A couple of years ago I stumbled onto news about EcoBot – a robot able to operate within an enclosed environment by using food, water and air found around it. However, the idea of robots which consume unrefined biomass in order to operate didn’t allure me from the ethical point of view and that news… »
Harvard University researchers have developed a biocompatible sponge made out of a gel-based material that can be molded into any shape and compressed to a small fraction of its size. This ability allows it to be delivered via injection and restore its original shape and size while gradually releases its cargo. Since it is biocompatible… »
Researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) of Japan cooperated with researchers at the RIKEN Nanoscience Joint Laboratory to develop a metal oxide film transistor which utilizes a material with newly developed atomic composition. The new composition brings the use of potential amorphous silicon transistors successors in next-generation consumer displays a step closer… »
Researchers from the University of Illinois are making tracks in synthetic biology by designing non-electronic biological machines. They used a 3D printer to combine hydrogel and heart cells to create bio-robots. These functional machines are biocompatible and soft, and they are able to move by themselves. Once perfected, these bio-bots could be altered and specialized… »
Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering researchers perfected an old research related to their “invisibility cloak” by incorporating a modification to the device’s design. Although the new design still functions in one plain (it is unidirectional), it solves one of the major flaws of the original device. These new improvements could be used to change… »
Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas came up with a thermal energy storage system that performs as a viable alternative to other currently available methods used to store energy collected from solar panels. Use of the newly developed design could increase annual energy production while significantly decreasing production costs of concentrated solar power plants,… »
Clarkson University’s new Student Center is a great example how functionality can be combined with sustainable features in order to minimize the impact of the building onto the environment. The goal of its construction is to unite student programs in one building and to link the new center to the other academic buildings on campus…. »
CSIRO researchers and a colleague at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute recently revealed details about their research related to an exotic fatty acid called dihydromatricaria acid (DHMA), which is one of a group called polyynes that have known anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties. Their research could be used to employ biotechnology in creation of new antibiotic and anti-cancer… »
