Impact Lab – Page 573 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

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”

Analysis, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy, Solar Power

Why new solar installations will reach a breakneck pace by 2025

May 21, 2019

The rise is set to continue.

Solar power is about to reach an inflection point. A new report released on Thursday claims that installations in the United States will double in just four years’ time, thanks largely to developments in California, which accounted for around half of all installations.

This estimate is from the research group Wood Mackenzie, who along with the Solar Energy Industries Association, found that there are now more than two million photo-voltaic solar installations in the country, just three years after passing the one million mark. The teams expect this pace to increase, reaching three million by 2021 and four million by 2023.

Continue reading… “Why new solar installations will reach a breakneck pace by 2025”

AI, communication, Internet, Internet of Things, Science & Technology News

What is Web 3.0 ?

May 20, 2019

Have You Been Wondering What Web 3.0 Is?

If you’ve been hanging out with techie friends at a conference lately, you’ve probably heard the term “Web 3.0.” And if you haven’t yet, you probably will soon. But if it’s one of those questions you’re a little ashamed to ask, don’t be. Not many people know what Web 3.0 is, so it’s understandable if you’re confused.

On top of that, a really succinct description and tight enough narrative have yet to emerge, making its definition open to interpretation. Experts are also still arguing over what pertains to Web 3.0 and what will come way in the future.

Continue reading… “What is Web 3.0 ?”

Analysis, brains, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Striking study reveals how dietary fats enter the brain and cause depression

May 21, 2019

A new study demonstrates how fatty acids can enter the brain and disrupt signaling pathways that lead to depression

An intriguing new study, led by scientists from the University of Glasgow, suggests there is a direct causative link between eating a high-fat diet and the development of depression. The new research demonstrates how certain dietary fats can enter the brain, disrupt specific signaling pathways in the hypothalamus, and subsequently induce signs of depression.

Scientists have long observed a strong correlation between obesity and depression and, while it may seem like the two are simply interlinked through obvious psychological associations, some studies are starting to suggest the connection may actually be underpinned by biological mechanisms.

Continue reading… “Striking study reveals how dietary fats enter the brain and cause depression”

Entertainment, Science & Technology News, Tourism, Travel

This cruise ship has the first at-sea roller coaster—take a look

May 20, 2019

In 2019, 30 million passengers are expected to take a cruise, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. To compete for customers, cruise lines are spending billions to outdo each other with outrageous amenities and entertainment, from a high-tech planetarium at sea to an on-board race track. Royal Caribbean alone is spending $200 million on a private island, CocoCay, in the Bahamas for guests, according to Bloomberg, and had a $115 million transformation on Navigator of the Seas ship, which has the longest waterslide at sea at 800 feet.

Now one of the latest over-the-top cruise is adventures is the first on-board roller coaster, which will be on Carnival Cruise Line’s new Mardi Gras ship, and passengers will be able to ride it next year.

The Bolt Ultimate Sea Coaster will be on the top of the outdoor deck of the ship, according to Carnival Cruise Line, with drops reaching speeds of 40 miles per hour. The 10 fastest roller coasters in the world can go between 93 and 149 miles per hour, according to TripSavvy.

Continue reading… “This cruise ship has the first at-sea roller coaster—take a look”

City Planning, Driverless cars, Driverless vehicles, Electric Vehicles, Historical Perspectives, Science & Technology News, Transportation

How electric and driverless vehicles will change building design

May 19, 2019

The world’s first affordable automobile had a dramatic impact on residential design. On October 1, 1908, the first Model T Ford was built in Detroit. Unlike horses, most people could afford to have their own private car and keep it at their home. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford built some 15 million Model T cars.

Moving on from horses and carriages, for over a century homes and apartments have been designed to cater for private car ownership where drivers are human, and vehicles are powered by petrol or diesel.

As people began driving their own private cars, residential property design changed to provide a place to keep the vehicles (garages), and commercial venues had to accommodate individuals leaving their vehicles parked, instead of being dropped off by a carriage that immediately moved on (carparks).

Continue reading… “How electric and driverless vehicles will change building design”

Automation, Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

25 ton self-driving trucks to be tested on British roads for the first time

May 20, 2019

The government is testing driverless trucks on the A14 highway

Self-driving trucks that could help to speed up roadworks are being tested on Britain’s highways for the first time.

A 25-tonne autonomous truck, capable of moving huge amounts of earth without human supervision will take to the roads on a stretch of the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon as part of a trial by Highways England.

The trucks, capable of carrying a load of 40 tonnes, can be programmed remotely to follow a pre-determined route along road work sites and can detect and avoid obstacles, like other vehicles, along the route as they drive.

