Tag: #37

Dextrose can be used to improve performance. For electric cars, supercapacitors take on a similar role. Not only is their power density 10-100 times greater than traditional batteries, it is also more readily available. The electrical charge is stored within ultra-thin carbon nanosheets. And, as an international research team led by Singapore recently discovered, these can be manufactured using...

Wind is increasingly important for generating renewable energy. So, too, is water. Now a Scottish company is using the ocean tides to generate electricity in a new way. Their 74 metre long floating tidal turbine is anchored to the seabed at four different points. It has recently been connected to the local electricity network by undersea cable. Two turbine...

Our body can achieve miracles, but sometimes it needs a little support. Like stents for breathing or pacemakers. The latter are often fitted after cardiovascular surgery, so that our heart can rediscover its natural rhythms in its own time. Now an American university research team has developed a pacemaker that is implanted directly into the heart and dissolves when...

Some natural materials appear flimsy. But on closer inspection they turn out to be incredibly robust. Take spider’s silk, for example. But it’s equally true of egg shells, which are already involved in strengthening teeth and bones. Now a Swiss design team has gone a step further and used them to develop tiles. First stop is the Philippines where...

These days, translation programmes and apps help people from different countries to communicate with one another. There’s even an app that reads lips. Now, thanks to a London-based startup, technical support is available for those using sign language. The company’s brainchild: a glove which can recognize over 100 types of sign language using integrated sensors. Signs are sent to...

Good teamwork can lead to extraordinary things. After the successful removal of a brain tumour, a 37- year-old American man found himself wheelchair bound. But thanks to a group of local students taught by one of his wife’s colleagues, he is now able to take his newborn son for a stroll. After splitting into teams the teenagers started experimenting...