Tag: Technology

When it comes to storing information, our brain can be lazy. Chatbots with AI, however, absorb even the smallest details and learn from them. Including personal details. Often these are identified through a device’s location or IP address, but sometimes they are actively provided. For example, when a chatbot is fed concrete information or emails to produce a text....

Recycling rare earths, which are vital for electronic components, is critical. Carbon dioxide is reusable, too, and can generate sustainable electricity - just like in hydroelectric plants. In their test facility, a research team in Texas exchanged water for supercritical CO2. Above a temperature of 31℃ and pressure of 74 bar, sCO2 resembles a gas, but acts more like...

An electric one-seater offers people with limited mobility freedom of movement at the airport. But what if steering is impossible? Enter a Canadian startup which has developed smart earbuds for people with a range of disabilities. Integrated gyroscopic and muscle and brainwave sensors capture the smallest head movements made by the wearer. Like a language, these micro-gestures - a...

Oyster shells are becoming fashionable. Materials made from willow fibres even protect against harmful UV rays. Now, a former female Masters student in Germany has developed a yarn that keeps water at bay even when immersed in it. Her invention, which is made from recycled and modified plastic, is also completely free from harmful forever-chemicals. Additionally, it protects against...

Adding electrons to aluminium can create a rare metal. An Australian student has been thinking in terms of conversion too - only on a greater scale. His idea is to provide existing cars with internal combustion engines with an electric drive function. He developed a compact axial flux motor that is retrofitted onto the brake disc. The energy required...

Subjected to high-frequency sound waves, stem cells extracted from fat tissue grow into new bone cells. Audible sound waves are useful too, as this latest innovation from a London-based designer shows: her portable speaker doubles as an air purifier. Internal ventilators along with the music’s waves remove harmful particles from the air and drive them into a special filter...

Innovative pacemakers are controlled by patients’ individual breathing patterns. Breathing exercises can help control stress and alleviate anxiety. Provided that our brains don’t become distracted from the task at hand. Which is where a British PhD student from the University of Bath comes in. His hand-held soft ball is connected to sensors attached to a user’s body, imitating their...

A wristband could help menopausal women cool down. Breast cancer can affect young people, too, and the earlier it’s treated, the better. Which is why an MIT research team has developed a wearable ultrasound scanner to be incorporated into a bra. The device is an egg-shaped, honeycomb-like patch with six magnetic slots spread across it; a small tracker containing...