Science & Technology News – Page 219

Architecture, Green Friendly, Housing, Science & Technology News

Scientists bring concrete to life & it might be the future of construction

January 22, 2020

Today in weird news we didn’t expect to read: Researchers in Colorado have produced Franken-concrete. It’s alive, and it may be the future of green buildings.

Concrete is, quite literally, all around us. It, or versions of it, has been used since 1300 B.C., meaning even a trip to Roman ruins is surrounded by concrete. In the last century, the technology of concrete hasn’t changed, but this new breakthrough has changed that.

The second most consumed material on earth, the production and use of concrete is responsible for 6% of global CO2 emissions—no small thing. Using bacteria, sand, and a hydrogel, the researchers found a way to produce a material that mimics the strength of concrete-based mortar.

How does it work? The power of the bacteria helps to “biomineralize the scaffold, so it actually is really green. It looks like a Frankenstein-type material,” said study senior author Wil Srubar, Ph.D. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to create–something that stays alive.”

And if you thought the idea of living concrete was weird enough, hold on tight: It’s about to get weirder. The material can reproduce, with a little help. If researchers split a brick of the material in half, the bacteria grows the pieces into two complete bricks. They found that this works to end up with eight bricks from the original one in three “generations.”

Continue reading… “Scientists bring concrete to life & it might be the future of construction”

Aviation, Engineering, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

Scientists built a robot pigeon that flaps just like the real thing, and it’s mesmerizing

January 22, 2020

Most of us see birds every day. Go look outside your nearest window and chances are you’re not going to have to wait long before you spot a feathered friend cruising by. Despite that, scientists have long struggled with replicating the flight mechanics that birds are naturally blessed with

Building a “bird robot” that flies with fixed wings is easy enough, but creating something that bends and flaps its wings like a real animal is surprisingly difficult. Now, a team of researchers has taken a huge step toward achieving that lofty goal with a new artificial avian aptly named PigeonBot.

Continue reading… “Scientists built a robot pigeon that flaps just like the real thing, and it’s mesmerizing”

Big Data, Big Problems, mobile apps, Science & Technology News, Software Development

Clearview app lets strangers find your name, info with snap of a photo, report says

January 21, 2020

It may not be long before you’ll have to forget about walking down the street anonymously, says a New York Times report.

“Just a face in the crowd.” That figure of speech may one day need a footnote to explain it.

What if a stranger could snap your picture on the sidewalk then use an app to quickly discover your name, address and other details? A startup called Clearview AI has made that possible, and its app is currently being used by hundreds of law enforcement agencies in the US, including the FBI, says a Saturday report in The New York Times.

The app, says the Times, works by comparing a photo to a database of more than 3 billion pictures that Clearview says it’s scraped off Facebook, Venmo, YouTube and other sites. It then serves up matches, along with links to the sites where those database photos originally appeared. A name might easily be unearthed, and from there other info could be dug up online.

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Employment, Housing, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Americans are flocking to these 10 cities where salaries have risen 25% or more in the last 5 years

January 21, 2020

In a world of stagnant wages and rising costs of living, moving to a place where you can grow your income feels like a solid bet. And many American cities offer just that.

Financial advice website SmartAsset analyzed data for the 500 largest U.S. cities to determine the top “boomtowns” in the country. These areas are not only attracting new residents but feature thriving economies and ample housing. The site considered seven metrics in its ranking, including change in household income over a five-year period. It also looked at population change, unemployment rate, number of jobs created, GDP growth rate, business growth rate and housing growth.

To compile the list, SmartAsset used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 and 2018 1-year American Community Surveys, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns Survey.

Here’s a look at 10 of the top boomtowns where household income rose more than 25% in five years.

Continue reading… “Americans are flocking to these 10 cities where salaries have risen 25% or more in the last 5 years”

New Discoveries, new technology, Science & Technology News, Space

Scientists come up with a method to make oxygen from moon dust

January 21, 2020

Artist impression of activities in a Moon Base. Power generation from solar cells, food production in greenhouses and construction using mobile 3D printer-rovers.

The moon is covered in fine, delicate dust called regolith which sticks to absolutely everything and causes all sorts of technical problems. But it is an abundant resource, and plans for making use of it include melting it with lasers to use for 3D printing or packing it into bricks to build habitats. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) has come up with a different use for the tricky substance: Turning it into oxygen which could be used by lunar explorers for breathing and for the production of fuel.

Moon regolith is known to contain about 40 to 50% oxygen by weight, but it is bound in the form of oxides so it’s not immediately usable. Researchers at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) have been investigating ways to extract this oxygen using a technique called molten salt electrolysis. The regolith is placed in a metal basket along with molten calcium chloride salt and heated to a high temperature, then an electric current is passed through it so the oxygen can be extracted. A bonus of this method is that it also produces usable metal alloys as a by-product.

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Automobiles, Camping, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

This customized RV with solar-panel body does not need fuel, electricity to run; ever

January 20, 2020

Named as the Iveco Daily Electric, the RV that can take you anywhere – completely for free.

Cleaner vehicles with minimum emissions make up for a new segment that is currently the most hotly contested around the world. This is not only because of the emission norms of major countries that have compelled manufacturers to do so, but also due to the industry’s trajectory that has encouraged them to be the early bird. A rat race for electrification.

On one hand, there are manufacturers who are spending huge chunks of their revenue in creating eco-friendly offerings and on the other hand, you have Dethleffs’ completely solar RV. You heard right, completely solar. While major auto giants around the world are scrambling for a piece of the pie that is electrification, Dethleffs harnessed solar energy to create an offering that is completely independent of any fuel.

