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Jul 6, 2016

Can we really grow aircraft?

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, drones, transportation

BAE systems and a professor at Glasgow University have revealed a way to really grow drones with an advanced form of chemical 3D printing.

The news has already swept the mainstream news sites, even though this is little more than a theoretical exercise right now. Professor Lee Cronin, the man behind the concept, freely admits that he has a mountain to climb to turn this dream into a reality.

The video, then, which depicts a pair of printer heads laying the absolute basics in a vat before the drone literally grows from almost nothing, is really a pipe dream right now.

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Jul 6, 2016

Innovative Plastic Material has Ability to Move Spontaneously in Visible Light

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

It would be interesting to see how this could be used in solar panels that can adjust themselves to capture the best/ high quality sun rays;


Written by AZoM

A team of researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Humboldt University in Berlin showcased a thin layer of plastic material in the Nature Communications journal, which has the capacity to move spontaneously under the influence of daylight. The researchers feel that this flexible plastic is appropriate as a self-cleaning surface, for example it can be used in solar cells.

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Jul 6, 2016

GM working on ‘robo-glove’ for factories

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

General Motors is working with NASA and medical technologies company Bioservo to develop a battery-assisted robotic glove that can be used in assembly plants.

The technology was initially developed from a partnership between GM and NASA that resulted in RoboGlove, a force-multiplying tool that looks like a large electrified work glove.

The RoboGlove uses sensors and actuators comparable to the nerves, muscles and tendons in a human hand.

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Jul 6, 2016

Super-strong and airy 3D-printed supermaterials inch closer to reality

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, materials

Researchers at the Masdar Institute are creating 3D printed high performance materials with custom-designed mechanical, thermal and electrical properties by manipulating the materials’ internal structures.

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Jul 6, 2016

Paralyzed chimp walks, courtesy touch screen tech

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing

In a first, Japanese scientists have used a computer programme and a touch screen device to encourage a paralysed chimpanzee to walk again, showing that euthanasia need not be the only option for animals injured in captivity.

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Jul 6, 2016

A Section of Route 66 Will Become America’s First Public Solar Road

Posted by in category: solar power

I’ve seen people try and shoot this down, but it’s on its way.


Missouri will line a swath of the iconic highway with special energy-generating photovoltaic pavers.

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Jul 6, 2016

The World’s Largest Vertical Farm Is Being Built in New Jersey

Posted by in categories: food, sustainability

A huge vertical farm—where crops are planted, grown, and harvested all with neither sun nor soil—is being built in New Jersey. When it’s finished, it will be the largest one in the world.

You can see one of the (smaller) existing factories from AeroFarm, on which the new one will be modeled, above in this video from Seeker Stories. Nothing they are doing or planning is really new—people have been growing vegetables indoors under LED lights, minus the soil, for a very long time now. Even the factory spin is nothing new. Japan’s Mirai factory has been doing something similar on a slightly smaller scale for years now. What is interesting here, though, is just how big this place is.

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Jul 5, 2016

FDA approves first dissolving stent for US patients

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Glad it has been approved. This would have been great for BMI technology as well; however, FDA limits it to only treat clogged arteries.


WASHINGTON (AP) — A medical implant that slowly dissolves into the body could be the answer to long-standing safety concerns with devices used to treat clogged arteries.

But not so fast, say experts.

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Jul 5, 2016

DARPA’s Hacking Contest Will Pit Machines Against Each Other

Posted by in category: cybercrime/malcode

Battle of the Machines.


DARPA is hosting a competition, the Cyber Grand Challenge, to find ways to solve cybersecurity vulnerabilities automatically.

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Jul 5, 2016

Amazon moves one step closer toward army of warehouse robots

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, 4D printing, robotics/AI

I told folks just the other day; US Manufacturing in the next 3 to 5 years will primarily be robots, 3-/4-D printers, other AI systems, and a couple of line managers to spot check quality of the operation. Just surprised Amazon wasn’t already fully robotic.


Amazon’s progress toward an army of helpful robots is one step closer: a prize for the best warehouse-working “picker” machine has gone to a robot designed by a team from TU Delft Robotics Institute and Delft Robotics, both based in the Netherlands.

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