One of the problems with harvesting sunlight is that sunlight leads to a gradual degradation of many systems developed to harness it. But plants have adopted an interesting strategy to address this issue by constantly breaking down their light-capturing molecules and reassembling them from scratch, thus renewing the basic structures that capture the sun’s energy… »

Nature’s fine structures are also suitable for technical applications because they exist in a numerous variety of forms, they usually display high mechanical stability and, due to their large surfaces, they provide suitable templates for catalysts and electrodes. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam have succeeded in converting the… »

Inspired by geckos, a team of engineers has developed a reversible adhesion method for printing electronics on a variety of tricky surfaces such as clothes, plastic and leather. Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign designed a  square polymer stamp that allows them to vary its adhesion strength. The stamp can… »

Here is an article with a theme this website mostly covers, and those are robots meant to aid in our everyday lives. Kawada Industries and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have recently revealed the latest version of a robot they have been developing for 10 years. The newest version of… »

Located on Bainbridge Island, the Ellis Residence is the first LEED Platinum certified single-family home in Washington State outside of Seattle. It was designed by Coates Design Architects for owners Ed and Joanne Ellis. The Ellis Residence is a fascinating blend of style and sustainability with a warm feel in its interior which is achieved… »

Researchers at the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) are demonstrating that plants from Earth could be grown hydroponically (without soil) on the moon or Mars, setting the table for astronauts who would find potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables awaiting their arrival. The technology shows a great potential for application on… »

Micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are becoming more popular as a basis for the next generation of optical materials. Lemoptix, a spin-off of EPFL, working together with the Maher Kayal Laboratory, completed their development of their miniature projector at the beginning of September. Its developers claim it should be on the market by the end of… »

As we already wrote in our previous articles, scientists around the world are working to develop pressure sensors for artificial skin which could be applied on prosthetic limbs or robots. By sandwiching a precisely molded, highly elastic rubber layer between two parallel electrodes, the team from Stanford University created an electronic sensor that can detect… »