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Nov 26, 2015

Airbus‘ detachable cabin concept could save you time at the airport

Posted by in category: transportation

There are probably plenty of things that frustrate you about air travel, but waiting to take off or disembark is probably high on your list. Why should you have to board well before the plane is ready to get moving? Airbus might have a way to cut that idle time to near zero, though: it recently received a patent for a detachable passenger cabin that would lift into the airport gate. Your aircraft would only show up when it’s actually ready to go, and would spend far less time on the ground as a whole (as it’s just swapping cabin pods). It could also eliminate the convoluted boarding process, since you could take your seat right away instead of forming a queue in the terminal.

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Nov 26, 2015

Meet Surena III: University of Tehran Unveils Its New Humanoid Robot

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Watch the humanesque robot walk about in this remarkable video.

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Nov 26, 2015

New study finds that teaching is not essential for people to learn to make effective tools

Posted by in categories: education, engineering, space

Well if we do have a major SHTF event even though we don’t have many skilled tool makers any more. Then at least the remains of society should be able to teach itself tool making.


A new study from the University of Exeter has found that teaching is not essential for people to learn to make effective tools. The results counter established views about how human tools and technologies come to improve from generation to generation and point to an explanation for the extraordinary success of humans as a species. The study reveals that although teaching is useful, it is not essential for cultural progress because people can use reasoning and reverse engineering of existing items to work out how to make tools.

The capacity to improve the efficacy of tools and technologies from generation to generation, known as cumulative culture, is unique to humans and has driven our ecological success. It has enabled us to inhabit the coldest and most remote regions on Earth and even have a permanent base in space. The way in which our cumulative culture has boomed compared to other species however remains a mystery.

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Nov 26, 2015

US electrical grid can’t affordably store enough standby electricity to keep the system stable, says researcher

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

A common criticism of a total transition to wind, water and solar power is that the US electrical grid can’t affordably store enough standby electricity to keep the system stable. Now a researcher proposes an underground solution to that problem.

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Nov 26, 2015

New ‘self-healing’ gel makes electronics more flexible

Posted by in categories: electronics, energy, materials

Researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a first-of-its-kind self-healing gel that repairs and connects electronic circuits, creating opportunities to advance the development of flexible electronics, biosensors and batteries as energy storage devices.

Although technology is moving toward lighter, flexible, foldable and rollable electronics, the existing circuits that power them are not built to flex freely and repeatedly self-repair cracks or breaks that can happen from normal wear and tear.

Until now, self-healing materials have relied on application of external stimuli such as light or heat to activate repair. The UT Austin “supergel” material has high conductivity (the degree to which a material conducts electricity) and strong mechanical and electrical self-healing properties.

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Nov 26, 2015

Russian 3D-bioprinted thyroid gland implant proves functional in mice

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical

A Moscow laboratory has conducted the first successful organ translation using a unique Russian 3D-printing technology. The breakthrough could potentially help millions suffering from thyroid disorders – and paves the way for printing other human organs.

The thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck, can have a dramatic impact on a huge variety of human bodily functions. The groundbreaking operation, thus far only in rodents, was performed by a team from the 3D Bioprinting Solutions Laboratory in the Russian capital some three months ago.

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Nov 26, 2015

Revamped LHC goes heavy metal

Posted by in category: physics

Physicists will collide lead ions to replicate and study the embryonic universe.

11/24/15.

New York Times.

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Nov 26, 2015

New Generation Gamma-Ray Spectroscope Can Detect Hidden Minerals in Asteroids

Posted by in categories: innovation, space

This breakthrough technology is great for both asteroid mining and determining whether an asteroid poses a threat to our planet.

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Nov 26, 2015

Spherical Underwater ‘Fish Tower’ Skyscraper Recycles Debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Posted by in category: governance

I love seasteading art. This one concerns garbage clean up but it’s not hard to see it could be lived in. A Bernal Sphere underwater despite this design having the top above surface. If the whole thing can be done underwater then perhaps one day colonizing Europa could become a reality.


The Plastic Fish Tower, by the South Korean team of Kim Hongseop, Cho Hyunbeom, Yoom Sunhee and Yoom Hyungsoo, was awarded honorable mention in Evolo’s skyscraper contest.

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Nov 26, 2015

Zeoform: A New Plastic That Turns Hemp Into Almost Anything

Posted by in categories: energy, materials

A new type of plastic removes the need for fossil fuels and toxic chemicals, replacing it with a simple mixture of hemp and water.

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