Toyota wants hydrogen to power entire cities in Japan. Its subsidiary Woven Planet broke ground last February on a “Woven City” near Susono, which will act as a futuristic testbed for all sorts of urban planning ideas and technologies, including an expanded use of hydrogen fuel throughout the area. Now, Toyota and Woven have presented a working prototype of a portable […]
Portable Hydrogen Cartridge
Quantum Well Solar Cell World Record Efficiency
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have broken the world record for solar cell efficiency. Reaching almost 40 percent, the new device boasts the highest efficiency recorded for any type of solar cell in real-world conditions. The team’s new solar cell clocked an efficiency of 39.5 percent, under lighting conditions equivalent to that of the Sun. That’s an […]
Oxilum Brake Lights
Although there are now a number of helmet-mounted brake lights on the market, they’re almost all activated by an integrated accelerometer. The OxiLum takes what is claimed to be a better approach, as it’s triggered by a brake-lever-mounted device. Currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, the OxiLum is the creation of French company Overade, which previously brought us a folding […]
Lift Energy Storage System
Renewable energy is intermittent, so energy storage and release will be critical in the next few decades. IIASA researchers have put forth a fascinating solution, proposing to turn skyscrapers into giant gravity batteries for remarkably cheap renewable energy storage. The concept is simple enough: excess renewable energy can be stored as potential energy, by using it to lift something heavy up to […]
Pizzaiola Robotic Arm
Opening a pizzeria could soon be as simple as leasing a small business space, then sticking a robot in there. That’s the idea behind the Pizzaiola system, which takes human cooks and other kitchen staff out of the equation. Manufactured by Illinois-based Nala Robotics, Pizzaiola is essentially a 12 x 12-foot (3.7 x 3.7-m) self-contained kitchen that incorporates food storage/preparation […]
Optical Brain-Like Chip
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a powerful new optical chip that can process almost 2 billion images per second. The device is made up of a neural network that processes information as light without needing components that slow down traditional computer chips, like memory. The basis of the new chip is a neural network, a system modeled on […]
Autonomous Drones Chases Birds Away From Crops
Birds regularly eat large quantities of crops, and often become accustomed to stationary devices designed to scare them away. That’s why scientists are now looking at using autonomous drones to do the job. In a study recently conducted by a team from Washington State University, cameras were installed around small plots of land, accompanied by customized multicopter drones. The live […]
Crop Monitoring Robot
Farmers could be spared a lot of work and expense – plus the environment could be spared a lot of harmful chemicals – if crops didn’t have to be sprayed indiscriminately. The new plant-inspecting Solix robot was designed with those facts in mind. Created by Canadian agri-tech company Solinftec, Solix will autonomously move back and forth through farmers’ fields on […]
MVRDV Project Helps To Take Heat Offf
Following its temporary walkway, MVRDV has unveiled a project on a far grander and more permanent scale. Slated for Guayaquil, Ecuador, The Hills will consist of six residential towers which incorporate significant greenery and sustainable design features including a focus on passive ventilation and shading. The project’s half-dozen residential towers will range from 92 m (301 ft) for the shortest […]
Fabric Based Filter
Scientists have announced an interesting new means of removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gas emissions, which would create a usable substance. It’s a sheet of treated cotton, which converts CO2 gas into bicarbonate. The current version of the flue gas filter was created by researchers at North Carolina State University, who started by dunking a two-layer sheet of cotton […]