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Ancient Roman seawater concrete could teach us how to cut carbon emissions

By Damir Beciri
10 June 2013

roman-concrete-diverIn a quest to make concrete more durable and sustainable, an international team of geologists and engineers has found inspiration in the ancient Romans, whose massive concrete structures have withstood the elements for more than 2,000 years. The discovery could help improve the durability of modern concrete, which within 50 years often shows signs of… »

Robotics| Tech»

Vanadium dioxide microactuator could be used in micro robotics

By Damir Beciri
17 December 2012

vanadium-dioxide-microactuator-1A group of researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new microscale actuator which could find its application in novel microfluidics, drug delivery, and artificial muscles. The actuators are smaller than the width of a human hair and are based on an oxide material… »

Architecture»

Green architecture – Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences

By Damir Beciri
6 August 2012

li-ka-shing-center-for-biomedical-and-health-sciences-1Located on Oxford Street near University Avenue Grea, the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences represents a nexus for a wide variety of multidisciplinary research related to at UC Berkeley that pursues ways to prevent the root causes of diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV and tuberculosis, rather than just the symptoms…. »

Tech»

Using luminescence to break the solar cell efficiency record

By Damir Beciri
One Comment26 April 2012

yablonovitch-solar-cell-1Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, came across a relatively simple solution based on a mathematical connection between absorption and emission of light that could lead to improvement of flat-plate solar cell efficiency. Although their concept is counterintuitive, the researchers managed to demonstrate that solar cells which are able to emit light more efficiently… »

Bionics| Robotics»

Wing-assisted running robot DASH+Wings offers implications for avian flight evolution

By Damir Beciri
20 October 2011

dashwings-1Remaining stable while going over obstacles is fairly tricky for small robots, so the researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, fixed a small robot dubbed DASH (Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod) with lateral and tail wings borrowed from a store-bought toy to see if that would help. Although the wings haven’t enabled the robot to… »

Tech»

A step toward mind reading of the moving images in our brains

By Damir Beciri
4 October 2011

nishimoto-etal-2011-reconstruction-sampleScientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are combining brain imaging and computer simulation in order to read the mind and reconstruct people’s dynamic visual experiences. They hope that their research this way of “mind reading” will pave the way for future technologies that could reproduce the moving images in our heads, thus bringing our… »

Bionics| Tech»

Biomimicry of leaves ventricular system produces energy

By Damir Beciri
One Comment5 August 2009

fernpower1In this article we’re going to write about biomimicry of leaves. The development of artificial glass leaves that produce energy is done by UC Berkeley researcher Michel Maharbiz (a guy we mentioned earlier in our article about insects spies), Ruba Borno from the University of Michigan and Joseph Steinmeyer from MIT. They developed an alternative energy… »

Bionics»

“Borg” insects – mini spies of the future?

By Rob Aid
12 May 2009

mems08_bti2.jpgInsects’ agility in flight is unmatched. It’s been an inspiration to many inventors as in inventing helicopters or other flying machines. Instead creating robots which resemble insects, a few groups of engineers decided to develop technology which controls insects. An unquestioned fact is that nature developed the insects far better than humans are trying to… »