More efficient Concentrated Solar Power plants inspired by sunflowers

By Damir Beciri
One Comment14 January 2012

ps10_solar_power_tower.jpgIn our article about solar power, we already wrote about concentrated solar power (CSP) power plants. In order to function, these plants need a lot of space and sunlight, and researchers at MIT collaborated with RWTH Aachen University in Germany to come up with a design that increases the amount of sunlight its mirrors collect,… »

Stopping bleeding with nanoscale biological coating

By Damir Beciri
12 January 2012

thrombinMIT engineers have developed a nanoscale biological coating that can halt bleeding nearly instantaneously. Although such materials exist for nearly a decade, their success was in creating an easily portable version where thrombin – a clotting agent found in blood – is coated on sponges. The coating could be easily stored and carried for application… »

Learning about visual communication from robots

By Damir Beciri
10 January 2012

epfl-robot-communicationA joint research project conducted at University of Lausanne (UNIL) and EPFL performed a research that could lead to better understanding of communication within the animal kingdom. They followed the evolution of communication in 100 groups of 20 robots over the course of 1000 generations. The results show that communication systems can evolve differently within… »

Top 5 articles regarding technology in 2011

By Rob Aid
7 January 2012

top-5-2011-technology-robaidAside various breakthroughs in solar power harvesting efficiency, there were breakthroughs in production and design of solar panels. We reported new breakthroughs in medical and dental technology, and there have been many breakthroughs in the field of nanotechnology, as well as in the material sciences. Among other technology trends, there are efforts to create 3D… »

Top 5 articles regarding gadgets in 2011

By Rob Aid
6 January 2012

top-5-2011-gadgets-robaidTablet and e-reader rivalry significantly increased last year, and tablet and cell phone companies focused on product improvement rather than placing entirely new products on the market. Indian government managed to produce Aakash – the $35 tablet for students, simplified version of adorable Keepon robot became available as My Keepon robotic toy, and companies were… »

Top 5 articles regarding nature biomimicry in 2011

By Rob Aid
5 January 2012

top-5-2011-biomimicry-robaidAmong other news and articles we post in the bionics category, one of the most interesting subjects we cover there is biomimicry – imitating nature in man-made systems. Although it can be outperformed, nature still does provide inspiration for more efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. Bionics is becoming more increasingly used in design, materials science… »

Top 5 articles regarding robots in 2011

By Rob Aid
3 January 2012

top-5-2011-robots-robaidAs the proof of our last year statement that robots are being developed to aid humans in their daily habits, the most popular articles in the last year were nearly all about robots which interact with humans or help us in our everyday lives. There were also many examples of robots whose operation or design… »

Top 5 articles regarding green architecture in 2011

By Rob Aid
2 January 2012

top-5-2011-green-architectureDue to larger coverage of that niche, we introduced a new category that contains all our news and articles about sustainable architectural achievements and technologies used to accomplish them. In this year’s articles about green architecture we covered completed projects that showcase efforts to reduce carbon emissions and save resources, and we published a few… »