At Stanford, researchers have done what sounds unthinkable: they’ve turned human urine into a clean source of both fertilizer and energy. Their solar-powered system, small enough to operate without a grid, separates ammonia from urine and converts it into ammonium sulfate—one of the world’s most common fertilizers. What makes the breakthrough even more impressive is its efficiency. By capturing and reusing the waste heat from solar panels, the process doesn’t just accelerate—it also boosts power output by nearly 60% while improving ammonia recovery by over 20%. The very act of keeping solar panels cooler makes them perform better, creating a virtuous cycle of energy and production.
Continue reading… “Turning Urine into Power and Fertilizer: Stanford’s Solar Innovation”Stanford makes giant soft robot from inflatable tubes
As much as we love soft robots (and we really love soft robots), the vast majority of them operate pneumatically (or hydraulically) at larger scales, especially when they need to exert significant amounts of force. This causes complications, because pneumatics and hydraulics generally require a pump somewhere to move fluid around, so you often see soft robots tethered to external and decidedly non-soft power sources. There’s nothing wrong with this, really, because there are plenty of challenges that you can still tackle that way, and there are some up-and-coming technologies that might result in soft pumps or gas generators.
Researchers at Stanford have developed a new kind of (mostly) soft robot based around a series of compliant, air-filled tubes. It’s human scale, moves around, doesn’t require a pump or tether, is more or less as safe as large robots get, and even manages to play a little bit of basketball.
Continue reading… “Stanford makes giant soft robot from inflatable tubes”
This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task
Depending on how paranoid you are, this research from Stanford and Google will be either terrifying or fascinating. A machine learning agent intended to transform aerial images into street maps and back was found to be cheating by hiding information it would need later in “a nearly imperceptible, high-frequency signal.” Clever girl!
But in fact this occurrence, far from illustrating some kind of malign intelligence inherent to AI, simply reveals a problem with computers that has existed since they were invented: they do exactly what you tell them to do.
Continue reading… “This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task”
Stanford engineers’ plan for converting U.S. to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050
Engineers from Stanford have developed a state-by-state plan to convert U.S. to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050. Continue reading… “Stanford engineers’ plan for converting U.S. to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050”
Reforming higher education: when online degrees are seen as official
In early 2012, leading minds from Harvard, Stanford and M.I.T. started three companies to provide Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. They were open to anyone in the world with an Internet connection, no cost, millions of students signed up, and pundits called it a revolution. The technology was supposed to transform higher education. What happened? Continue reading… “Reforming higher education: when online degrees are seen as official”
Stanford’s 4 crazy ideas about the future of college
Back in 2013 student groups from the design school at Stanford University started to take on an interesting question: what will an undergraduate education at Stanford look like at the turn of the 22nd century? Continue reading… “Stanford’s 4 crazy ideas about the future of college”
Stanford Engineers Invent High Tech Mirrors that Beam Light into Space
Illustration of reflective panel on building
A new ultrathin multilayered material can cool buildings without air conditioning by radiating warmth from inside the buildings into space while also reflecting sunlight to reduce incoming heat.
Fan Lab
Stanford engineers have invented a material designed to help cool buildings. The material reflects incoming sunlight, and it sends heat from inside the structure directly into space as infrared radiation (represented by reddish rays).
Stanford engineers have invented a revolutionary coating material that can help cool buildings, even on sunny days, by radiating heat away from the buildings and sending it directly into space.
Continue reading… “Stanford Engineers Invent High Tech Mirrors that Beam Light into Space”
Stanford engineers invent high-tech mirrors to help cool buldings
Engineers have invented a material designed to help cool buildings.
Engineers at Stanford have invented a revolutionary coating material that can help cool buildings, even on sunny days, by radiating heat away from the buildings and sending it directly into space.
Continue reading… “Stanford engineers invent high-tech mirrors to help cool buldings”
Stanford engineers create biological computer
We’re going to be able to put computers inside any living cell you want,” said lead researcher Drew Endy.
A team of engineers at Stanford University have made a simple computer inside a living cell, where it could detect disease, warn of toxic threats and, where danger lurked, even self-destruct cells gone rogue.
Continue reading… “Stanford engineers create biological computer”
The ‘Facebook Class’ that built apps, and fortunes
Stanford students ended up getting millions of users for free apps that they designed to run on Facebook.
Some Stanford student’s in 2007 were given a homework assignment to devise an app. Get people to use it. Repeat. It became known here as the “Facebook Class.”
Continue reading… “The ‘Facebook Class’ that built apps, and fortunes”
