From electric planes that can only fly for so long to electric cars that need to pull over for a recharge every few hundred miles, heavy, bulky batteries are a huge, limiting factor in how far these types of vehicles can travel. Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology hav … | Continue reading
An advanced tire technology developed by NASA for use on planetary rovers could be coming to a bike lane near you, with startup the Smart Tire Company leveraging the technology to introduce an airless alloy tire to the world of cycling. With the elasticity of rubber and the stren … | Continue reading
Driven by advances in artificial intelligence, doctored video content known as deepfakes present a serious and growing danger when it comes to the spread of misinformation. As these altered clips become more and more convincing, there is a pressing need for tools that can help di … | Continue reading
Several effective COVID-19 vaccines have been developed in rapid time, but that may have been the easy part. Are intellectual property protections and for-profit pharmaceutical companies now getting in the way of vaccinating the world's population? | Continue reading
It has been known for some time that dragonfly wings possess antimicrobial properties, but attempts to gain a greater insight into the mechanism responsible for this have been hampered by the fragility of the wings, which can be easily damaged under the light of a powerful micros … | Continue reading
Faster-than-light (FTL) travel is a staple of sci-fi, hand-waving away multi-millennia journeys between stars. Such a technology would of course be incredibly handy to us in the real world, and while these “warp drives” have been considered theoretically possible, they usually in … | Continue reading
New research from an international team of scientists has demonstrated how odors evoke memories in the brain, in ways stronger than other senses. Using neuroimaging and intracranial electrophysiology, the research shows how olfactory pathways communicate directly with the hippoca … | Continue reading
Wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, wave energy ... Renewable sources are a crucial pillar of any plan to decarbonize the world's energy generation industries and eliminate fossil fuel use. But for many reasons – intermittency, location dependency, land requirements, and others – the … | Continue reading
Although certain celebrities are widely considered to be nice-looking, beauty does still ultimately lie in the eye of the beholder. A new AI-based system is able to ascertain which features are found most attractive by individual people, and then create faces combining those qual … | Continue reading
The Earth has an expiry date – in about five billion years, the Sun will expand and swallow up our home world. But it turns out life on Earth could have a much earlier end point. A new study has found that in about a billion years’ time, the atmosphere will lose most of its oxyge … | Continue reading
A new study from Stanford University communications expert Jeremy Bailenson is investigating the very modern phenomenon of "Zoom Fatigue." Bailenson suggests there are four key factors that make videoconferencing so uniquely tiring, and he recommends some simple solutions to redu … | Continue reading
Hoo boy, you just know Hunter S. Thompson would have loved this. A Russian tinkerer going by the name of morskoiboy has created a typewriter (?) that squirts a different type of syrup or liqueur into a glass with every keystroke. That same liquid is used in a big single-character … | Continue reading
A typewriter that paints? Artist Tyree Callahan modified this 1937 Underwood Standard typewriter to do just that, replacing each key with a different hue that can paint on paper. A chromatic typewriter isn't by any means practical (the keys have to be manually reloaded with paint … | Continue reading
Wearing a big, heavy backpack can get pretty tiring. That's why scientists have developed a pack that's not only claimed to lighten the load on the wearer, but that also uses the motion of that load to generate electricity. | Continue reading
Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology have added another hybrid supercapacitor design to the mix, promising the near-instant charge and discharge of a supercap with vastly improved energy storage on par with NiMH batteries. | Continue reading
Inspired by the way plants like Venus flytraps can snap closed and reset themselves, scientists have developed new materials that alter their shape in the blink of the eye as a way of propelling themselves forward, powered only by their own energy and their interactions with the … | Continue reading
Exactly one hundred years ago, a play premiered that introduced a significant new word to the world – robot. When the first production of Karel Čapek's R.U.R. opened on January 25, 1921, at the National Theater in what is now the Czech Republic, it not only gave a name to the cyb … | Continue reading
New research published in the journal Nature is describing the discovery of a novel subset of brain cell with the capacity to prevent neuroinflammation. This anti-inflammatory activity is modulated by molecules induced by gut bacteria, revealing an exciting new gut-brain pathway … | Continue reading
How often do you clear out old photos on your phone or tidy up your email inbox? You just may be a digital hoarder, and researchers from Northumbria University have identified four distinct types. | Continue reading
It looks a bit like it's a Twizy family member, but Poland's Triggo EV has a few neat tricks that Renault's city roller doesn't. It leans into the corners, at higher speeds its front wheels are spread out for stability, but slow down and they can be pulled in for easier parking, … | Continue reading
To get off the grid with home solar, you need to be able to generate energy when the Sun's out, and store it for when it's not. Normally, people do this with lithium battery systems – Tesla's Powerwall 2 is an example. But Australian company Lavo has built a rather spunky (if chu … | Continue reading
Australian scientists have developed and validated a world-first test that is claimed to accurately measure levels of a brain protein known to be associated with depression and bipolar disorder. The new research suggests this test could offer doctors an objective diagnostic tool … | Continue reading
Last month we reported that a huge vertical farming operation near Copenhagen in Denmark recently completed its first harvest. That setup uses hydroponics, but the veggies grown in Vertical Field urban farming pods take root in real soil. | Continue reading
A team of Australian scientists has demonstrated a novel microencapsulation method designed to improve the absorption and bioavailability of cannabidiol (CBD). Animal tests suggest the new method increases peak concentrations of CBD in the brain by 300 percent compared to CBD oil … | Continue reading
