely. Which is all to say, the hyperloop is still very far off.

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Automation, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Space, Space Flight

GITAI aims to bring autonomous robot workers to space

October 15, 2020

An artist’s rendering brings to life GITAI’s vision of robots working on the International Space Station.

GITAI will conduct a technical demonstration of autonomous robot, S1, aboard the ISS in 2021.

Upon hearing the phrase, “robots in space,” one might have an image flash of a corny 60s sci-fi movie, but startup GITAI has its sights on making that a reality in 2021. The space robotics company, which was founded in 2016, is on track for conducting a technical demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS), in collaboration with Nanoracks.

Since its start, GITAI has focused its efforts on various robots for space. Its G1, which is a humanoid torso, was its most advanced machine. It was designed to be controlled by an immersive telepresence system. For the technical demonstration, the company is moving toward more autonomous methods with its S1, a mountable robotic arm with 8 degrees of freedom and 1-meter reach that has an integrated sensing and computing system.

Continue reading… “GITAI aims to bring autonomous robot workers to space”