Continue reading… “25 ton self-driving trucks to be tested on British roads for the first time”

Automobiles, Big Problems, Science & Technology News, Transportation

The technology that could transform congestion pricing

May 19, 2019

Motorists entering Manhattan will soon be paying for the privilege. How should the city administer their tolls?

As cities like New York move ahead with plans to charge motorists to enter certain urban areas, we need to think about the best ways to manage road tolling.

Now that New York City has adopted congestion pricing in an effort to rein in traffic and raise revenue desperately needed to upgrade public transportation, other American cities are taking a closer look at this often-contentious technique. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle have all recently released requests-for-proposals to begin studying the possibilities and implications of congestion pricing. As cities study the ins and outs of charging motorists to enter central districts, there hasn’t been much attention devoted to one critical part of congestion pricing package: the technology. How will tolls be collected? How will cities insure compliance in the charging zone? And how will our data privacy be addressed and protected?

Continue reading… “The technology that could transform congestion pricing”

China, Crime Prevention, Farms, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

More tigers now live in cages than in the wild.

May 18, 2019

They’ve been farmed,butchered, sold — commodified.

We joined this man on his obsessive quest to expose the traffickers.

THA BAK, Laos — He was up there somewhere, at the top of the hill, the man Karl Ammann had come to see. It would soon be night. The forest was all shadows and sounds. Ammann had driven across the country to reach this remote river village, and now he was finally here, looking to the top of the hill, ready to confront the person he believed had murdered more tigers than anyone in Laos. In the distance, he could hear them: dozens of tigers roaring.

Continue reading… “More tigers now live in cages than in the wild.”

China, Employment, Science & Technology News

Chinese millennials are rejecting dull factory jobs — and transforming the economy

May 19, 2019

Job seekers check out employment ads at a recruitment fair in Qingdao, eastern China. (STR / AFP/Getty Images)

Life as one of China’s industrial worker ants did not suit Liu Xu: waking up early in factory accommodation, working for 11 hours operating a machine in the tool-making factory, eating all his meals in the factory canteen and going to bed, only to wake up and do it again.

His parents spent most of their lives in deadening jobs — his father on construction sites and his mother in factories — but 23-year-old Liu Xu lasted just a year in a factory in the southern China city of Dongguan. Half of that was the time his company invested in training him to work the machine before he up and quit.

Like Liu, a generation of young Chinese is turning its back on the factory jobs that once fueled China’s growth — and they are helping to transform the economy by doing it.

“Life in the factory was really boring and repetitive,” Liu said. “Every day I walked into the factory, I felt like this was all there was to my life. I was going to end up in that factory forever.

Continue reading… “Chinese millennials are rejecting dull factory jobs — and transforming the economy”

Housing, Human Behavior, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

The future of housing looks nothing like today’s

May 17, 2019

After a century, Americans are choosing to live together–transforming not just the buildings we live in, but the way we live in them.

What does a living room have to do with living?

When Lisa Cini and her husband, kids, and rescue dog moved in with her parents and grandmother a few years ago, the Ohio-based architect pored over the design of her 94-year-old grandma’s bedroom “apartment.” An Alzheimer’s diagnosis made security and mobility important, but her ideas went beyond extra locks and grab-bars; she felt it was crucial that she have her own living room within the family home.

“It’s interesting, when we’re younger and full of life, when we’re just doing life so hard, we have to find time to sleep. But when we get old, when we’re slowing down so much, we have to work to find ways to do more life and less sleep,” Cini recalls in her book about living with four generations under one roof. Designing a separate living room gave her grandma a space to hang out, engage, and entertain visitors outside of her bedroom, a subtle but important distinction. “Her living room really helps her keep living life,” Cini observes.

Continue reading… “The future of housing looks nothing like today’s”

Energy, Engineering, Science & Technology News, Wearables

Self-Powered wearable tech

May 17, 2019

For emerging wearable tech to advance, it needs improved power sources. Now researchers from Michigan State University have provided a potential solution via crumpled carbon nanotube forests, or CNT forests.

Changyong Cao, director of MSU’s Soft Machines and Electronics Laboratory, led a team of scientists in creating highly stretchable supercapacitors for powering wearable electronics. The newly developed supercapacitor has demonstrated solid performance and stability, even when it is stretched to 800% of its original size for thousands of stretching/relaxing cycles.

The team’s results, published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials, may spur the development of new stretchable energy electronic systems, implantable biomedical devices, as well as smart packaging systems.

Continue reading… “Self-Powered wearable tech”