Named as the Iveco Daily Electric, the RV that can take you anywhere – completely for free. The extensive use of solar panels on the RV’s body can produce up to 3,000 watts of energy without a charging point in sight.

Continue reading… “This customized RV with solar-panel body does not need fuel, electricity to run; ever”

China, new technology, Science & Technology News, Space, Space Flight

China makes major breakthrough in space propulsion technology

January 20, 2020

The 20-kW Hall thruster in operation at a laboratory of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

China has made a major breakthrough in the development of the Hall-effect thruster (HET), an important space propulsion technology.

Researchers from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) have developed the country’s first HET with an input power of 20 kilowatts that can produce a thrust of one newton, marking a leap for China’s HETs from millinewton level to newton level.

The applications of HETs include control of the orientation and position of orbiting satellites and use as a main propulsion engine for medium-size robotic space vehicles.

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Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Business, China, new technology, Science & Technology News

Whoever leads in artificial intelligence in 2030 will rule the world until 2100

January 20, 2020

A couple of years ago, Vladimir Putin warned Russians that the country that led in technologies using artificial intelligence will dominate the globe. He was right to be worried. Russia is now a minor player, and the race seems now to be mainly between the United States and China. But don’t count out the European Union just yet; the EU is still a fifth of the world economy, and it has underappreciated strengths. Technological leadership will require big digital investments, rapid business process innovation, and efficient tax and transfer systems. China appears to have the edge in the first, the U.S. in the second, and Western Europe in the third. One out of three won’t do, and even two out three will not be enough; whoever does all three best will dominate the rest.

Continue reading… “Whoever leads in artificial intelligence in 2030 will rule the world until 2100”

Analysis, Human Behavior, New Viewpoints, Report, Science & Technology News

A survey of 20,000 creatives suggests brainstorming is a giant waste of time

January 19, 2020

Perhaps more than any other category of professionals, creative types are expected to thrive in brainstorms. In the public’s imagination, their offices are filled with fidget toys and Post-it notes in an array of colors, all meant to absorb some of the energy of a group of fast-thinking, well-dressed hipsters deep in ideation mode.

But a new report based on a survey of 20,000 creatives from 197 countries suggests that, in fact, a majority of these professionals—including writers, musicians, photographers, and podcasters—find that brainstorming is largely unhelpful for solving a creative challenge.

The survey, commissioned by the Dutch file-sharing company WeTransfer, attests to the perils of this form of groupthink. “In the creative world we hear an awful lot about collaboration, but it seems that while working together is essential to bring an idea to life, it’s not that good for shaping ideas in the first place,” notes Rob Alderson, WeTransfer’s recently departed editor in chief.

Continue reading… “A survey of 20,000 creatives suggests brainstorming is a giant waste of time”

Fashion, Health & Fitness, Medicine, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

New Harvard study fights fat with salty, icy injections

January 19, 2020

Injecting an icy saline slurry into fat deposits could be a new fat-reduction technique

It sure sounds like a pop-up ad you’d see online, but scientists have created and tested a new treatment that melts away belly fat. The new technique, developed by researchers from Harvard and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), involves injecting an icy saline solution directly into fat deposits to shrink them by half.

The new process sounds simple enough. It uses a sterile solution made up of saline, glycerol, and between 20 and 40 percent small ice particles, giving it a slushy texture. This mixture is injected directly into fat deposits, such as around the abdomen, where it crystallizes and kills the fat cells. Over the course of a few weeks following the treatment, the body will flush out the dead cells.

The team says that this process could be used to reduce fat stores in basically any part of the body, at any depth, as long as it can be accessed by a needle or catheter. Importantly, it doesn’t seem to have any adverse effects on other tissues, such as muscle.

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Batteries, Nanotechnology, new technology, Science & Technology News

New graphene battery recharges blazingly fast, and it’s already on the market

January 19, 2020

Faster charging, longer lasting, and lower temperatures. These are the three major benefits from a lithium battery that has been infused with wonder-material graphene. Thing is, we’ve all heard about the benefits of graphene before, but despite all the hype, we’ve yet to really see it used in devices and products that you can actually buy.

That’s about to change according to Real Graphene, a Los Angeles-based technology company working on graphene-enhanced battery cells. Digital Trends spoke to CEO Samuel Gong about what benefits integrating graphene into a lithium battery will bring, and they’re extremely compelling. Even better news is that the tech is almost ready for mainstream use.

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Augmented Reality, Inventions, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News, Virtual Reality

The making of Mojo, AR contact lenses that give your eyes superpowers

January 18, 2020

Using a display the size of a grain of sand to project images onto the retina, this startup could help everyone from firefighters to people with poor vision.

When I looked into the user interface of Mojo Vision’s augmented reality contact lenses, I didn’t see anything at first except the real world in front of me. Only when I peeked over toward the periphery did a small yellow weather icon appear. When I examined it more closely, I could see the local temperature, the current weather, and some forecast information. I looked over to the 9 o’clock position and saw a traffic icon that gave way to a frontal graphic showing potential driving routes on a simple map. At 12 o’clock, I found my calendar and to-do information. At the bottom of my view was a simple music controller.

Rather than wearing Mojo’s contact lenses—which aren’t yet ready to demo—I was looking at a mock-up of a future, consumer version of their interface through a VR headset. But the point was made. Instead of offering the pretty holograms of the Magic Leap and HoloLens headsets, Mojo aims to place useful data and imagery over your world—and boost your natural vision—using tech that can barely be seen. The startup named the lenses “Mojo” because it wants to build something that’s like getting superpowers for your eyes.

Continue reading… “The making of Mojo, AR contact lenses that give your eyes superpowers”