In the wealthy world, improving the energy system generally means increasing the central supply of reliable, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly power and distributing it through the power grid. Across most of the planet, though, simply providing new energy sources to the millions who are without electricity and depend on burning wood or kerosene for heat and light would open up new opportunities.
NASA Rover GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, is on its way to Greenland for over a month of testing on the ice-covered environment.
Reinventing the bicycle wheel: Loopwheel by Sam Pearce is a brand-new ‘pat pending’ 20″ bicycle wheel with integral suspension. For maximum comfort over bumps and less vibration from the road.
“The ubiquity and power of the computer blur the distinction between public and private information. Our revolution will not be in gathering data — don’t look for TV cameras in your bedroom — but in analyzing information that is already willingly shared.”
Aircraft designers all over the world continue to invent the aircraft that would take off vertically and remain a fast-flying vehicle, rather than a slow-speed helicopter. High speed, efficiency and elegant design is what creators of a completely new aircraft need. The versatility of helicopters and other aircraft of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) makes [...]
Thomas Suarez is a 6th grade student at a middle school in the South Bay of Los Angeles. When Apple released the Software Development Kit (SDK), he began to create and sell his own applications. “My parents, my friends and even the people at the Apple store all supported me,” he says, “and Steve Jobs [...]
Stan Botchway explains how lasers have a dual purpose when studying DNA – doing the damage and then monitoring the repair process.
Scientists at Princeton University created a functional ear by 3D printing technology, that can “hear” radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability.
Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living a new book by Toronto photographer Todd McLellan, who’s disassembled everything from bicycle to smartphones.
Imitating nature to build a better (or possibly more terrifying) future. We’ve been trying to build flapping-wing robots for hundreds of years. And now, ornithopters are finally being developed, and may be used mostly for military purposes.
While Fermi is in fine shape today, continuing its mission to map the highest-energy light in the universe, the story of how it sidestepped a potential disaster offers a glimpse at an underappreciated aspect of managing a space mission: orbital traffic control.
It goes without saying but technology has certainly enriched our lives (we know…this statement is controversial). For the most part however, from medicine to space exploration our quality of life has made huge strides thanks to rapid advancements in various life changing technologies. Not every new technology makes obvious sense though. After reading through this list of the 25 strangest patents ever filed you’ll see what we mean.
RoboBee, a tiny robot insect, the size of a penny, that has the ability of controlled flight, developed by engineers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It weighs around 80 milligrams and has a wingspan of 3 cm.
In this intimate talk filmed at TED’s offices, energy innovator Amory Lovins shows how to get the US off oil and coal by 2050, $5 trillion cheaper, with no Act of Congress, led by business for profit. The key is integrating all four energy-using sectors—and four kinds of innovation.
Herschel has made over 35 000 scientific observations, amassing more than 25 000 hours’ worth of science data from about 600 observing programmes. A further 2000 hours of calibration observations also contribute to the rich dataset, which is based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre, near Madrid in Spain.