In a new study, German scientists have restored the ability to walk in mice that had been paralyzed after a complete spinal cord injury. The team created a “designer” signaling protein and injected it into the animals’ brains, stimulating their nerve cells to regenerate and share … | Continue reading
To celebrate the new year, here is a hand-picked selection of the most impressive photographs of 2020. This gallery gathers our favorite images from the top photography competitions of the last 12 months, including subway fighting mice, head-spinning wildlife snaps, and some spec … | Continue reading
Scientists working in the West African country of Guinea have discovered a new orange-furred species of bat. The rare discovery came while conducting field surveys in the isolated Nimba Mountain range. | Continue reading
Gaming brand Razer looks to the future of face masks with its CES 2021 announcement of Project Hazel, a reusable transparent mask with detachable filters, a built-in mic and amplifier, and Chroma RGB LED lights for those keen on embracing some cyberpunk techno flair. | Continue reading
In the largest and longest follow-up study conducted to date investigating the lingering effects of COVID-19, researchers have found more than two-thirds of hospitalized patients report at least one ongoing symptom six months after contracting the disease. | Continue reading
A new study, the largest of its kind ever conducted in humans, has affirmed the link between the presence of brown fat and improved cardiac or metabolic health. The research validates the relatively new hypothesis suggesting the type of adipose tissue commonly referred to as brow … | Continue reading
Mundane as it may seem, glass is a surprisingly mysterious material. Now scientists at the University of Konstanz have identified a new state of matter called liquid glass, which has some unusual properties. | Continue reading
Fossilized tree resin, commonly known as amber, has offered paleontologists extraordinary insights into ancient ecosystems. The latest golden time capsule discovery comes from Oregon State University researchers who have identified a completely new, previously unknown genus and s … | Continue reading
Despite the challenges posed worldwide by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a bumper year when it comes to space exploration, marked by some incredible firsts and some sad farewells. It was a year of remarkable emerging technologies, a line up of ambitious new interplanetary m … | Continue reading
DEET may be an effective mosquito repellent, but it's toxic, and has to be reapplied every few hours. Scientists are working on a more innocuous, longer-laster alternative, that involves introducing genetically engineered bacteria to people's skin. | Continue reading
While harnessing the power of the Sun has progressed in leaps and bounds in recent years, harnessing the process that powers the Sun is proving a tough nut to crack. However, progress continues to be made on the various approaches to practical nuclear fusion being pursued, of whi … | Continue reading
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is backing five projects to develop advanced nuclear reactor designs to be built in the United States by private industry. Under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy's US$30 million initial funding … | Continue reading
Almost three years after revealing its autonomous delivery vehicle, robotics startup Nuro has been given the green light for commercial operations in California. Initially, service needs will be met by fully autonomous Prius vehicles, but the R2 delivery pods won't be far behind. | Continue reading
Interactive 3D images that appear to float in the air, above a table that a group of people can stand around without needing any special headsets or glasses: that's what South Australian company Voxon Photonics has built with its US$10,000 VX1 table. | Continue reading
Continuous monitoring of changes in patients' blood would be a profoundly transformative advance for doctors and a team of Stanford bioengineers has brought us one step closer to that reality. New research in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering describes a novel device with … | Continue reading
Raytheon is recruiting glowing microbes to help search for buried explosives. Being developed under a DARPA contract, the company is working with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to use synthetic biology techniques to produce two new strains of bacteria – one to seek out hidden ex … | Continue reading
Killing cancer cells isn’t particularly hard – the tricky part is doing so without harming healthy cells. Researchers at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) have developed nanoparticles that selectively release drugs inside tumors, while keeping them safely locked away w … | Continue reading
Dark matter is currently the most widely accepted hypothesis for explaining some of the weirdness we see in the cosmos – but it’s not the only possibility. Now, a team of astronomers has discovered evidence in over 150 galaxies for a long-standing alternative model of “modified g … | Continue reading
Mitochondria are structures inside cells that produce chemical energy – and since cancer cells are particularly energy-hungry, this could be a potential weakness to target. Now, researchers have developed an experimental drug that blocks mitochondrial metabolism, starving cancer … | Continue reading
A new piece of open source software can radically speed up the process of DNA sequencing, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Using a portable sequencer, the UNCALLED software can reduce a 15-day operation down to three days, or even one. | Continue reading
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis have spent some years investigating the links between circadian rhythm and Alzheimer’s, and have recently been making some real inroads. Following a 2018 study demonstrating how disrupted sleep can acceler … | Continue reading
Connecticut-based company LiquidPiston is developing a portable generator for the US Army that uses its X-Engine, a fresh and extremely powerful take on the rotary engine that'll deliver as much power as the Army's current-gen-set at one-fifth the size. | Continue reading
Monitoring blood glucose levels for sufferers of type 1 diabetes typically involves frequent finger pricks and analysis, but there are technologies on the horizon that promise to make things less invasive and more convenient. An imaginative example of this is a student-designed e … | Continue reading
California's QuantumScape has announced stunning performance figures for what may be the first commercially viable solid-state lithium-metal battery. It's claimed to add as much as 80 percent to the range of an electric car, and charge from 0-80 percent in just 15 minutes. | Continue reading