While there already are organic materials that change color in response to ultraviolet radiation exposure, those color-changes involve reorganization of the material’s molecular structure, so it can only be used a limited number of times. A new material known as SensoGlow, however, can be used to detect and measure UVs over and over. Developed at Finland’s University of Turku, SensoGlow […]

Researchers from the University at Buffalo, New York, and Fudan University in China have developed a low-cost chip which can reportedly detect the presence of cocaine in only a few minutes. If all goes according to plan, they hope that it will lead to the development of a portable breathalyzer-style device which could be used by law enforcement to reveal […]

China’s mass surveillance operation has a new target: distracted high school students. In March, Hangzhou Number 11 High School in east China installed a “smart classroom behavior management system” (or “smart eye”) in one of its classrooms. The smart eye uses facial recognition technology to monitor students, and by this summer, administrators plan to install the Big Brother-esque system in […]

“The eyes … they never lie,” said noted philosopher Tony Montana in the gangster movie Scarface. While Montana chose to go down the drug-dealing and murdering route, however, had he been born 30 years later he could probably have had a promising career as a computer interface designer. At least, that’s the message we’re choosing to take away from a […]

In 2015, scientists from Germany’s Saarland University presented us with their iSkin stickers, which could be placed on the body to touch-control mobile devices. Now, led by Prof. Jürgen Steimle, they’ve built upon that technology to develop what’s known as Multi-Touch Skin. Inkjet-printed onto a thin substrate of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic in less than a minute, and then adhered […]

The desire for the powers that be to weaponize every technology ever developed has given rise to the threat of AI with regards to nuclear war without ever questioning why wars are fought in the first place. The technology that goes into many of our basic household items such as microwaves, stereos, and even water hoses, has been weaponized through […]

Graphene, the “wonder material” composed of a one-atom-thick sheet of linked carbon atoms, is the world’s strongest manmade material. Now, scientists have used it to create a new type of concrete that is much stronger, water-resistant and eco-friendly than what we’re used to. To make the concrete, a team from Britain’s University of Exeter devised a technique of suspending flakes […]

If these walls could talk. A new treatment that smartens up walls might not be about to give your bedroom a voice, but it could give it the ability to track your movements and your use of electronics, thanks to a special electrode-laden coating that turns them into interactive surfaces. The concept was dreamed up by researchers at Carnegie Mellon […]

What do the late Tupac Shakur and Swedish pop group ABBA have in common? Seems like not much. But thanks to virtual reality, that’s changing. In a statement posted to Instagram on Friday, ABBA confirmed a “virtual tour” — one that was originally announced in October 2016. The group also announced the release of the first new material since 1982. It seems like […]

Scientists used to make graphene-based membranes in small batches in a laboratory. But a new breakthrough at MIT enables researchers to spool out long rolls of high-quality graphene. The continuous manufacturing process can produce five centimeters of high-quality graphene per minute. The longest run was nearly four hours, and it generated around 10 meters of continuous graphene. MIT is calling […]