Just like a tennis player might don a white shirt instead of a black one on warm summer’s day, researchers see great potential in dressing buildings in reflective white paints to keep them cool. A team of material scientists is reporting a major advance in this area, producing a new kind of super white paint that reflects almost all incoming […]
Reflecting Sun’s Heat
Solar-Powered Poultry Farm
We’ve reported on several eye-catching floating architecture projects lately, including a “parkipelago” and a greenery-covered office. This solar-powered urban poultry farm is the most off-the-wall idea of the bunch though and, assuming it goes ahead as planned, will host roughly 7,000 egg-laying hens, as well as an area for growing food, in a harbor in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The building […]
Storypod For Kids
As any parent knows, kids love stories and they play a vital role in a child’s development. But as any parent will also know, kids also love to hear the same story over and over and over again. The Storypod is a smart speaker that lets kids not only listen and read along to their favorite stories again and again, […]
Conductive Plastic Uses Sandwiched Materials For More Transparency
Traditional plastics are so poor at conducting electricity that they are often used to insulate against it instead, making it the shielding material of choice for things like wiring and circuit boards. But scientists have long hoped to flip the script by adding other materials to give plastic conductive properties, and one team of researchers has now put forward a […]
New Process Harvests Protein From Wastewater
When shrimp are processed at seafood plants, the resulting wastewater contains a lot of protein. Scientists have now devised a method of harvesting that protein, so it can be used to supplement animal feed or food for humans. First off, it should be noted that organic matter is already removed from shrimp-processing wastewater before it’s discharged back into the waterways. […]
Air-Powered Robotic Jellyfish
The unique movement of jellyfish has made them a popular model of study for robotics researchers, who hope to develop advanced new machines that move with great efficiency. Scientists are now showing off a new breed of soft robots inspired by these marine creatures, which uses air channels to swim at great speeds. This new type of soft robot was […]
5 Ideas For DTC eCommerce Cosmetics And Beauty Products
Entrepreneurs across the globe are beginning to distribute direct to consumer (DTC) cosmetic and beauty products to online shoppers. In the digital era, DTC cosmetics are one of the fastest growing product categories in the nation. While the industry was once highly controlled by a handful of major brands, small eCommerce businesses have been experiencing a surge in consumer demand. […]
Best Toothpaste For Environment
It may not be what your dentist tells you, but what’s “clean” for your teeth isn’t always what is clean for the environment. A lot of conventional oral care products contain ingredients that can cause potential harm to the planet. Sure, these ingredients – like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and triclosan – keep your pearly whites looking shiny and feeling […]
Zaps Of Electricity Cleans Up Biofuel Wastewater
Scientists are getting creative with new ways to produce fuels and electricity, but they can introduce their own problems too. Making biofuel from algae, for example, is showing promise, but it does create large amounts of toxic wastewater. Now, researchers in Australia have found a way to clean up that wastewater, with a simple and scalable electrical process. The study […]
Autonomous Robots At Tokyo Railway Station
Panasonic is trialing a new robotic mobility system that uses three electric wheelchairs equipped with autonomous “follow-the-leader” tracking functionality. As robotic systems become more sophisticated, they will move more and more into our daily lives, but for that to work, these robots have to be able to operate in the chaotic, unpredictable human environment. This means a lot of real-world […]