Tag: #65

Pavements can be enhanced by integrated solar modules and charging tiles. Now, researchers from the University of California are planning to cover the state’s canals with solar panels. Spanning 6400 km, the state’s canal system is one of the world’s largest. But around 2% of the water it carries evaporates as it travels southwards. Covering all canals could mean...

The ideal prosthetic limb is both stiff and flexible. The human protein P53 helps the body to fight cancer, preventing damaged cells from turning into cancer cells, and the latter from spreading. It is, however, very ‘floppy’, infrequently produced by the body and quickly broken down. Which explains why a research team in Sweden took a closer look at...

Recently, an unusual album stormed the Australian charts. Now, an international research team has been focusing their attention on a species which, according to DNA comparisons, is remarkably similar to our own. The team analysed the sounds of pigs in happy and stressful situations, with recordings made from birth to death. Positive feelings were expressed by a short grunt;...

3D-printing can help our canine friends walk again. But with around 25% of US-produced meat ending up in pet food, domestic animals leave a significant carbon footprint. Now a Canadian startup is aiming to change all that. Their all-women team makes its nutritious dog-food using a protein from the larvae of soldier flies. These contain 9 times the omega...

New outfits can be created at home. For new hairstyles we visit a barber. But as two Black alumni from the University of Toronto recently discovered, finding someone we trust to do our hair is easier said than done. Their response: to design an app for beauty salons run by Black people. Anyone looking for a new hairstyle can...

We’ve seen young people produce sustainable air-conditioning and electricity-generating trainers. Now, having taught himself the basics of programming and electrical engineering, an ambitious 19-year-old from India has hand-converted a normal bicycle into a theft-proof electric bike. Starting the E-bike is only possible via a fingerprint sensor. It has a range of 60km, while the in-built battery can be fully...