Using Heat to Cool Buildings
• Kevin Bullis via TechnologyReview.comNovel materials could make practical air conditioners and refrigerators that use little or no electricity.
Contents Pages by Subject
Inventions
Ground-Up Animal Meat and Bone Could Be Turned Into Biodegradable Plastics
• Rebecca Boyle via PopSci.comFuture petroleum-free plastic could be made from the ground-up bone and meat parts left over from the animal rendering process. It’s not dependent on fossil fuel, and it’s perhaps less awful than throwing all of this offal into landfills
Six Ways Bio-Inspired Design is Reshaping the Future
• Clay Dillow via PopSci.comFrom harvesting energy to building networks, nature has been solving problems for billions of years longer than humans have
DARPA Creates Interactive 3-D Holographic Map Table
• Julie Beck via PopSci.comThe Urban Photonic Sandtable Display (UPSD) allows up to 20 participants to simultaneously view and manipulate the 360-degree, 3-D image on the table, without having to wear 3-D glasses.
To Protect Patented Genes, DARPA Wants a Security System that Records Genomic Changes
• Clay Dillow via PopSci.comDARPA wants a genetic security system that’s built into the genome that can monitor for and report on changes to an organism’s genetic makeup.
Engineered Organisms for Making Cheap Sugar
• Kevin Bullis via TechnologyReview.comOne company's method for low-cost, high-yield sugar production could help biofuels compete with fossil fuels.
Turmeric Could Be Used to Detect Explosives, Researchers Say
• Rebecca Boyle via PopSci.comCurry powder can already reduce cow burps, kill cancer cells and fight the epidemic of unflavorful food. Now it can help detect bombs.
Testing the Goods: The iPad 2
• John Mahoney via PopSci.comIs the iPad 2 worthy of replacing an original iPad after just under a year?
3-D Models Created by a Cell Phone - With a few snapshots, you can build a detailed virtual replica.
• Tom Simonite via TechnologyReview.comThree dimensions needn't require the budget of Avatar. App developed by Microsoft researchers can be sufficient. The software uses overlapping snapshots to build a photo-realistic 3-D model that can be spun around and viewed from any angle.
Low-Power Memory from Nanotubes
• Katherine Bourzac via TechnologyReview.comA rival to flash memory that requires one percent as much power could improve battery life in mobile devices.
Wearable Scanner Opens New Frontier in Neuroscience
• Katherine Bourzac via TechnologyReview.comA tiny wearable scanner has been used to track chemical activity in the brains of unrestrained animals for the first time. By revealing neurological circuitry as the subjects perform normal tasks.
Hotter Solar Energy. -Siemens looks to cut the cost and boost the efficiency of solar thermal power
• Peter Fairley via TechnologyReview.comSolar thermal power plants that produce hotter steam can capture more solar energy. That's why Siemens is exploring an upgrade for solar thermal technology to push its temperature limit 160 °C higher than current designs.
Workers at Japanese Nuclear Plant Finally Get A Robot Assistant
• Rebecca Boyle via PopSci.comFinally, some news that Japan is actually using its rescue robots. The red Wall-E-esque ‘bot seen here is on the scene at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, according to a media report from Japan.
Experimental "Body Reboot" Drug Begins Trial As Preemptive Preventer Of Diabetes
• Catherine Price via PopSci.comOne of the toughest things about Type 1 diabetes – a chronic, incurable autoimmune disease – is that once it begins to develop, there’s no way to stop it. Slowly but surely, your immune system will kill the cells in your pancreas that produce insulin
Shockwave-Generating Wave Discs Could Replace Internal Combustion Engines
• Rebecca Boyle via PopSci.comMichigan researchers have built a prototype of a new auto motor that does away with pistons, crankshafts and valves, replacing the old internal combustion engine with a disc-shaped shock wave generator
New Silkworm Dye Method Could Help Build Silks With Medicinal Properties
• Rebecca Boyle via PopSci.comWe pay close attention to the modifications scientists are making to goats, moths and worms so they can harvest their silk. Now researchers in Singapore are reporting a new advancement: dyed-in-the-worm silks, which look pretty and could have interes
Video: Jelly-Like Artificial Muscles Improve Robotic Flexibility With Rotary Motion
• Julie Beck via PopSci.comReplacing some of the nuts and bolts in robots’ bodies with stretchy artificial muscles would allow them to be more flexible and lifelike than ever. Researchers at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute in New Zealand have succeeded
Possible Early Warning Sign for Market Crashes
• Brandon Keim via WIRED.comComplexity researchers who study the behavior of stock markets may have identified a signal that precedes crashes.
Boeing’s Biggest Bird Prepares for First Flight
• Jason Paur via WIRED.comThe first flight window for the new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental opens Sunday, and if the flight goes off it will be the company’s third first flight in less than 18 months.
Meet Japan's Earthquake Search-and-Rescue Robots
• Dan Nosowitz via PopSci.comThe combination of vulnerability to earthquakes and a natural affinity for robotics has led to a surplus of Japanese rescue robots
Smartphone application provides instant translation through augmented reality
Nick BarnettI just came across this application. It is currently available on iPhone but is coming soon to Android and Blackberry. Currently, it works with Spanish to English and English to Spanish. You have to see the video!
How To Genetically Modify a Seed, Step By Step
• Rebecca Boyle via PopSci.comUsing nature as a guide, geneticists build plants with qualities evolution could never produce
The Truth About Toyota’s New Magnesium Battery
• Seth Fletcher via PopSci.comBefore the average electric car can travel 500 highway miles on a single charge, we’ll need better batteries than the lithium-ion packs used today. Last week, when Toyota told the press that it was working on a magnesium-based electric-car battery
The Best Cars From Detroit 2011: An Energetic, Right-Sized Auto Show
• Seth Fletcher via PopSci.comThe crowds were back and the sense of impending doom was gone. But the proliferation of safe designs and shortage of insane concepts shows an industry playing it safe.
The Terminator Scenario: Are We Giving Our Military Machines Too Much Power?
• Ben Austen via PopSci.comEven as we imagine the day when robots finally turn against us, scientists are at work on how best to control them
Test Flight: These Tiny R/C Choppers Are Like Pocket Dogfighters
• Eric Adams via PopSci.comGyroscopes and infrared blasters ready radio-controlled helicopters for midair battle
DARPA's Smart BLADE Will Cut Enemy Communications on the Battlefield
• Clay Dillow via PopSci.comDARPA has awarded BAE systems $8.4 million to develop its BLADE program (for Behavioral Learning for Adaptive Electronic Warfare), a system of algorithms that can automatically identify and jam threatening wireless communications.
Almost a Mile Below South Dakota, A Race to Find Dark Matter
• Brooke Borel via PopSci.comOne of the biggest mysteries of physics could end with what scientists find 4,850 feet below the Black Hills of South Dakota
High-Tech Car Door
• www.flixxy.comDriving a car with disappearing doors will definitely grab everyone's attention.
Snow Vehicle Concept (1924) (VIDEO)
• www.flixxy.comA demo film of the Armstead Snow Motors Company concept snow vehicle - powered by a Fordson tractor and a Chevrolet automobile. (Publisher: Very Cool!)
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